How we’re supporting mental health during COVID-19
https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-mental-health-survey
Sleep
Physical activity
Spending time in green spaces or with pets
Smoking or vaping, drinking alcohol, and snacking
Interacting in person or online with family and friends, and taking part in organised activities such as
sports, social clubs or religious groups
Feeling more alone
Working and screen time
Relaxation practices such as meditation or mindfulness
Reading, watching or listening to the news
Five tips to support your mental health during COVID-19
https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-mental-health-tips
Be kind to yourself and others
Altruism
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/doing-good-does-you-good/health-benefits-altruism
Belonging, perspective, contagion
Cut yourself and others some slack
Check your sources (but not too often)
Facts, not emotions
Keep in touch
Take care of yourself
Nutrition
Stay active
Quiet unwind time
Green space
Bring some structure to your day
Some you time
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
https://patient.info/doctor/patient-health-questionnaire-phq-9
Answers
Not at all, 0
Several days, 1
More than half the days, 2
Nearly every day, 3
The 9 questions
Little interest or pleasure in doing things?
Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?
Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much?
Feeling tired or having little energy?
Poor appetite or overeating?
Feeling bad about yourself – or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down?
Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television?
Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed?
Or the opposite – being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual?
Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way?
Score, 0 to 27
Validity has been assessed against an independent structured mental health professional (MHP) interview.
PHQ-9 score ≥10 had a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 88% for major depression
Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7)
https://patient.info/doctor/generalised-anxiety-disorder-assessment-gad-7
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered
by any of the following problems?
The 7 questions
Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge?
Not being able to stop or control worrying?
Worrying too much about different things?
Trouble relaxing?
Being so restless that it is hard to sit still?
Becoming easily annoyed or irritable?
Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen?
Score, 0 to 21
5, mild anxiety
10, moderate anxiety
15, severe anxiety
At a score of 10, GAD-7 has a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 82%
Also useful in, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder
Source