During a crisis like COVID-19, it is normal to feel anxious and uncertain. It is important to try to manage these feelings in our day-to-day lives. Last Thursday’s employee forum included a presentation on practical tools to help manage anxiety and improve wellbeing.
Dr Sika Turner, Senior Clinical Psychologist, presented several tools for managing anxiety. These included:
- Keeping balance in your life
- Physical relaxation
- Mental relaxation
- Problem solving
Dr Turner gave some suggestions that can help when feeling anxious and that work to maintain balance:
“Rule of thumb is do one thing every day just because you enjoy it. Really think about having small doses of these things that help us keep balanced.
“If we relax ourselves physically…the thought flow around anxiety is positively impacted.
“It’s a little bit about knowing how you carry anxiety and tension and checking in with yourself.”
There is further information and resources about anxiety available on the Monash Health COVID-19 site, which you can use and access at any time, in or out of work. The resources include:
- Dr Turner’s presentation
- Head of Psychology, Adjunct Professor Melissa Casey’s presentations on anxiety
- Head of Organisational Transformation, Barry Bloch’s presentation on how to look after yourself during challenging times
resources from the Black Dog Institute - Mindfulness tips, tools and videos and weekly, online mindfulness sessions with Southern Synergy.
If you find yourself feeling anxious or stressed and want to talk to someone, there are support services available to Monash Health employees including the Employee Assistance Program and Call a Psychologist.
Approved by Karen Lowe