Items

• 2021-07-06

  The Year the World Turned Upside Down

  In the year of COVID-19, I did not want to leave my house. I was already an anxious person before COVID-19, so I was scared out of my mind when it hit. A lot of people do not talk about the mental effect that COVID-19 has had on teenagers. COVID-19 happened at the end of my sophomore year. Before COVID-19, I was such an outgoing person, and now I feel like I do not know how to talk to people without overthinking. My junior year of doing mostly virtual has crippled me in a way that few can understand. My social battery has never seemed to recover, and my anxiety is always on ten whenever I go out in public. It feels like during this pandemic, I have lost a part of me that I may never get back. I now struggle with talking to people and making friends at my new school. I was so stuck in my head during the pandemic, and now I do not know how to get out. I recognize my privilege in never getting COVID-19 and no one close to me dying. I just wanted to acknowledge the effects of COVID-19 on my mental health. I hope that I can work through the issues this pandemic has caused me and get to a better place mentally.
• 
  2020-04

  Clean Hands and Empty Spirits

  This story is a small snapshot into how I felt mentally, and smelled, heard, and touched physically during April 2020. It talks about how the smells and noises around me at the time contributed to my worsening mental state and the feeling of hopelessness. This is important to me because it was this time that I learned that I am mentally stronger than I think and that I can get through rough patches with the help of my husband. It was not a fun experience, but I grew from it.
• 
  2020-04-09

  How pets help people cope during a pandemic

  This article talks about the numerous health benefits that scientific studies have proven we get from pet ownership. During the pandemic, those health benefits are more important than ever. Given that there is no evidence that people can get COVID from their animal companions, interacting with your pet is a fun, easy, and safe way to stay healthy and happy during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-11-24

  Human–dog relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic

  A study done in Israel looks at the relationship between humans and dogs during the pandemic. The study finds that, like in the United States, there was a significant increase in dog adoptions in Israel during the pandemic. They also found a direct correlation between the mental health of the owner and the perceived quality of the life of the dog.
• 2021-06-19

  Pet Adoption Comic NPR

  This comic is fun, engaging, and informative. It talks about the increase in pet adoption during the pandemic and how pets helped a lot of people deal with emotional trauma. It cautions would-be pet owners not to jump blindly into adopting and to think about what will happen when life returns to normal. Separation anxiety can be difficult for pets to deal with, and owners need to have a plan for that.
• 
  2021-06-13

  COVID and My Mental State

  I've never really felt like this before COVID, maybe at times but not as frequent. COVID has been a whole different experiences for me in many ways. I've never really felt so helpless even until now. Having nothing to do or being stuck at home, it took a toll on me. Many of the things I had a passion for or loved doing has made me lose motivation. I have been also slacking on my studies. COVID has also made me realized that I have no friends or personal relations outside of my family. Not going outside as also made me get terrible anxiety and talking to people has been difficult. But I have been working on it as of recently and working on myself little by little every day.
• 
  2021-05-29

  COVID-19 and Mental Health

  I took this picture on May 29, 2020, at 10:35 am. Why I choose this picture? This picture reflected my feeling in 2020. After months without going outside, I was heading to Staten Island to visit my aunt. I remember that I had anxiety even to open the door of my apartment. Whenever I went outside, it was close to my apartment, and my skin started to itch for no reason. My family used to watch the news the whole day. I was tired of listening to the report. Besides, during COVID-19, I was having an awful time. A few months ago, one of my friends died, and It was depressing for me. Before she died, I let my ego break the relationship between us. I refused to call her or text her because I was tired of looking after her. I remember my father told me to call her because I did not know what was happening with her. I ignored him. Riding to Staten Island that morning made me remember the hard time that I was going through. The day that I went to Staten Island, it was cloudy and dark. I thought that the ferry would sink into the water. When I got to Staten Island, it started to rain, and I did not bring an umbrella. I was mad, but it was my fault for not checking the weather. I compare that dark and desperate day with the mourning of my friend and the pandemic. For months, I felt guilty and thought that I did not deserve anything good in my life. The worst of all of this is that I did not have anybody to talk to. I was in quarantine for months, and it affected my mental health. I had no desire to continue college and my business. I used to cry a lot, and all I wanted was to talk to someone about how the pandemic and the death of my friend affected me. I had desired to go to the Dominican Republic, but I could not go. I think that this source can help historians because they can get to know about different perspectives of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. They would notice the anxiety that not only I went through, but everybody around the world had been through. My neighborhood was affected significantly. Some of my neighbors got COVID and died from it. I know that many people saw themselves as the picture. They thought that everything around them was going to end. They thought that they would be stuck in the pandemic forever.
• 
  2020-05-01

