Anyone who needs a sympathetic ear during this time of social distancing now has the opportunity to call a new support line service provided by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Swift Current branch.
The CMHA Wellness Support Response line was launched provincially on April 13 to offer assistance to Saskatchewan residents who feel the need to talk to someone during these challenging times of a global pandemic.
The support line is an initiative by the CMHA Saskatchewan Division to assist residents with mental wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each CMHA branch in the province offers this service through a dedicated support line.
Residents in southwest Saskatchewan can call 306-741-5148 to connect with a local staff member. The service is also offered to youth between the ages of 12 and 19 through the provincial youth line at 306-730-5900.
“We can provide that listening ear, and then we can give practical support and help people problem solve their way through this,” CMHA Swift Current Executive Director Jacqui Williams said. “So if someone is feeling isolated, through the conversation potentially we can find a way for that isolation to be lessened. If someone is feeling stressed because of a financial situation or because of a family situation, that listening ear support is still there.”
The service will offer relaxation or wellness tips and advice to reduce anxiety, depression or isolation. It will offer information about other programs and services, including online programs that are available to callers.
“There are supports and resources in the community,” she said. “If staff are unable to find a reasonable solution or to help lessen the anxiety, then the caller and staff can search out other resources within the community or other ways to deal with management of your feelings during this crisis.”
She emphasized this service is only a support line to provide general help and guidance to increase wellness, and it is not a counselling service or a crisis line.
“So should a call come in that could more appropriately be handled by a different service, the staff will either have that information or will get that information and give it to a caller,” she said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been very disruptive to daily life and the CMHA Saskatchewan Division therefore identified the need for a dedicated call-in service to promote mental wellness.
“This is much further reaching than just physical health,” she said. “This pandemic is affecting pretty well every aspect of your life.”
Various public health measures have been implemented to flatten the curve of COVID-19 infection, but it is also necessary to flatten the mental health curve.
“The mental health response will look like a curve, just like the pandemic, but will follow about two or three weeks after,” Williams noted. “In the early days people can tend to do really well, because they’re really focused about what they have to do and how they have to protect themselves and there’s lots of information coming out, but then it becomes kind of our new normal and people really start to feel that level of isolation.”
The CMHA Wellness Support Response line can therefore provide an option for anyone who wants to talk to someone or who needs information about support services.
“Our staff have been trained to provide support on this line,” she said. “They have an abundance of information. So should a call come in that could more appropriately be handled by a different service, the staff will either have that information or will get that information and give it to a caller. We are just basically another support in this pandemic that is now out there for the community.”
