Resources for Keeping Anxiety at Bay
March 29, 2020
In today's anxious times with a pandemic raging throughout the world, it can be tough to manage your thoughts.
There are resources available through SmartHealth and Ascension to help.
There are also resources available free online to give you healthy, stimulating activities to take your mind off its worries.
You're covered!
Foremost in many people's minds, including associates, are worries over what happens if a SmartHealth member gets sick, how will care be covered for this novel coronavirus. That is one worry SmartHealth members should not have. We have enhanced SmartHealth coverage in response to COVID-19.
Visit our special section about COVID-19 coverage for details.Get assistance
Ascension's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can help. Ascension's EAP program offers confidential assistance with clinicians, referrals, and information for managing stress and even financial resources.
Ascension's EAP program and how to use it varies by Ministry. Download and view this PDF for more information.SmarthHealth Well-being program
SmartHealth offers well-being services through Virgin Pulse, a best-in-class health portal.
Not only does Virgin Pulse offer healthy incentives for participating in the SmartHealth Well-being program, but it can also help keep you healthy. Maintaining physical health helps maintain a healthy mind.
Check out MySmartHealth's Well-being section for information on health and healthy incentives.
Meditation for medical professionals
Headspace.com offers mindful meditation practice online as well Usually a paid service, Headspace is offering free service to all US healthcare professionals who deal with public health free membership through the end of 2020.
You can check out Headspace today and sign up as well.Keep a journal
Research shows that regularly writing down what's on your mind can help you release emotions and make sense of what's going on in your life. Learn more about the benefits of journaling and how to get started.Exercise!
Exercise can help a person live a balanced life. A healthy body supports a healthy mind.
While gyms and exercise studios across the country are being temporarily shuttered right now due to health concerns and social distancing, you can always exercise in the confines of your own home. Here are some great online sites and apps which can help.
- Yoga with Adriene is the web's premier destination for yoga practitioners, offering basic instruction all the way to advanced techniques free of charge and it is all online.
- DAREBEE is one of the web's most popular all-encompassing exercise compendiums available. From calisthenics to aerobic exercise to weight training, DAREBEE has a workout that is right for you. It is supported entirely via user donations and not with advertising. It even has its own WOD (Workout Of the Day).
- Runkeeper can help get you off the couch and outside running, while still avoiding human contact as required by social distancing. This GPS-based application is available for phones, Android and Apple iOS; a variety of watches; or you can just log in, record and track your run via the website. This application from ASICS comes in both a free and paid version. Even the free version offers basic and self-customizable training plans.
- Follow these tips from Ascension on designing a winning indoor workout!
Beat back the social isolation blues with other resources
There are many other free online resources to distract yourself from social isolation and other anxiety-inducing situations caused by this viral outbreak, especially if you need just a quick break to keep calm when working from home or other worries.
- The Kennedy Center is offering great fun for adults and kids alike, online video instruction on doodling by award-winning children's book author and illustrator Mo Willems. Willems, the Kennedy Center's current artist in residence, is also a former television writer, actor and animator who worked on Sesame Street, and at Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Willems is the author of the famed Knuffle Bunny series and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.
- Virusanxiety.com is a remarkably curated collection of tools here to specifically help you get through your coronavirus anxiety. You can practice meditation here and try to find some inner calm.
- You may have seen him already, but watching Wellington the penguin at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium never gets old. You are not the only one coping with a vastly changed work and social situation -- just like Wellington, his penguin friends and his zookeepers. You can keep up with Wellington's and a few other animal adventures @Shedd_Aquarium on Twitter.
- Art-is-fun.com offers a great collection of adult coloring materials. Coloring isn't just for kids anymore. Coloring takes your mind off everything that isn't in front of you, allowing you to just concentrate on the colors at hand and relieving stress.
- Thought Catalog has a collection of extremely short stories to tickle your funny bone and take you out of your moment. They have more than short stories to keep you busy. If you appreciate gallows humor, they have a collection of 50 coronavirus memes to keep you laughing.
- Worrying about what to make for dinner is over with SuperCook, and without being able to go out, figuring out what to make could be one more hassle. SuperCook, the site and the app, take that concern away.
- Attack of the Cute is always good for a moment's distraction, and sometimes that's all we need to relieve our concerns.