  Social Distancing - Self Distancing

  When the Covid-19 pandemic caused New York City to go into lockdown the second week of March, it never once crossed my mind how large of an impact this shutdown would have in my personal life. In the picture below I show a poem I wrote during the sixth month of quarantine: My days felt like they were going on a loop. Everyday felt like a continuation of the day before and my mind was tired of it. In my poem I expressed that I felt like a bird that crashes on the windshield of a car, signaling the repetitiveness of my life in my small NYC apartment. I think that this time was one of the most difficult times for my mental health and I tried desperately to find a way of coping. Essentially, this poem represents the mental state I found myself in trying to find different ways to deal with the fact that life had paused abruptly and that nothing was certain anymore. One of the ways that I found myself doing a lot during this time was sleeping. I began to get worried when one day I woke up at 4pm and felt as if I had woken up at 9am. I knew my sleep schedule was a disaster, but I think that this represents how monotone life felt. On another hand, I think that the lockdown served as an opportunity to reorganize my priorities and discover new likes and dislikes. Since I had recently changed my major from Biology to English, this time helped me realize how much I enjoy writing and learning about other writers and their work. I never thought I would enjoy my major as much as I am enjoying it, especially since I can dedicate more time on it thanks to the spare time staying at home gives me. I think that this poem will benefit future historians in their study of the effects the COVID-19 lockdown on people’s mental health. Specifically, historians will be able to be exposed to the anxiety the world felt knowing that there was little we could do to reverse the effects the lockdown was having in our mental stability. Basically, historians will be able to analyze how much the pandemic affected us beyond the physical aspect but the detrimental effects it held against our mental health. All in all, COVID-19 surely fits the line by Charles Dickens, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.
• 
  2021-04-28

  Allison Oskar Oral History 2021/04/28

  This oral history focused on how smaller communities tackled the COVID-19 pandemic. The interview discusses how hospitals tackled the pandemic, and it goes into depth about what it was like to work for a hospital during this time. Also discussed were the ways in which the pandemic affected mental health and how it proved to be beneficial in some ways. There was a large focus on the ways in which COVID-19 affected the 'work life' balance of the interviewee.
• 2020-03-11

  My Life During The Pandemic

  It's important to me because it's going to be about my life and the way I carried myself during this pandemic. Because it made it very difficult for me to really go out, and made it extremely hard for me to go from being in person at school to being virtual classes. Which also made it hard for me to get used to it, I suffered a lot during the pandemic. I went through so much stress and had many many breakdowns thinking I couldn't do it the first semester during this scary situation, everyone was basically dying from this virus. I say that the lockdown did really affect me mentally and physically.
• 
  2021-04-11

  Alarm grows over impact of states banning trans youth treatment

  Medical experts and LGBT advocates are sounding the alarm over the physical and mental health risks to the transgender community after at least 19 state legislatures, including Arkansas, have proposed or passed bills seeking to ban trans youth treatment. Proponents of the bills have argued that the legislation is in place to protect children from making irreversible decisions about their bodies. But earlier this week, doctors and LGBT organizations defended treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and warned about a potential increased suicide rate among trans youth if such legislation is enacted.
• 
  2021-04-15

  Another Victim of a COVID Economy

  I have anxiety. It’s not uncommon, and I have coping mechanisms. One of the things that helps me not fixate on things out of my control is being active. So I run. And for the past six years, I have been very committed to “barre,” which is similar to Pilates. My barre studio is my respite from the world, one hour to focus just on myself and my muscles. And the supportive community is unlike any other I have been a part of (I’ve done boot camps, kickboxing, etc. and have never found anything like this.) Since exercise is crucial to my mental health, when the pandemic began, I knew I could not stop working out. Especially with a household of five suddenly being at home together 24 hours a day! I was extremely fortunate that my barre studio immediately transitioned online. In fact, all throughout this pandemic, I have held them up as my example of the exact right way to deal with this situation. They made a digital library, offered multiple daily live classes over Zoom, reopened as a hybrid. My barre classes have been the constant throughout this pandemic, especially before I returned to work in person. Up until a few weeks ago, my most consistent live interaction with adult humans not living in this house were my barre instructors and the other women in the classes. So when I opened my email and saw this message, it hit me like a ton of bricks. They couldn’t survive COVID-19. It makes sense - they had two studios before COVID and rent is not cheap in Orange County. I am, of course selfishly sad - where will I find a reasonably priced, low impact but high intensity exercise studio that is five minutes from both my daughter’s gym and our church? But my real sadness is for the small business owner who opened this studio eight years ago. She is truly passionate about physical and mental health and is probably one of the most positive people I have ever met. And in a way that doesn’t annoy you, which honestly is a gift. As people get excited about businesses reopening, it makes me reflect on how many more have had to close their doors permanently.
• 2021-04-15

