Wellbeing
Mental health and wellbeing: Knowing when to help a loved one
The fear of the unknown. It’s a phrase we’ve all used, but during today’s COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a term that has adopted real meaning as none of us can be sure what the future holds.
We are living a true day-by-day existence, which runs counter to the human instinct to anticipate and plan.
COVID-19 isolation: You’re not alone
For most people, the term “social distance” is contradictory to the very nature of who we are: social animals whose very existence relies on interacting with others, whether through families, workplaces, neighborhoods, nations and beyond.
So when we’ve been asked to “social distance” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us may feel alone – physically, psychologically, and of course, socially.
Seven steps to maintaining resilience during COVID-19 stress
Resilience is important to good mental health and wellbeing.
It helps us to overcome adversity in general and, more specifically, mental health challenges, including substance use disorders. All of us, at some point in our lives, need to tap into resiliency to overcome one obstacle or another.
Healthcare workers: You have the power to manage COVID-19
The anxiety and fear resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic can be profound, and nowhere is that more evident than with frontline healthcare workers.
Working long hours in substandard conditions with patients who are often very ill and highly contagious, they fear for their personal health and that of their families.
Supporting employees at work and beyond
The new year brings excellent news for Beacon Health Options (Beacon).
Mental Health America (MHA) has awarded Beacon its platinum certification for The Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health, MHA’s new national employer certification program.
Beacon Health Options offers questions to ask and answer during Mental Health Awareness Month
In any given year, an astonishing 1 in 5 Americans will face mental illness. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., with more than 40 million lives affected. Additionally, about 16 million have major depression. But despite the prevalence of mental health conditions, only about a third of Americans seek treatment. Just as other illnesses – such as high blood pressure or diabetes – are treatable and manageable, so too are mental health issues. That’s why May has been designated as Mental Health Awareness Month, an observance developed to raise awareness of mental health issues and the stigma attached to them. At Beacon Health Options, our entire focus is on mental and behavioral health, because that’s…
One of the toughest endeavors: Changing health behavior
Beacon Health Options’ mission is to help people live their lives to the fullest potential. It’s a simple, yet extraordinarily complicated, goal because it requires changing behavior at all levels – system, provider and individual.
Beacon has myriad programs to help improve individuals’ mental health, and ultimately, wellbeing. Programs range from pharmacy management to home-based therapy to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment to intensive case management.
Telehealth: A virtual technology for improved access, convenience and more
For so many of us, it’s easy to put off that doctor or other healthcare appointment. The kids have soccer practice. There’s a lot going on at work. The oil needs to be changed in the car. The dog needs to go to the vet.
Yes, it’s not good, but it reflects the reality of our fast-paced lives. There’s too much going on in a day to take time out to care for ourselvesHowever, there is an evidence-based solution for addressing the most fundamental barriers to care – access and convenience – and that is telehealth.
NAMI Conference 2018: Helping people make connections
I came to my first NAMI conference as a person in recovery from bipolar disorder and as a mental health journalist.
The NAMI 2018 conference in New Orleans last month proved wildly successful in connecting me with like-minded souls as well as to businesses and organizations that can help people like me live complete and meaningful lives
Who cares for the caregiver?
When we imagine health care workers – the nurses, doctors, and support staff – we think of their role helping us. We engage with them as patients, sometimes routinely and sometimes at the darkest hours of our lives, as they help us heal. They care for us.