Barbadians are being told to take care of both their physical health and mental health during the pending lockdown.
The advice has come from Dr. Joy Sue, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Hospital, who is responsible for community mental health. She made the comments during a press conference on Saturday evening as she offered some advice to Barbadians on how to cope with the upcoming two-week national pause from February 3 to 17, to help in the fight against COVID-19.
She explained that during the previous lockdown a number of people presented with anxiety and insomnia and after, she said, persons presented in increased numbers with depression. With that in mind, Dr. Sue is urging persons to have a plan for communication, explaining that it is a good way of coping and relieving stress. She explained it is important that persons have someone to talk to express their feelings, but she indicated that if they are uncomfortable talking about their feelings, then they can keep a journal to help them cope.
“Do not be embarrassed to express your feelings; don’t be embarrassed if you have trouble coping. It is a stressful experience for everyone and different people will cope at different levels, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, about having mental health challenges, so I would encourage everybody to speak out about those challenges,” she stated.
The Consultant Psychiatrist is also encouraging persons, including those in quarantine, to seek professional help if things get too difficult to handle. In that vein, she indicated that the Ministry of Health’s community mental health services will still be available from February 3 to 17.
“We have a mental health clinics in each of the polyclinics our services are still open and will remain open during the time of the lockdown, with the exception of Branford Taitt Polyclinic, which will not be operating from the polyclinic that is now operating from the Psychiatric Hospital,” it was further explained.
She added, “If you need help reach out and help will be there for you.”
Additionally, she is advising persons during the lockdown to exercise at least 30 minutes daily. She explained that taking care of one’s physical health is very important for mental health as well.
“Even though we like to talk about mental health and physical health, these things are interconnected, they are not different things, it’s health.”
Besides exercise, Dr. Sue is adamant that persons must also maintain a healthy balanced diet and should avoid overeating as this could lead to
problems with their physical health.
Meanwhile, as it relates to making the lockdown easier for children, she is reminding parents and guardians that creating a routine for children is extremely important, to try to maintain as much normalcy as possible in the situation. She explained that this would allow them to feel as if there is some kind of stability even though there are changes and scary things happening around them. (JRT)