  Missing Out and Silver Linings

  On Tuesday, my nine-year-old daughter had to return to school in-person for one day to take a state standardized test. She has been online all year attending school remotely through Zoom. Last week in my journal entry, I discussed how our school district gave parents three options for school this year: in-person, flex, and digital academy (online all year). The flex option allowed for parents to decide if their child(ren) would return to in-person schooling at a later date, and children could only return at the beginning of each quarter. We have had our kids home all year. We had to choose about the fourth quarter really early back at the beginning of March. Covid cases were starting to creep up so we decided to keep both our kids home. A major reason for our difficult decision was that my son who is in kindergarten would lose his current teacher and would have to have a new teacher for just the last quarter. We decided he should stay with his current teacher, whom he likes, and who also knows him very well at this point. My daughter, who is in fourth grade would keep her teacher no matter what, so it made our decision easy. It was easy until yesterday, the day after the test when my daughter woke up and realized that she would not get to go to school in-person that day and would have to log onto Zoom as usual. She got a taste of what life was like in-person for fourth grade, and she felt she was missing out on the experience. So, my daughter unfortunately was feeling sad yesterday morning. And this is another thing that has made this year so hard for parents. We must make decisions about our kids and their lives that no generation of parents has really had to make before. And sometimes it is hard and sometimes we second-guess those decisions. But honestly, my husband and I are doing our best. We chose their health over their emotions and socialization. We chose their health because we fear the unknown long-term effects of covid. I do not want to regret my kid getting covid and having lifelong health problems because I decided to send them back to school so they could be with their friends. Now, I say all of this in recognition that we have a tremendous amount of privilege in that my husband and I even have the choice of whether we can send our kids back to in-person school or not. So many families cannot do this or do not have a choice—I am aware of this and grateful for the privilege to have choices regarding their schooling. All I am saying is that parenting right now is hard regardless. So, yesterday morning, both my husband and I sat down and talked with my daughter about her feelings and gave her a hug. We acknowledged that what she was feeling was totally okay and validated it. I also reminded her of two positives from all of this. Since my daughter was loaned a laptop from her school, she started Zooming with a friend after school every day. The two have become very close spending time talking to each other every day for hours at a time. I told my daughter that if it were not for this experience that perhaps she would not have developed such a close friendship with this other girl. I also reminded her that all this time at home has made her and her little brother also very close. They have spent so many hours playing together—an opportunity that might not have happened had they not gone through this experience. So, there were a couple of silver-linings during these hard times for our family. And not to forget, my kids’ computer skills are outstanding now!
• 
  2021-04-07

  COVID-19 and the Brain

  COVID-19 has gone through a number of classifications. First as a “flu,” then as a “respiratory disease,” then as a “vascular disease,” and is in more recent studies, as a “brain disease.” Some reports are finding that one out of three COVID-19 survivors have mental health and/or neurological issues. This not only informs us of the complexity of COVID-19, but also brings light to the need to continue medical and psychological support of COVID survivors. Some survivors are described as having PTSD, and anxiety disorders are being diagnosed in a number of survivors. Neurologically, many survivors report “brain fog” and other issues. Another unexpected toll the virus takes on those infected.
• 
  2020-11

  Comparing the Impact of COVID-19-Related Social Distancing on Mood and Psychiatric Indicators in Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) and Non-SGM Individuals

  "There has been direct correlation with mental health disparities and sexual and gender minority (SGM) compared with cisgender heterosexual individuals. SGM members report having elevatedrates of emotional distress, symptoms related to mood and anxiety disorders, self-harm, and suicidal ideation and behavior. Social support is inversely related to psychiatric symptoms, regardless of SGM status. The COVID-19 pandemic—with its associated limited social interactions—represents an unprecedented period of acute distress with potential reductions in accessibility of social support, which might be of particular concern for SGM individuals' mental well-being. In the present study, we explored the extent to which potential changes in mental health outcomes (depressive symptoms, worry, perceived stress, positive and negative affect) throughout the duration of the pandemic were related to differences in perceptions of social support and engagement in virtual social activity, as a function of SGM status. "-Front Psychiatry. 2020; 11: 590318. Published online 2020 Dec 22. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.590318
• 
  2020-09

