Managing Your Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies

Hope Virgo, Founder of #DumpTheScales

World Mental Health Day is a vital day in raising awareness of mental health to shine a spotlight on mental illness. This year’s theme is ‘access to services – mental health in catastrophes and emergencies’. The theme highlights the importance of people being able to protect their mental health in times of global instability.

Global instability is something that so many of us lived through during the COVID-19 Pandemic. A time of uncertainty and fear that swept the world. During that period, we saw a sharp rise in mental health struggles anxiety, depression, isolation, and a significant increase in people seeking help for eating disorders. And even though the lockdowns are over and life has returned to a “new normal,” the aftershocks are still with us. The pandemic may have officially ended, but its emotional and psychological effects continue to ripple through our communities.

But it didn’t stop with the pandemic, even this morning when I opened Instagram, I was immediately flooded by global events.

Perhaps, like me, as you scroll through your phones you are bombarded with these stories too.

Perhaps, like me, you have thought over the last week that the world is a sad place, a place that is in constant crisis.

But it didn’t stop with COVID. Just this morning, I opened Instagram and was instantly flooded with stories of war, natural disasters, and human suffering around the world. Perhaps, like me, as you scroll through your phone, you feel bombarded by these heartbreaking updates.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself thinking lately, “The world feels like a sad and broken place.” I know I have.

Just the other day, I was voice noting a friend, sharing my sadness for the world our children are growing up in. A world that feels heavy, uncertain, and sometimes overwhelming. And yet, despite the weight of it all, we continue to consume this content often without realising the toll it takes on our mental health.

I know I do it too, the endless cycle of scrolling and reading distressing news late at night when we can’t sleep or checking updates during every quiet moment of the day. It becomes a habit. It becomes normal. But our brains are quietly absorbing every story and every image. And even though we may not see it straight away, the emotional impact builds up.

It is very important we are aware of the news, but we need to be aware of the impact on our mental health when we are looking at these events. No matter how big or small they are, they can impact us. They can trigger in us a stress response which could show up in tiredness, physical pain, worrying, anger, sadness, or feeling ‘stuck’.

So, what can you do to manage your mental health in these moments where world events seem to completely consume us:

Be mindful of how much time you spend scrolling
Set boundaries around the news. In our house during the pandemic, we limited the time we could talk about it, so it didn’t feel as consuming
Book some positive things
Name things each day you are grateful for
Talk about how you feel with others

Whilst I think awareness days are important, let’s remember that mental illnesses don’t just disappear after today. Mental health is something that we all have and must learn to look after. For many people, they are lived experiences and ongoing, daily realities. Whether it’s trauma from a global crisis, grief from a loss, or the silent battle of living with anxiety or depression, mental health is something we must continue to talk about all year round.

So today, check in with yourself. Check in with your loved ones. And if you need help please reach out.