A recent survey showed that 60% of Australians are experience mental health issues this year during Covid, with a quarter never having had such problems before. In the workplace, mental health workers compensation claims have already increased by 80%. Depression and anxiety are the most common presentations we are seeing at Osana.
In such challenging times, it’s important to consider ways we can mitigate increasing psychological distress, including:
- A modified Mediterranean diet (alot of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes; some poultry, eggs, and dairy products; and less red meat) can lead to a 32% remission in depression, potentially through reduced inflammation
- Other lifestyle modifications that have been proven to work, such as mindfulness, music, yoga, improving sleep quality, daily exercise and having a dog
- Evidence-based medical interventions, including seeing a psychologist, cognitive-behavioural therapy, counselling by your GP, acupressure, motivational interviewing and bibliotherapy (creative book therapy)
- And a range of activities that have also emerged as validated therapies to reduce psychological distress include gardening, singing, forest bathing, meeting with friends, practising gratitude, prayer and reading.
Look after yourself and your families during Mental Health Awareness Month and Covid – practise self-care and stay healthy, both physically and emotionally.
References:
- The Australian “Mental health rising issue in the workplace” 13 October 2020
- https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m2382?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=0866d1d338ca739bdd5800f13d7095930564ba73-1602712572-0-AbvTWCd2T21kou94fF1csu5CpM_LMkIpai0E4C5GDlqGyY_tlB8XMQRfJhKBP5xNo-JBOCHE_C-9VQK95r477OGedbGPWZ2pVSCRIyBWcmpwiHk8M_Z7jrQIHXmQTmDLLbaHxmKKa4HqVk6dIF1xxo2uGNQ8EuWzKr-4cvhYbr4oKCHpElBGBBZvRhCj8VAON7ir9kD-kAyMGwQrNFZFPjymHzXutwVL526Ebg9IQ85k4bW0KHLjmukE-W24GBlzJrwUTziCijrLAmJ8GcPhKWAvNbvu_iFpSbbDNIc0vahU
- https://www.racgp.org.au/download/Documents/AFP/2009/June/200906manocha.pdf
- https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2015/202/10/changes-psychological-distress-and-psychosocial-functioning-young-people
- http://fallsnetwork.neura.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Williams_Meehan__Stepping-On-With-Recovery_Falls-Forum-_notes-FINAL_A-4.pdf
- https://www.orygen.org.au/Training/Resources/Brief-interventions/Toolkits/Orygen-Brief-Interventions-in-Youth-Mental-Health
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299539413_Individualized_yoga_for_reducing_depression_and_anxiety_and_improving_well-being_A_randomized_controlled_trialhttps://www.racgp.org.au/afpbackissues/2007/200704/200704malcolm.pdf
- https://cphce.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication_related_files/Blignault%20et%20al.%20%282019%29_Arabic%20Mindfulness%20CD.pdf
- https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/195_03_010811/hid10903_fm.pdf
- https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-m-mhsrraev-toc~mental-pubs-m-mhsrraev-7~mental-pubs-m-mhsrraev-7-2#f20
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324606747_Intentional_music_use_to_reduce_psychological_distress_in_adolescents_accessing_primary_mental_health_carehttps://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=
- https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=4003&context=hbspapers
- https://cphce.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication_related_files/Hasan_Access%20to%20Allied%20Psychological%20Services%20Program.pdf
- https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7770-5
- https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/assets/ResourceFinder/evaluation-primary-mental-health-initiatives-summary-report-jul09.pdf
- https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/181/11-12/e1581/4158564https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(19)30005-2/abstract
- https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/20428301111140930/full/html