  College Students During COVID

  This is a story about how college student's mental health has been affected during COVID as a unique population. I wanted to include this to provide context about why my interviewee may have been reluctant to seek out resources due to the extra stress that he had been experiencing. This study goes into how the factors that college students, in particular, are experiencing. This article was done by a survey and shows how common these feelings are that may have deterred students from seeking help due to stress.
• 
  2021-04-05

  Online Article: Law enforcement officers need to be proactive in self-care to ensure they are resilient in the midst of loss and trauma

  This article discusses guidance for law enforcement professionals to adopt better self-care practices through this pandemic and the increased volume of vicarious trauma, depression, anxiety, and suffering prevalent in our societies. The author specifically addresses the problem of police suicide, which is often committed at similar rates to military combat veterans. While the article's content helps officers potentially deal with the difficulties of their calling, it might also help the public better recognize the darker and unwelcome realities of police work.
• 
  2021-03-12

  Long-term Vaccine Effect Research Project

  This article is about the Healthcare Worker Exposure Response and Outcomes (HERO) research project. They are trying to understand the long-term effects of the Covid-19 vaccine. The population that they are using is first-responders, who were among the first group to receive the vaccine in most states. The project plans to conduct periodic surveys over a 2 year period. Since this vaccine was produced in record time, and especially the lack of available data to the long term effects, it is an important project. The project also surveys the first responders regarding their mental health during the pandemic. It includes fire fighters, EMS providers, and law enforcement.
• 
  2020-06-20

  For LGBTQ Patients, the Coronavirus Brings New Challenges

  This article by John Hopkins Medicine is talking about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the LGBTQ+ community. The doctor points out that community members are more likely to be smokers and so they are higher proportionately to have complications with COVID-19. The doctor also points out that gender-affirming surgery in the Transgender community has been delayed or is not being done at all which has impacted that community greatly. It is important that the doctor gives the advice to not isolate ourselves in the LGBTQ+ community throughout the pandemic.
• 2021-03-28

  Vaccinated

  I know the LGBTQ+ Community has a higher chance to have depression, anxiety, and other health ailments like many other minority communities. This Friday I got my second dose of the vaccine. I have been encouraging others in my LGBTQ+ Community to get the vaccine so this is one less health ailment they have to worry about.
• 
  03/13/2021

  Oral History: COVID-19 Affects On LGBTQ+

  Paul Jason Baker-Nicholas gives an oral history interview about how COVID-19 has affected the LGBTQ+ Community.
• 
  2021-03-10

  Justice for Angelo Quinto

  Tonight AAPIWL joined Angelo Quinto's family + community, the incredible organizers of @justiceforangeloquinto, Civil Rights Attorney @johnburrislawfirm , the mother of Oscar Grant- Rev. Wanda Johnson, @justice4steventaylor grandmother, @robbonta, Cat Brooks @antipoliceterrorproject, Antioch's elected officials, and hundreds of community members from all over the Bay Area to celebrate Angelo's 31st birthday. Tonight we all learned that Angelo was well loved by his family in Antioch and in the Philippines. His family talked about how amazing and special he was, and they were proud that he wanted to pursue his passions in art. We learned more about the powerful community that will continue to support the Quinto family in their fight for Angelo. Thank you again to the organizers for this beautiful celebration and vigil, for uplifting Angelo and his family, the call for solidarity, the need for mental health resources, demanding the end of police violence and the need for accountability for Angelo and the countless men who were also murdered by the Antioch Police Department while having a mental health crisis. We will continue to fight with you all. #JusticeForAngeloQuinto #JusticeForAngeloJusticeForAll #AAPIWomenLead #InSolidarity #StopAAPIHate
• 
  2020-08-05

