Dr. Sherry Benton is a storied psychologist. 

Previously serving as vice-president for practice at the Society of Counselling Psychology, former president at the Academy of Counselling Psychology, and counselling director at the University of Florida—where she also holds a professor emeritus title.

Over her two decades of involvement in postsecondary mental health services and education, she noticed an accessibility issue.

To bridge the gap, Dr. Benton founded and became chief science officer of Therapy Assistance Online (TAO), an online resource for those seeking accessible mental health services. Since TAO’s creation, it has been implemented in 180 postsecondary schools across the United States and Canada—including Carleton University. 

In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Benton shared her advice for coping during an unprecedented era of panic.

The Charlatan: When we’re talking about young adults specifically, do you think that we’re going to see a rise in the more severe cases of young adult mental health issues due to COVID-19?

Dr. Sherry Benton: It’s kind of hard to tell. Sometimes crises like this—you could think about after 9/11 or after the Oklahoma City bombing, which are probably the other kinds of national, big events that had an impact—lots of people kind of pulled together and were helpful to each other and that actually helped people get through.

An interesting fact, there wasn’t a huge increase in mental health problems in New York after 9/11. But, there were big increases in mental health problems after [Hurricane] Katrina. The difference was that in New York, there was a strong sense of community and pulling together, and there were things you could do. When you can take action, then you weather the storm much better than when it doesn’t feel like you can take any action. 

In Katrina, everybody was so spread out afterwards, that there was no sense of community for the people who had gone through that, or not as much of it. And the other thing was, you felt helpless. There was nothing you could do. There weren’t really specific actions you could take to get through it. So, how we respond to this crisis will really determine how much long term impact it’s going to have on us.

TC: What sort of ways would you suggest people could help even when they’re in self-isolation?

SB: That’s one of the nice things about having all of the avenues for connecting that we have today. I have gotten probably 70 interactions with my siblings by text message in the last 48 hours. And we, you know, we’re old and we have our own lives and do not live in the same place. So normally, we usually stay in touch, but this amount of interaction is unusual, but I think it’s great that we can do that.

Finding ways to have a virtual happy hour with your friends, or Skype or something, having coffee hour with your friends, having ways that you get together and do even an online study group as you’re trying to finish your class online—those kinds of things to keep people socially connected. 

The other thing is doing some things that help you feel like your life has meaning or purpose. I know of a group in New York City of young people who kind of made a list of all of their elderly neighbors, and they found a way to connect with those people and get their grocery lists by phone, go buy their groceries, leave them outside their apartment. 

Do things like that to really kind of feel useful and helpful, at the same time that they’re being cautious and taking care of themselves.

It makes you feel like you have some agency. You have an ability to do something. You are not simply a victim.

TC: Another sort of aspect of this new territory is we’re sort of in lockdown with people in close proximity. If you have a bigger family that might be a lot of you in a small space. Is there any advice you might give for navigating that situation?

SB: The biggest thing is talking through your different difficulties. Also, doing things like finding a way to structure your day, keeping yourself busy exercising, getting normal amounts of sleep, finding ways to get exercise if you can and still maintain your social distance, get outside and walk. All of those things are going to be critical to get through this.

TC: Some people are saying that people should turn off the news for their mental health. What’s your take on that?

SB: If you’re watching it an hour a day, that’s probably a reasonable amount of keeping up on things. But if you’re obsessing and ruminating and watching 24-hour news, then that’s probably not so good for you.

 

This article has been edited for grammar, length, and clarity.

Featured image from file.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR