Pineapple Support Covid-19 Program
During quarantine and social distancing our mental health is extremely vulnerable. Stress levels are high and feelings of anxiety and loneliness are commonplace.
Now more than ever, our community needs our support.
The coronavirus pandemic is taking a tremendous human and an economic toll, and it’s also impacting charitable organizations around the world that provide essential services and assistance for causes that are not adequately supported by the public or private sectors. Pineapple support is not exempt from feeling the effects of a heightened demand during a time of decreased support.
For clients that are already battling depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts adding in the loneliness of being quarantined can be highly detrimental to their physical and mental health.
Because of all of this we are seeing a 60% increase in applications for requests of services. More than ever, pineapple needs YOUR support. No amount is too small to make a difference.
We are also in need of volunteers. Can you think of a better time to receive FREE active listening training? Can you think of a better opportunity to utilize your current free time to IMPACT the life of your fellow man or woman?
Pineapple Support needs YOU, now more than ever! Will YOU choose to make a difference?
Whether monetarily or with the donation of your time you could help in a BIG way!
Mental Health in the time of Coronavirus
One word that could describe the pandemic is overwhelm. Overwhelm is the immediate effect on our hospitals, economy, and our stress levels. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have experienced a spike in rates of mental illness, domestic abuse, drug addiction relapse, and in suicides. These rates are increasing daily and threaten to overwhelm our mental healthcare systems. The longer-term effects of Coronavirus are uncertain but one thing is certain, there is an urgent need for increased mental health services.
People with no history of mental illness are experiencing serious psychological symptoms as a result of pandemic stressors, a survey of UK psychiatrists reveals (1). People living with ongoing psychological issues report suffering from heightened symptoms.
One mental healthcare service (2) reported an upsurge of around 1000 percent in requests on their crisis hotline (3). Online therapy platform Talkspace experienced a 65% increase in enquiries since mid-February.
Those who can afford it have been reaching out for private healthcare in record numbers. However, unprecedented economic decline means that many people cannot afford to access the mental health support that they need. Government-funded agencies are struggling to keep afloat due to funding shortages and increased demand (4).
The Washing Post warns that psychological services are being overwhelmed by the psychological and financial fallout. And we are on the brink of a mental health crisis as a result (5). Mental health charities like Pineapple Support are essential in fighting to cope with the fallout.
Domestic Abuse
The UN reports a worldwide surge of domestic violence as a result of the pandemic (6). Isolation and being trapped inside magnify existing abusive behaviors. People “are told to stay at home with an abusive spouse or partner even though home isn’t always a safe place for them to be”.
Experts say that domestic abuse is unlikely to decline once stay-at-home measures are relaxed. “Already-bad situations are further aggravated by the stress of job loss and children home from school and underfoot,” advocates say.
“It is a unique situation,” said Deborah J. Vagins, president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. “This is on a level that has been unseen”.
Addictions
Drug misuse trends increase during times of heightened stress, loneliness, and anxiety. Many people seek the sense of escape that some drugs provide. A new study estimates that 75,000 additional people in the US could die from drug misuse and suicide as a result of the pandemic (7).
An essential part of addiction recovery involves connection with others. Those recovering from addiction and their loved ones need a safe place to share challenges and solutions with people who understand. Though many group-support meetings have moved online, attendance has dropped. Many attendees cite fears of exposure because meetings can (and have been) recorded. One-to-one online meetings are recommended to help people avoid relapse (8).
Trauma
Many people are reporting high levels of distress – experiencing uncertainty, fear, and isolation from their support networks – because of the pandemic. Distress can develop into trauma when people feel overwhelmed and unable to cope with it. And traumatic incidents can lead to post traumatic stress disorder if unaddressed. The risk of people becoming overwhelmed greatly increases as the pandemic wears on (9).
“Our society is definitely in a collective state of trauma,” said US clinical psychologist (10). In the UK, the national healthcare system is bracing itself for the increased need of trauma treatment once lockdown ends. The need for pandemic-related trauma treatment is projected to last for years to come (1).
What we are doing:
Therapy, Counseling and Coaching services
Campaigns to promote positive mental health and self-care
Working hard to ensure no one feels isolated or alone
text “LOVEPINEAPPLE” to 44321
References
1. UK lockdown causing ‘serious mental illness in first-time patients.’
Psychiatrists say services could be overwhelmed by ‘tsunami’ of sickness triggered by crisis Denis Campbell. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/16/uk-lockdown-causing-serious-mental-illness-in-first-time-patients
2. The US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. https://www.samhsa.gov/
3. The Health 202: Texts to federal government mental health hotline up roughly 1,000 percent. By Paige Winfield Cunningham.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-health-202/2020/05/04/the-health-202-texts-to-federal-government-mental-health-hotline-up-roughly-1-000-percent/5eaae16c602ff15fb0021568/?itid=ap_paigewinfield%20cunningham&itid=lk_inline_manual_12
4. Chuck Ingoglia, president of the National Council for Behavioral Health. https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/
5. The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis. Anxiety and depression are rising. The U.S. is ill-prepared, with some clinics already on the brink of collapse. By William Wan. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/05/04/mental-health-coronavirus/
6. Doctor’s Note: How can we help victims of abuse during lockdown? Coronavirus has forced many victims of violence to be locked in with their abusers, with nowhere to go to for respite. By Dr Punam Krishan. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/doctor-note-victims-abuse-lockdown-200505092801862.html
7. Coronavirus pandemic may lead to 75,000 “deaths of despair” from suicide, drug and alcohol abuse. By Serena Gordon. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-deaths-suicides-drugs-alcohol-pandemic-75000/
8. Addiction Experts Worry About Impact of Coronavirus Lockdown on People in Recovery. By Partnership News Service Staff. https://drugfree.org/learn/drug-and-alcohol-news/addiction-experts-worry-about-impact-of-coronavirus-lockdown-on-people-in-recovery/
9. The Other COVID-19 Crisis: Declining Mental Health. By Kelly Greenwood. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2020/05/19/the-other-covid-19-crisis-declining-mental-health/#7503813b3d65
10. Mental Health an Emerging Crisis of COVID Pandemic. By Katheryn Kan. https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200508/mental-health-emerging-crisis-of-covid-pandemic
