USEFUL LINKS: SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDUALS (WELLBEING AND HEALTH)
Continuing with the series on useful links, here we look at links to help with health and wellbeing.
MENTAL HEALTH
SAMH is Scotland’s national mental health charity and has been around since 1923. They have a page dedicated to ‘Coronavirus and your mental wellbeing’ on which it gathers information, links and resources to keep you informed and help protect your mental health.
The Mindfulness Association is offering free daily online guided meditation. This takes place from 7- 7:30 pm and is “followed by the opportunity to have a chat over a cuppa together”.
The NHS has offered its tips and advice for keeping on top of your mental wellbeing and coping with how you may feel while staying at home. It advises that you make sure that you get further support if you feel you need it. It also has mental wellbeing audio guides which are designed to help you through different feelings.
Student Minds has a page which collates resources on mental health and coronavirus.
Mental Health at Work has created a toolkit ‘Coronavirus and isolation: supporting yourself and your colleagues’ which is full of free resources.
Rethink Mental Illness has a Covid-19 support page. This looks at the Coronavirus Act 2020 and explains how it may affect people living with severe mental illness as well as offering guidance on areas such as finances.
PHYSICAL HEALTH
The NHS explains that getting exercise does not have to be difficult and you can do so without even leaving your house. They have provided easy 10-minute workouts which can be done from the comfort of your living room.
The NHS also has free ‘One You’ apps which help you to take control of your health. These are available on iOS and Android. The apps are:
- Active 10 (activity tracking and achievable milestones)
- NHS Smokefree (a 4-week programme)
- Drink free days (pick your days to skip drinking and get practical support to stick with it)
- Couch to 5k (a 9-week guided plan)
- Easy meals (over 150 quick and easy healthy recipes)
Rethink Mental Illness have a blog post giving 5 ways to get moving around the house. These are: get creative, pick an activity that suits you, mow the lawn, workout, and walk, talk and stay connected.
BBC News has also written an article on how to exercise while staying at home. Although some of this guidance is now irrelevant given the latest restrictions, the end of the article usefully lists exercises to try at home. It also provides a link for This Girl Can which gives advice on home workouts.
Sport England has launched its campaign Stay In, Work Out. This movement gives tips, advice and guidance on how to keep or get active in and around your home.
For those with children, Joe Wicks, also known as The Body Coach, is doing PE lessons live on YouTube. The sessions are Monday to Friday at 9 am every week and you can catch up with any lessons that you miss.
Mental Health, Housing and Financial Guide for Veterans
A guide is available here.
I know Facebook is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for anyone who feels that they may need support with their emotional health during this difficult time, the Emotional Health Toolkit facebook page has been created.
This is a facebook group set up by 3 Clinical Psychologists (inlcuding myself, Dr Newns, a medico-legal personal injury expert witness).
We’ve joined up with over 70 other Clinical Psychologists around the UK to provide high quality information and resources you can add to your own personal toolkit of coping strategies to help manage the anxiety and negative impact of Covid-19 on our emotional health. Topics covered will include coping with anxiety, supporting children and young people, relationship health, living with chronic illness, supporting people or living with Autism Spectrum Conditions, and getting better sleep.
The group is launching today and more content will be added on a regular basis. We will provide resources, videos, interviews with specialists, and signposting.
I hope that some people might find this helpful.