Some mental health doctors say they are seeing a big increase in the volume of mental health requests tied to current events and these challenging times. They say people are feeling stressed, anxious, or complaining about other mental health concerns. But they have suggestions about how to cope.
Dr. Sammie LaMont Moss, a psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente, spoke with CPR Health Reporter John Daley.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
John Daley: Are patients you see reporting more mental health struggles than usual?
Dr. Moss: It's been progressively increasing and more so just from different areas. I think as social media has become ubiquitous with everyone's lives and because of that and news, the push notifications, my patients are consistently seeing that there's so much news, there's so much coming at them, that it's becoming increasingly overwhelming for them.
Daley: What’s a good way for people to cope?
Moss: I encourage them to consider what's been sort of anecdotally called news diets, which is the sense of definitely stay informed, but perhaps dedicate a small amount of time during your day too to find out your news, find out what's going on, but then have other times where you intentionally disconnect so that you don't feel as if you're not getting a break from all the information that is out there that's coming through.
I've also used the term tech “timeouts,” where people are putting their phones and their iPads and their computers away so that they're not being inundated with all the information. It allows them a chance to relax, to connect with family, connect with friends, and even speak with people that are also feeling the same way because when people find out they're not the only ones feeling that way, it can be helpful, it can be therapeutic. And it's a nice way to also have time to connect with friends and loved ones.
Daley: And your patients say those strategies help?
Moss: I do get good feedback from my patients, that they feel better, they feel less overwhelmed, and they're actually even able to say they don't feel less informed, but they do feel they're better able to handle the information when they do receive it.
Daley: What’s been driving the uptick in stress, according to what your patients say?
Moss: I think what we've begun to see from our patients is that the tenor of the information has changed … to have it be presented in such a way that it's us versus them. It's who you like versus who you don't like, and it's not benign simple information.
It's generally angry information or it's vitriol and it's presented as basic information, but it's not quite just purely information. It's almost like you're being told you have to feel a certain way or believe a certain way. So that's what seems to have changed. It's really the tenor of the information.
Daley: Are certain groups of people you work with, especially under stress?
Moss: People that are from vulnerable groups are feeling less safe … maybe they're involved with DEI or some of the other groups that are feeling that changes that are being made are impacting them directly.
I'm definitely hearing more from my patients that are from vulnerable groups. I'm hearing more from my people that perhaps maybe have more financial stressors. They feel less secure about everything that's changing, and they wonder how things are going to be for them long term.
But when it comes to age, it's young or old in all groups, in between anybody that had worries or fears are feeling more so because it just feels as if everything's less secure … because if you feel less secure, you feel less knowledgeable about what's happening. You try to find out more information, and then you pursue more information, and that escalates the feeling of feeling overwhelmed because your response to, I don't know what's happening next, I don't know what's going on, is to try to control something. So they try to learn more and it exacerbates what they're already dealing with.
Daley: What other things can people do to manage their stress?
Moss: Reach out to your friends and your family and your communities, because that's the time where you can find out that you're not alone. You can also find out that there's more support there than you perhaps realize because you were feeling isolated by all that is happening. It is the beginning of a new year, so this is the perfect time for those New Year's resolutions of getting back to exercising, developing a new routine for self-care that not only would be helpful during tumultuous times, it's helpful at any time.
And certainly connecting with community and friends and family is something that we do have good research on that actually can help anybody, be it depression, anxiety, or anything else that's psychiatric or psychologic in nature.
Daley: Do you have a good example of a patient using one of these strategies to feel better?
Moss: I have a patient that is involved with some of the communities you brought up, DEI, as well as the LGBTQI community. They reached out to that community and found out there was the center that's in Denver and other places where they found more like-minded people, and they went from feeling overwhelmed and isolated to actually connected because they had a larger group of people to pull from it, and that felt the same way, had similar experiences. So within the last few weeks, they went from feeling overwhelmed to actually feeling a little more hopeful because there were more people there for them and there was a community for them to connect to.
Daley: Of course, seeking a mental health provider to speak to can help.
Moss: It’s somebody like me, that's a psychiatrist or the different levels of therapist. This is the perfect time to establish a relationship with the behavioral health community. We're seeing more of it, so we're more aware of it and we're more attuned to be able to step in and help out anybody that's needing help in the challenging times that we're facing.
Daley: Do people have a great capacity to bounce back? Is that something you tell your patients?
Moss: If nothing else in human history, we have proven to be persistent and resilient and also sort of remind them that you want to be able to be there for your friends and your family and even yourself.
So if you're overwhelmed by the things you can't control and you can't be there for friends, family, and yourself, so sometimes it's best to take a step back, think about what you can control and concentrate on those parts, and when you feel like you're in a little more in control and you're able to change the things that are within your realm, you can feel a little bit better and realize that you really will make it through what feels like an overwhelming, challenging time.
