CONNECTICUT, USA — With the holidays and the second wave of COVID people are feeling stressed out more than ever before.
"You just think about it randomly," says Southington resident, Kayla Fitzgerald. "You could be at the store like, am I touching something that could potentially get me infected? Am I doing something that is harming to other people? "
The everyday question of "Am I safe?" is difficult to answer when you're dealing with a virus you can't see.
"It's kind of like you can have good things happening, but there's this overwhelming weight of COVID and the stress of staying healthy and being in control of that," says Fitzgerald.
A study from Yale on suicide during the stay-at-home period in Connecticut found a decreased rate of suicide overall but a 62% increase in minority suicides compared to prior years.
"For a lot of the suffering and trials and tribulations that we've experienced collectively, it can be amplified among populations," says Alison Lewis, a licensed clinical social worker in Connecticut.
We're still working from home and having social interactions through Zoom. More than ever, we're feeling isolated, especially after that small break we had in the summer with relaxed restrictions. Now, people are turning to their laptop and to their phone to seek therapy services online.
"Sometimes when we know how difficult it was in the past and we can feel it coming again; it's almost worse than having not known what was coming," says Lewis.
Psychotherapists across the state are seeing schedules booked with new and existing clients as health officials warn that the worst is yet to come of the second wave. They are quickly adapting to a virtual landscape to offer the same services to their clients that were previously only in-person.
"We’ve learned that distance reiki can be effective," says Lewis. "We’ve learned that virtual breathwork and bodywork sessions can be effective. AA and NA and recovery groups transitioned to online."
Telehealth is effective, but Kayla has found additional support through a mental health group called Resilience Supply.
"It kind of gives you the sense of community," says Fitzgerald. "Just because I'm experiencing some level of stress or some level of anxiety, having someone, even if it's just one other person that experiences that same feeling kind of makes it a little bit easier to breathe."
Resilience Supply offers free monthly mental health events. To learn more about this community group, head here.
In additional to therapy, some people struggling with addiction are encouraged to seek rehab.
New Leaf Detox and Treatment shares more on when those individuals should consider rehab for addiction.