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Connecting with Peers and Mental Health Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social connection is powerful. Interacting with friends, classmates, and coworkers can inspire, entertain, and humor us. It can also bring out parts of our lives and personalities that might not shine through in class, work, or family time. Socializing can increase happiness1 and combat loneliness. Additionally, peer support among adults living with type 1 diabetes has been found to reduce the burdensome feeling of diabetes-specific loneliness.2

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented multiple barriers to social connection. Loneliness due to social distancing policies can increase risk for both depression and anxiety.34

Here are some tips for connecting during these challenging times:

  1. Check-in with yourself and your connections with others. Ask yourself questions like “When was the last time I chatted with a friend/peer?” “Who do I miss hanging out with the most?” Also consider the very important question: “Am I lonely?” Your answers to these questions can identify if/how social connections might be lacking and help you make a plan to fill those gaps.
  2. Set small, achievable goals that work for you. Figure out what you feel the most comfortable with, then work from there. Some examples might include: sending a text once a month to someone you lost touch with, scheduling a monthly videocall with a close group of friends, or create a group chat to share movie recommendations or recipes.
  3. Set up video calls for yourself or your family. Calls can be as structured or unstructured as you would like; from casual conversation to organized fun activities such as a board game or an art/cooking project. You can also consider serving favorite snacks during the call. Set start and end times, and try to end on a high note! Make this as different as possible from online meetings and classes. (Parents: Even if your child/teen seems uninterested, they might just be feeling it out. It can help to let them choose the game/activity and to set up video calls with kids/friends their age.)
  4. Social media can be helpful. Research on the downside of social media use has been mixed.5–7 Some research suggests that social media (e.g., Facebook) can provide opportunities to develop and maintain social connections, which is linked with less depression and anxiety and greater life satisfaction.8 However, too much of anything can have a downside, so use in moderation.
  5. Weigh the costs and benefits of socializing through screen time. Be aware that too much recreational (non-work/non-school) screen time can lead to mental health problems.9 So it is best to weigh the pros and cons of any recreational screen time activity. For instance, what is the social benefit of this activity and what is the downside of the adding screen time. Is it worth it? For example, playing videos games with friends online for 4 hours without much online chatting may not be as helpful as a 30-minute video chat with friends. Try to focus on activities that are short/time-limited and are as interactive as possible.

Sometimes more/different support is needed. Mental health problems have increased drastically as a result of COVID-19;10 so if you are struggling, you are not alone. Mental health providers can help with all sorts of issues, from managing a crisis to changing a lifestyle.

Here are some ways to connect to a mental health professional:

  1. For a list of in-network mental health providers, call the number on your health plan/insurance card.
  2. For a list of mental health providers trained in diabetes: https://professional.diabetes.org/mhp_listing
  3. To find providers across various regions and specialties: psychologytoday.com
  4. Call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255
  5. Text the Crisis Text Line: Text “HOME” to 741741

It is easy to feel alone, stuck, and overwhelmed right now. And while we may feel that way at times, it is important to remember that we are not alone. We are all surrounded by friends, coworkers, classmates, family, mental health professionals, and communities (like CWD) who want to help and support us. And sometimes it is our job to reach out, so they can do theirs.

 

References

  1. Mogilner C. The Pursuit of Happiness: Time, Money, and Social Connection. Psychol Sci. 2010;21(9):1348-1354. doi:10.1177/0956797610380696
  2. Joensen LE, Filges T, Willaing I. Patient perspectives on peer support for adults with type 1 diabetes: a need for diabetes-specific social capital. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2016;10:1443-1451. doi:10.2147/PPA.S111696
  3. Heinrich LM, Gullone E. The clinical significance of loneliness: a literature review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2006;26(6):695-718. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2006.04.002
  4. Palgi Y, Shrira A, Ring L, et al. The loneliness pandemic: Loneliness and other concomitants of depression, anxiety and their comorbidity during the COVID-19 outbreak. J Affect Disord. 2020;275:109-111. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.036
  5. Coyne SM, Rogers AA, Zurcher JD, Stockdale L, Booth M. Does time spent using social media impact mental health?: An eight year longitudinal study. Comput Hum Behav. 2020;104:106160. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.106160
  6. O’Reilly M, Dogra N, Whiteman N, Hughes J, Eruyar S, Reilly P. Is social media bad for mental health and wellbeing? Exploring the perspectives of adolescents. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2018;23(4):601-613. doi:10.1177/1359104518775154
  7. Berryman C, Ferguson CJ, Negy C. Social Media Use and Mental Health among Young Adults. Psychiatr Q. 2018;89(2):307-314. doi:10.1007/s11126-017-9535-6
  8. Grieve R, Indian M, Witteveen K, Anne Tolan G, Marrington J. Face-to-face or Facebook: Can social connectedness be derived online? Comput Hum Behav. 2013;29(3):604-609. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.11.017
  9. Babic MJ, Smith JJ, Morgan PJ, Eather N, Plotnikoff RC, Lubans DR. Longitudinal associations between changes in screen-time and mental health outcomes in adolescents. Ment Health Phys Act. 2017;12:124-131. doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2017.04.001
  10. Czeisler MÉ. Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, June 24–30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6932a1
Published: February 18, 2021
JessieWong2018TR

Jessie J. Wong, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and clinical scientist in Stanford University’s Department of Pediatric Diabetes and Endocrinology. She received his PhD in clinical psychology from Arizona State University and completed postdoctoral fellowships in health services research at the VA Palo Alto/Stanford University and pediatric psychology at Stanford University. Dr. Wong is the recipient of a K23 Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from NIDDK. Her research and clinical interests focus on the intersection of physical and mental health among children and adolescents with diabetes as well as interventions to improve the quality of life among these children and adolescents and their families.

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