By Piper Winton
Mental Health has been declining and many mental disorders are on the rise due to COVID-19, but it has become very hard for people to get the help they need. Anxiety and depression have been on the rise along with other mental disorders due to stress, loss of family or friends, loss of motivation, or other factors. Because so many people are experiencing this, when they reach out to get help many mental health providers are all booked and don’t have any extra space. This causes many problems and desperately needs to be addressed.
If people don’t get the care they need their condition may worsen and it could lead to more problems such as self harm in many different forms or even suicidal thoughts. Eating disorders are also becoming really prominent problems in many people’s lives due to the pandemic and other mental health issues. In order to stop other people from developing any of these mental health issues and to help people get the assistance they need there are a couple of things mental health care providers could do. This could include online visits, shorter appointment times, texts, or emails to talk about things when appointments can’t be made, or regular checkups through zoom, emails, or calls.
It’s important that people are addressing this issue and what’s causing it to help people who are already dealing with mental health issues and hopefully decrease the chances of people without them developing them. The main reason why mental health issues have been at an all time high are because of the effects Covid has had on people’s life. It’s caused people to spend more time alone, lack motivation, worry more, miss out on opportunities, have to be more cautious and focus more on safety, and many people to pass away. This showcases why many clinics, therapists, nutritionists, doctors, and other mental health providers are at such a demand. The reasons behind people developing these issues it also shines light on ways we can help. If people know what’s causing so many people’s mental health to decline we can figure out ways to help them and stop it from happening to others. For example, a big reason people are developing these issues is due to being alone and not being able to be around family and friends. Some ways to address this problem would be through a website or zoom call with a therapist that anyone can join at any time when they just need someone to talk to.
Hopefully we will be out of lock down soon and things will start to become more normal which may help people with these issues or help others not develop them, but it’s important we come up with solutions now because so many people need help. Mental health issues can really change peoples lives and they can be completely taken over by them. Because many people can’t get the necessary help to overcome or stop these issues from happening in the first place, the amount of people with mental health issues has rapidly increased. Overall there are many ways people can get the help they need such as virtual visits, regular checkups, texting and emailing therapists, and having a 24 hour zoom for anyone who needs it, and if more attention was focused on these solutions then many people’s lives would be able to improve.
Piper Winton is a freshman at Riverside High School.
Photo source: Pixabay
