According to Kaiser Family Foundation, about half of adults (47%) nationwide have reported negative mental health impacts during the pandemic — a significant increase from pre-pandemic levels. These impacts are not felt evenly. Mothers with children under age 18 are among the most likely to report stress and worry, at rates much higher than fathers. And Black adults are more likely to report a “major impact” to their mental health than white or Hispanic adults.
For adults whose mental health got worse due to the pandemic, being unable to find a provider and being unable to afford the cost are the biggest barriers to getting the services they need. Employers can support workers’ mental health and strengthen resilience in the workforce by providing free and highly accessible mental health resources.
The following is a list of resources you can share with your employees and workers. If you offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), you may wish to update this document with that information, as well as details about how employees can contact their insurance plan/provider regarding mental health benefits and resources.
- Coping with Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic, provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services, offers tips and resources.
- How Right Now, supported by the CDC Foundation, helps you identify your emotions and find helpful resources.
- Coping-19, a website from the CDC, the CDC Foundation and the Ad Council, provides tips, tools and resources for well-being.
- COVID-19 and Coping with Stress, a web resource from the CDC, provides insight on stress and how to cope.
- COVID-19 Stress and Management Tools, from the American Psychological Association, offers five quick actions to help manage excessive stress and the science behind those actions.
- Mental Health and COVID-19 Resources, from Mental Health America, provides wellness and coping resources.
- Top Ten COVID-19 Anxiety Reduction Strategies, from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, offers strategies to reduce anxiety.
- Guided Meditations and the Mindful App, from the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, offers guided meditations to help with anxiety.
For children and families
- Caring for your Children and Yourself during COVID-19, from Too Small to Fail, features ways you can reassure and comfort your children, while also taking small steps to care for yourself. (Also in Spanish.)
- Managing Coronavirus Anxiety: Tips and Strategies for Families, from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, shares strategies to manage COVID-related stress for families.
- What Parents Can Do When They’re Stressed During COVID-19, from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, provides 7 tips for coping with stress.
- Sesame Street in Communities, from Sesame Workshop, offers resources for families navigating different mental and emotional challenges.
- Find Your Words, from Kaiser Permanente, provides resources to talk with children and adults about mental health.
For local leaders
Supporting a Nation in Crisis, from the de Beaumont Foundation and Well Being Trust, provides leaders who play a vital role in the local economy with recommendations for addressing mental health in the immediate and recovery phases of the pandemic.
Suicide Prevention
- Seize the Awkward, by the Ad Council, the Jed Foundation and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, offers tips on how to maintain mental health during coronavirus.
- Mental Health and COVID-19 resources, from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, offers tools and resources to support mental health.
- Beginning July 16, 2022, “988” will be the nationwide 3-digit number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
