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COVID-19 causes strain on mental health: State launches free 24-hour helpline

The state has been seeing a rise in mental health related issues with new stress being brought on by COVID-19.

INDIANAPOLIS — These past few months have been stressful for many with finding new routines to even deciding how children should go back to school.

This week, Indiana’s Family and Social Services Division of Mental Health and Addiction launched a 24-7 helpline for people struggling during the pandemic.

It is a confidential resource available to Hoosiers that allows them to speak to a trained counselor, called “Be Well Crisis Helpline” at 211. 

The state has been seeing a rise in mental health-related issues with new stress being brought on by COVID-19.

Just as we have been going through different stages of reopening, we are also going through different stages of coping with COVID-19.

Kimble Richardson, a licensed mental health counselor at Community Health, said it’s completely normal to fall back on some of those emotions we were feeling in March because there is still a lot of unknown.

“When people are starting to feel anxious again, some of that fear comes from, ‘oh no, it is happening again,’” Richardson said.

Richardson said a lot of the emotions we put off at the beginning of the pandemic are now creeping back, especially with an uptick in cases and new mask requirements adding to the anxiety.

“At the beginning, we were in such shock and we had to get in action mode very quickly to work on new routines, figure out what to do for work if we lost our jobs and frankly, put our feelings and emotions on the back burner,” he said.

He said it’s normal to go through different stages of emotion during the pandemic and encourages Hoosiers to use the free helpline from the state.

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