STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As isolation continues during the coronavirus outbreak, mental health professionals are taking steps to ensure Staten Islanders have access to the care they need.
Richmond University Medical Center has set up a 24-hour mental-health hotline (718-818-6300) for people who might be feeling stressed or anxious in the changing times. The hotline is staffed by clinical staff from the hospital’s department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
“We want to help people make sense of everything that is changing so rapidly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hospital President and CEO Dr. Daniel Messina said. "Sometimes people just need to talk to someone to feel a little bit better. We want people to know we are here for them.”
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A spokesman for Staten Island University Hospital said the hospital is reaching out directly to its behavioral health patients to provide them with the resources they need.
Information from the Centers for Disease Control provides recommendations on what people can do to avoid stress, including breaks from the consumption of virus-related information, exercise, and remaining in contact with others despite the social isolation.
Government officials have put in place various policies and recommendations for people to isolate themselves and limit their social interactions.
Dr. Amarjit Kaur, a Staten Island psychiatrist, had similar recommendations for how people can best deal with the stress and anxiety caused by the virus’ outbreak.
“We are inundated with information of how to take care of ourselves,” she said. “We are all going to react very differently, but I think we can say that we have to validate what we are feeling.”
Kaur recommends continuing to follow the self-care guidelines like washing your hands and social distancing, but remaining aware of how the ongoing pandemic is making you feel.
She also said that for those working from home, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated to be 75% of non-essential workforce members on Thursday, should maintain some sort of scheduled routine as if they were going to work.
Kaur, as well as Pete Shiffman, a registered nurse who heads the Staten Island chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said people suffering from preexisting mental health conditions are of particular concern.
“For anyone who is unsure about attending therapy sessions outside the home, especially those who the CDC has described as being at higher risk, you can ask your health care provider about teletherapy or mental health services online,” Shiffman said in an email.
Many support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and groups run by NAMI are also going online as the nation continues to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
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