Resources to Support Mental Health and Coping with the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) has compiled a selection of web pages and information sheets on mental health and coping with the effects of COVID-19. These resources are a selection from key organizations in the field. We will continue to update this list as new resources become available.
Click on each audience below to see the resources for that group:
General Audience
- Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Stress and Coping – This web page contains basic guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on managing mental health stressors during COVID-19.
- Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Isolation during an Infectious Disease Outbreak – This tip sheet from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides information on typical reactions to social distancing, quarantine, and isolation, and ways to take care of oneself. The sheet also provides a list of hotlines and other resources for obtaining help.
- Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations during the COVID-19 Outbreak – This information sheet from the World Health Organization (WHO) contains suggestions for coping with COVID-19 for the general population and specific groups including health care workers, caretakers of children and older adults, and people living in isolation.
- Taking Care of Your Mental Health in the Face of Uncertainty – This blog post from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) provides five suggestions for coping with the uncertainty due to COVID-19.
- Coronavirus Anxiety: Helpful Expert Tips and Resources – This web page, updated daily by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), contains links to a wide variety of resources for coping with general anxiety and some specific anxiety disorders during COVID-19, including articles, information sheets, blog posts, and videos.
Parents and Caregivers
- Talking with Children: Tips for Caregivers, Parents, and Teachers during Infectious Disease Outbreaks – This tip sheet from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides caregivers, parents, and teachers with information on reactions children and youth may have during an infectious disease outbreak and how to support them. Some of the information is tailored for different age groups.
- Helping Children Cope Emotionally with the Coronavirus – This web page from the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (AAETS) provides parents with specific suggestions for helping children cope with COVID-19.
- Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)Â – This sheet from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) provides parents and caregivers with information related to the health and mental health aspects of coping with COVID-19. It includes a list by age groups of some typical reactions and ways to help children cope.
Mental Health Professionals
- Supportive Practices for Mental Health Professionals During Pandemic-Related Social Distancing – This sheet from the South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC) contains information on challenges mental health professionals face with social distancing, and suggestions for how to support oneself and work with supervisees.
- Taking Care of Patients During the Coronavirus Outbreak: A Guide for Psychiatrists – This sheet from the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) provides information on some common psychological and behavioral responses to expect and suggestions for how to work with patients.
- Telehealth Tips: Managing Suicidal Clients During the COVID-19 Pandemic – This information sheet from the Center for Practice Innovations at Columbia Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute provides tips for evaluating and treating people who are suicidal using telehealth. It also includes steps and a template for developing a safety plan.
- Notification of Enforcement Discretion on Telehealth Remote Communications during COVID-19 Nationwide Public Health Emergency – This web page from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides information on what is now allowed for the use of telehealth in relation to the regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
- ARCHIVED WEBINAR: Telepsychiatry in the Era of COVID-19 – This webinar by SMI Adviser provides an overview of how to use telemental health and video visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes information on the legal, clinical, cultural, and practical aspects of using technology to deliver care. It covers topics such as which telemental health platform to use, licensure, consent, online prescribing, and billing.
Community Leaders
- For Providers and Community Leaders: Helping People Manage Stress Associated with the COVID-19 Virus Outbreak – This web page from the National Center for PTSD offers five key principles for community leaders, health care providers, and others addressing the public’s psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as steps they can take to help.
- Psychological Effects of Quarantine During the Coronavirus Outbreak: What Public Health Leaders Need to Know – This information sheet from the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) describes some of the factors relevant to senior public health officials, such as local, state, and tribal health authorities, in addressing the psychological effects related to quarantine.
American Indians and Alaska Natives
- Physically Distant but Socially Close: Indigenous Resilience and COVID-19 – This information sheet from the Urban Indian Health Institute suggests adaptations of some common native cultural practices so that they can be safe and fulfilling. These include ways of greetings each other, enjoying food and community, dancing, and engaging in ceremony.
- Elder Mental Health During COVID-19 – for Care Providers – This information sheet from the Center for American Indian Health provides information on ways to support American Indian elders during COVID-19. It includes suggestions for managing stress, activities to help maintain well-being, ways to support elders with medical needs, and steps residential care facilities can take to ensure elders’ safety.