  Justice for Travis Jordan

  “I expected an ambulance to come and convince him to get treatment at the hospital,” Tarin Vang said after calling 311 requesting a wellness check for her boyfriend, Travis Jordan. “I thought someone could come to save his life, calm him down and take him somewhere safe where he could get into a better frame of mind. I thought they would send someone who could help him come back to his senses.” ⁣ Two police officers with less than 11 months of experience responded to her call, MPD Officers Ryan Keyes and Neal Walsh. After following the officers request to leave his home, a complying and dispirited Travis was shot 8 times by officers. ⁣ ⁣ Travis Jordan should still be alive today. ⁣ ⁣ Travis' family is demanding:⁣ Travis’ case be REOPENED along with all other cases related to police violence.⁣ ⁣ Officers Neal Walsh and Ryan Keyes to be charged and prosecuted for the murder of Travis Jordan.⁣ ⁣ For his belongings to be given back to the family. Mike Freeman refuses to give back Travis’ notebook and black leather bracelet even though the case is closed. This is ILLEGAL.⁣ ⁣ Mental health professionals to be first responders on scene during a mental health crisis, NOT the police.⁣ ⁣ Visit 'Justice for Travis Jordan' on Facebook to support the family and learn more.⁣ ⁣ Photos from Justice for Travis Jordan - 38th Birthday Protest - July 31, 2020
• 
  2021-03-17

  Cordale Handy in Mental Health Crisis Killed by Saint Paul Police

  In 2017, 29-year-old, Cordale Handy was killed by Saint Paul Police as he was navigating a mental health crisis. Since her son’s death, Cordale’s mother, Kim Handy-Jones, has continuously championed an end to police violence and demand accountability for her son's death.
• 
  2021-02-19

  The Person I Can No Longer Be

  This pandemic has been a disaster for parents. We have two adults working from home, two remote learners, and a 3-year-old. Cut off from our usual support systems, many days we feel like we are hanging on by a thread. I write a lot and have been chronicling our day-to-day activities (or lack thereof) throughout the pandemic.
• 
  2021-02-16

  Desert Mountains in Late Afternoon, Tucson, Arizona, USA

  This photograph of desert mountains in Tucson, Arizona, USA, shows the beauty and the power of nature. The image is associated with our creation of an Environment collection in the archive. We seek to collect stories about the environment: how it has been impacted by the pandemic, with changes in pollution levels, increased levels of trash, and alterations in human interactions, and how humans have interacted with the environment during the pandemic, using it decrease stress, get out of the house, grow food, and gain a greater knowledge and appreciation of it.
• 
  2021-02-27

  One Bronx Mom, Two Young Adult Daughters, Two Mental Health Crises

  An anonymous Bronx mother tells the story of her two daughters’ mental health challenges during the pandemic. First, her 21 year old daughter had a Covid-related panic attack in May 2020 that required 4 weeks of hospitalization. This daughter was on the road to recovery when her 24 year old daughter fell into a severe depression in August. The mother describes how this situation affected her entire family and how both daughters returned to mental health even though the pandemic hasn’t ended yet.
• 
  2020-12-23

  COVID-19 The Good, The Bad, and The Deadly….

  COVID-19 The Good, The Bad, and The Deadly…. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck I was in the spring semester of my second year of nursing school. Being naïve and not having experienced a pandemic before, I expected COVID-19 to breeze in and out like the flu every year. What I didn’t expect was a deadly virus that would leave behind it a path of death, despair, and devastation. One of the biggest areas in my life that was impacted by COVID was my education. As classes moved to virtual platforms there was a major learning curve for both students and professors. CDC guidelines and social distancing made it difficult to find areas on campus to study and next to impossible to study in groups. My friends and I worried about our lack of clinical experiences and how that was going to impact our future. Since I had virtually no clinical hours during my specialty rotations, not only was I unsure of my skills, I was also unsure of where I wanted to take my nursing career. Returning to work over winter break was also very challenging. I am a patient care assistant and medication technician at an assisted living facility. All throughout the summer I worked with the threat of COVID looming above my head like a dark cloud. It was the first time in my life that I felt people really depended on me. I understood that my actions impacted the health of others. Fortunately, my residents all remained safe. However, I was not prepared for my return a few months later. The residents were no longer allowed to have visitors and they started testing positive for COVID. At one point we started to run low on personal protective equipment, but we were still trying to take all the precautions that we could to keep us and our residents safe. It was heart breaking to be the one holding a residents hand as they passed away due to coronavirus. My job became a lot more difficult having to communicate with families and watching their final moments with their loved ones. The residents that were lucky enough to not contract the virus were lonely and couldn’t understand why they had to quarantine. They felt abandoned and afraid. It was a very trying time for all my coworkers since we were all working overtime due to our staffing shortages. Working overtime was both physically and mentally draining. Even on my days off I was called in because staff members were getting sick and were unable to come in. It was mentally exhausting because every day I would come in to work and be nervous to walk in to report and see who had passed in the hours I was gone. COVID-19 also brought about some remarkable changes. I have spent a lot more time with my family as we have discovered our new passion-hiking. My co-workers and I have a new appreciation for one another and take the time to have meals together and support one another to make sure we are doing okay mentally. I have been part of innovative changes like my COVID-19 remote patient monitoring job and positive experiences at the COVID vaccine clinic. I have seen the medical and scientific communities collaborate on treatment guidelines and the development of a vaccine. It has also been an incredible period for change and innovation.
• 
  2020-03-11

