Dr. Ari Zaretsky featured on CP24 during Mental Health Week

Dr. Ari Zaretsky, Psychiatrist-in-Chief in the Department of Psychiatry, Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program at Sunnybrook joined CP24 Breakfast to discuss pandemic coping strategies during Mental Health Week (May 3-9).

An important part of managing emotions is to be aware and true to how you are feeling.

“When people don’t acknowledge their true feelings, after awhile stress can build up in unhealthy ways and can express itself in unhealthy ways,” Dr. Zaretsky said on CP24. “By recognizing that you do have negative feelings, you can start to understand the reason for that, and perhaps address them in a more healthy manner. If you try to ignore your feelings completely, over time, these negative emotions can come out in other ways such as insomnia, lack of sleep, anger, and irritability.”

Dr. Zaretsky also highlighted tips for frontline workers including having a trusted ‘work buddy’ for support and to help assess stress levels. He also shared with viewers that a helpful strategy for coping through the pandemic is for individuals’ to focus on the things that are within their control and recognize what cannot be controlled.

“This has been an unprecedented time of uncertainty and I think that by maintaining certain consistent rituals and things that we know are healthy and help to nurture us, we can feel better,” said Dr. Zaretsky. “By exerting some kind of control over the time you go to bed, over the time you wake up, having some consistency in the time you’d spend doing things together, and having social connection - those are healthy things that I think can help you to deal with this uncertainty and the distress that goes with it.”

Watch the full CP24 Breakfast interview

Read: Strategies for coping on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic

Mental health resources for coping during COVID-19 from Sunnybrook experts

If you need help in an emergency, please call 911 or visit your local emergency department.

If you’re feeling like you’re in crisis or need somebody to talk to, please know that help is also available through community resources:

• Find a local crisis resource at sunnybrook.ca/gethelp
• Crisis Services Canada
• Phone: 24-hour, toll-free 1-833-456-4566
• Text: 45645 (4:00 p.m. – midnight Eastern Time)