The office may be closed but that doesn’t mean mental health services aren’t available for those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marcel Penner is the Director for Mental Health and Addictions Services at the Dryden Regional Health Centre and he says all counselling is taking place over the phone or by video conferencing.
“If you are wanting mental health support in the form of counselling. Please feel free to reach out to us at our Intake Line at 223-6678.”
Penner adds “”If you’re wanting to just talk to somebody, you’re not sure if you want to see a councillor but maybe your feeling a little bit in crisis and you just want support, you can call our Crisis Line and that phone number is 1-866-888-8988.”
Penner says he understands a lot of people in the community are going through stress and anxiety right now.
He says the key is ensuring you have compassion for yourself, stressing all of us generally want to be happy and reduce suffering.
Penner suggests “Focus on easing off on yourself and areas that perhaps are causing stress and anxiety. Maybe you’ve set some goals for yourself that you need a little relief from. Just to be ok that maybe you haven’t met all the goals you set for yourself and that you’ll eventually get to those things when you need to.”
These are tough days and our mental health can be affected in subtle ways; it’s okay to ask for help and talk about it. https://t.co/CdLuYx5zrm
— Dryden Regional Health Centre (@DrydenRegional) April 27, 2020
