Maintaining Mental Health During Quarantine
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The debate may be taking place outside the home if it’s time to open Iowa up for business, and individuals wait to find out what those changes will be.
The amount of time being spent at home has both good and bad qualities, and finding the balance in life and your mental health is proving more valuable than ever.
Oskaloosa News spoke with Lance Roorda, a local mental health professional, about maintaining your mental health during this time of isolation.
Roorda says that from a mental health standpoint, he’s seeing that people are stressed out right now, and those stress responses are escalated right now also. Those stresses can lead to the old ‘fight or flight’ response from individuals.
Those responses from the fight or flight response are typically anxiousness, irritability, short-tempered, or flight, which is usually just completely shutting down and isolation to not make yourself vulnerable.
“I think people are angry. There’s a lot of challenges and controversy, and not everybody agrees, and everybody’s got their own opinions,” said Roorda of the stress people are experiencing.
When it comes to individuals such as kids during trying times like these, Roorda frames things in a family systems perspective. “I feel like in order to understand the individual, you need to understand their family dynamics and see things within that contextual framework.”
Roorda said that children typically see the world emotionally. “They see the world through attachment.”
If parents are confident they have a secure, emotional attachment with their child, then a child can feel safe to express their emotions and feelings without retribution or reaction; it’s a comfortable environment.
“It’s important to keep as many routines as possible and create new routines. Have a comfortable environment for the kids to express their emotions,” Roorda added. “Take it day by day, but kids need routine and structure. So I think the best way to do that is to sit down and plan your week ahead of time and work off that structure.”
The time spent at home during quarantine has also given many families time to spend together that may not have been afforded them before.
“You can look at this just like anything else. You can look at it as a glass half full or glass half empty. So how can you use this as an opportunity, and what positives can you focus on? What skills can you create? What relationships can you improve?
“Before this happened, a lot of people were so busy in the hustle and bustle that the quality and time and those relationships just wasn’t there like it is now,” added Roorda.
There is also a downside to the isolation and how people deal with the stress of the situation. Roorda said that saying “you know we’re all in this together” means something different for every person because every person deals with the stress differently.
“I’m concerned about people just being isolated and not having those healthy outlets, especially the elderly population,” said Roorda, who says he and other professionals are available to those who need mental health care, both in-office and telehealth.
Roorda said basics like physical activity, conscious breathing, meditative reflection, reading, “and getting fresh air is really important.”
Local law enforcement has said that incidents of domestic abuse have been climbing, and Roorda calls that and child abuse “the ugly underbelly side of the culture we live in right now” in regards to the pandemic.
“I think as we ease our way out of this [isolation], I think that mental health might be as needed and as crucial as it’s ever been,” said Rooda. “I think there’s going to be a wave of help needed.”
The Southern Iowa Mental Health Center [SIMHC] has a Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) of mental health professionals that are available to arrive on the scene of a mental health crisis to work with the patient in a mental health crisis. If a patient finds themselves in a mental health crisis and the next steps are unclear, they can possibly consider the MCT as an option to help work through solutions. The MCT is available to respond in a person’s home, in a provider’s office, at school, or anywhere in the community. The MCT is available to children, adolescents, and adults. The MCT is only available to respond in the following counties: Wapello, Mahaska, Davis, and Appanoose. To request that the MCT be dispatched call: 1-844-430-8520.
SIMHC also staffs a 24-hour mental health crisis line. Our office number: 641-682-8772 is answered all day and all night, every day of the year. A patient, family member, or friend can call at any time and discuss mental health services and what crisis services might make sense for a patient in a mental health crisis. This service is available to anyone with no charge.