  Mental Health during the Pandemic

  On March 11th, 2020, my life changed drastically. Just over a month into my second semester of my freshman year at Duquesne University, I was excited to keep making memories with people who became like a second family to me. However, news of a virus on the other side of the world was spreading quickly. We never thought that it would come to this country or affect us in the slightest. But on this day, the entire student body received an email that would absolutely crush me: the email from the president of the University telling us that we would need to leave. When I received this news, I do not know which I was more scared of, this mysterious virus or not being able to see my new friends for a long time. At this point, I did not know how the virus was going to affect me. I had absolutely no idea how much tragedy was about to spread throughout the country. All I knew was that the high of being a college student, with independence and a new group of amazing people was being ripped away from me like a snap of the fingers. As soon as I got home, all I did was complain to my parents that I wished I was at school. Each time I did this, I would end up feeling terrible, because I knew that people were suffering. However, even though I knew I shouldn’t, I felt like I was suffering too. My entire life, I was raised as an only child. As a kid and in high school, I had an amazing group of friends that I still talk to today. When I went to college, I started spending every waking moment with my new group of friends, whether it be doing homework, watching movies, etc. I knew I wasn’t going to be with them year-round, but I knew that I was not ready to leave them in the middle of March. After all, the semester wasn’t even over yet. Spending the rest of my semester at home was extremely difficult for me. I felt so lonely, even though my friends were just a phone call or text away. However, every time I communicated with them, I somehow felt further away from them. It was a constant reminder that I should be with them, but I could not be. Throughout the last months of the semester and into the summer, my mental health rapidly. I knew I was experiencing a small form of depression, but I did not want to admit it to anyone because there were people in the world that were suffering more as a result of the virus. I soon found some form of comfort when I realized that other teenagers and first-year college students were going through the same thing as me. So many people were taken away from the people and places that they loved most, and everyone was having a hard time coping. The coronavirus has put the entire world through a lot, but each day I have hope that the end is near, and that we will all be reunited with the world we used to know.
• 
  2021-02-07

  Canada's LGBTQ+ Community Struggles with Housing & Health (On Top of the Discrimination)

  Unfortunately, the LGBTQ+ community is no stranger to discrimination. From school, to work, to finding a safe place to stay. We have heard about campuses closing due to the pandemic, and thus left many in the community to reevaluate their housing options. Some have had to return to their family home, despite some of those homes being less than accepting of them. With everyone concerned over their health, it is only right to allow everyone to feel safe where they live, too. However, this does not only affect the youth populations. The older members of the community have also been struggling with housing and healthcare. As one of the linked articles wrote, there is a lack of data collection regarding the LGBTQ+ populations. Their needs and concerns cannot be tackled with if the data were never there to begin with. It seems to go downhill from here as health concerns increase while their mental health deteriorates.
• 
  2021-02-07

  Supporting Children with ADHD During A Pandemic

  ADHD is thankfully not as new of a topic to talk about, but I cannot deny that the stigma against mental health still exists today. While thinking about how so many children are now spending a year and an uncertain future indoors, learning from home, and some unable to grasp why, I thought about those with ADHD. A person’s home is supposed to be associated with comfort and otherwise relaxation from a day at out in the world – at school and work for guardians. Associations can be very powerful, and it can be rather disruptive for children with this big of a change. Half a child’s day is typically dedicated to academics and social connections and is especially important for children in their formative years. Due to the pandemic, they have been pulled from that environment they have already associated with learning, friends, and routine. The links provide some assistance for guardians who may be struggling with their child(ren), especially those diagnosed with ADHD. Concentration and routine seem to be the biggest obstacles, so I do hope the strategies provided may be of help to guardians and their dependents. https://childmind.org/article/giving-kids-with-adhd-support-and-structure-during-the-coronavirus-crisis/ https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/ADHD-and-Learning-During-COVID-19.aspx https://chadd.org/adhd-and-covid-19/
• 2020-10

  Quarantine Tattoo

  In August I got a tattoo that I did not want and did not like for seemingly no reason. Then in October I mentioned this to my psychiatrist and was promptly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I had gotten my tattoo during a manic episode. The typical risk-taking behavior that I would do in my day to day life became more drastic and dramatic during COVID. When I am not manic I'm very careful with regard to the pandemic so the pandemic made my behavioral differences more pronounced and more obvious to a doctor. Due to the pandemic, I was able to receive a diagnosis and begin treatment. Had there not been a pandemic I likely would not have sought treatment as I would have continued to assume that these behaviors were just a normal part of my personality.
• 2021-02-07

  Spreading Happiness

  As a way to help my students stay social and emotionally well I have started to do a spread happiness wall where they have to leave at least one nice note to either a classmate or to me as a way to spread joy. To me, this will brighten their day and show them that someone cares for them and may help get some of them out of a funk of sadness and encourage more social interaction with one another. To me, this is very important because students are having a tuff time during the pandemic along with adults. Overall, all people need to know that they are cared for.
• 2021-02-07

  New Routines in Education

  The face of education has changed is an understatement. It is not even recognizable as it once was a year ago. We spend more time on hygiene than we have ever before. Most students in my school district have opted to stay online while the handful comes in small cohorts. We are required to keep the socially distanced, masks on, no circulation around the room, teaching them from the Zoom screen even if they are live in class. This has caused me as a teacher to be sad as I thrive on being able to teach my students face to face and interact with them however, I understand. This pandemic I feel has changed K-12 education forever and not for the best in some ways. The new way of teaching has caused many teachers to leave, change their attitudes, and have made us focus on just the basics of student's needs in many cases.
• 
  2021-01-31

  Spotify Called Out My Podcast Addiction

  Throughout the majority of 2020, I had very little social interaction. I wasn’t working a job for the majority of the year, I had moved away from most of my family and friends, and I grew so lonely very quickly. In response to the lack of social interaction, I turned to podcasts for a sense of conversation and connection. While my mental health did suffer and I continued to feel lonely, it gave me an outlet to focus on that was different than what was occurring in the world at the moment. For those who don’t know, Spotify records users' listening history through the end of October and presents it to you at the end of the year in what they called “Spotify Wrapped.” Mine presented this to me, that I had listened to 18,677 minutes, or about 311 hours, of podcasts by the end of October 2020. I am thankful to podcast creators for providing me with constant entertainment when I wanted to think about anything besides the pandemic.
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  2021-01-30

  Mood Boards!

  Being a teacher in the K-12 arena I am always having to do lesson plans, grades, parent contacts, and more. Then here comes COVID-19 adding an extra layer which also adds its extra challenge to the problem. This includes thinking more about the student Social Emotional Learning (SEL) which mean doing more check-ins on how they are doing emotionally. So, I included one example I have done with my students which was dealing with emojis and which one they felt like that day and why. I received various answers and reasons which helped me see how my students felt physically and emotionally. I enjoyed this activity and so did my students. They love hearing which one I am and why as well.
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  2021-01-24

  Surge of Student Suicides Pushes Las Vegas Schools to Reopen

  This is my worst fear for my students. All of us are on high alert for our students right now. The feeling of hopelessness is overwhelming our children. The next town over a child ended their life a few months ago. At the school board meetings, the children are saying that they feel desperate. I had a student who would put on a 72 hour hold for attempting to take her life before Christmas. I worry about my own pre-teen who is the most adaptive child I know, but he is missing his friends and his whole world has changed. I know my district is worried for the wellbeing of our kids. They want to open now, even if the numbers are high and even if we are not vaccinated yet. Anything to get these kids back into the classroom. The thing is suicide and depression are nothing new with kids. We know this. But now, I do not greet them at the door every morning, I do not see if they fall asleep in class every day, I can't stop them on their way out and ask if they are ok because I noticed a change in their body language. That ability saved kids before and now teachers cannot use that superpower to catch the kids when they fall. I worry that I will receive an e-mail telling me that one of our students did not make it through. That is my biggest fear right now.
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  2021-01-22

  A Covid Experience

  I learn about myself through the stories of others; this account is both a recounting of my friend Stephanie’s story, a conversation we had after she contracted Covid19, and my own introspection about the different impact that written and spoken stories have.
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  2021-01-17

  Entering 2021

  2020 was rough. I don’t want 2021 to be a repeat. This is my hope for 2021. This is what I hope to accomplish this year to keep myself motivated.
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  2020-10-29

  Election Week Anxiety

  Due to the massive number of American voters who decided to cast mail-in ballots, coupled with the unprecedented voter turnout, American’s did not get an answer on Wednesday morning as to who the next POTUS was going to be. This uncertainty, along with the climbing covid-19 numbers, meant a lot of citizens were feeling overwhelmed and anxious about what the next few days, and perhaps weeks, would entail. Crisis hotlines in the US saw a spike in calls related to election anxiety. This political cartoon created by Bruce Plante shows the anxiety that the hotline workers themselves might have been experiencing. With call after call coming into these centers, hotline workers do their best to ease the minds of those on the other side of the phone call. This is significant to 2020 because it illustrates the collective emotions voters were facing in the first week of November 2020.
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  2020-12-10

  Numbskull

  “Coronavirus has taken an extreme toll on my mental health and many others. This image symbolizes the emptiness in my skull. Feeling as though there is no brain at all. Mushrooms growing on the empty decomposed bits of what’s left of the brain. The majority of others, especially students right now, have little to no energy left in them. Unable to keep up with assignments and the feeling of overall helplessness. This does seem dark and scary but that is the whole point. No one is okay right now.” -Julianna Sheridan when being asked to explain why her drawing represents her mental state during the pandemic.
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  2020-12-08

  Mental Health in a Pandemic, 2020

  “It represents my mental health in the sense that the muddled background color represents all the “crappy” things going on in the world, and the chaotic lines also represent that, but they are the more pressing matters. The chaotic lines also connect to the head, representing the way everything got to me and in my head during this, and gave me a very jealous outlook on life, because there were a lot of people better off than I was, mentally, physically, financially, even though I was not in THAT bad of a place comparatively to others. Also the different textures between watercolor, pencil, and pen is representative of the different layers and different things going on in my life all at once. I really utilized the symbolism of things as well as playing with different textures in a cohesive way to represent myself and my feelings in a more abstract way.” -Sydney Avtges's response to when I asked her how her drawing represents her mental state during the pandemic.
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  2020-09-09

  Crisis Line in a Pandemic

  An article from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) about the importance of crisis phone lines to mental health in Indigenous communities
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  2020-12-03

  Worsening Mental Health in NB as Pandemic Causes Stress

  A statement from the Canadian Mental Health Association concerning the negative impacts the pandemic is having on mental health in Canada
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  2020-04-11

  Mental Health Check-ins for People Isolating in Nunavut

  An article from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about mental health workers in Nunavut trying to support people in self-isolation
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  2020-07

  Mental Health in Canada: Covid-19 and Beyond

  Mental health is health, this report shows the pandemic is both magnifying and contributing to Canada's mental health crisis. COVID-19 took a toll on the populations mental health, and we are expecting long term mental health effects to burden Canadians. The CAMH demands the government and policy makers step up and make mental health a priority by investing in long-term, system wide response.
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  2020-12-13

  Nunavut Health Facilities Map

  A Map showing all the active health facilities in Nunavut
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  2020-06-18

  Is Another Public Health Crisis Brewing Beneath the COVID-19 Pandemic?

  An article from the Canadian Journal of Public Health that discusses the risk of substance abuse problems becoming worse across Canada due to the trauma and stress of the pandemic.
• 
  2020

  Indigenous Wellbeing in the Times of COVID-19: Four Directions Virtual Support Hub

  A group of Indigenous women adapted the Medicine Wheel to promoted healthy strategies to cope with the pandemic to the public. This rendition is a holistic approach, inspired by the sacred teaching of their ancestors and the Seven Fire Prophecies, designed to enhance the wellness of the body, spirit, heart, and mind.
• 2020-11-20

  Mental Health in the Winter of a Pandemic

  Every winter there is a rise in anxiety and depression. Shorter days, colder temperatures, and staying inside all contribute to a widespread worsening mental health. The pandemic has already had a drastic affect on mental health but most of the pandemic has been during the spring, summer, and fall. Now that we are entering the final season of the year and COVID cases are rising, we are in for a tougher winter. Shutdowns are happening again and people are having to go into more intense quarantines again will will have large effects on people's mental health.