May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and with these uncertain times of COVID-19, it has certainly impacted many people’s mental health.

As everyone is fighting a myriad of different challenges and stressors associated with the virus, licensed mental health counselor Dr. David Ohrt says it’s part of the human condition to have feelings of stress and anxiety when there is such uncertainty. He points out when someone is falling into high anxiety and depression, they become more isolated. However, Dr. Ohrt notes humans are dependent on connectivity with other humans, and so it is important to stay connected with those you know and love, even from a distance.

Dr. Ohrt believes in times where you think things are out of your control, that’s when you need to focus on things that you can control.

“Like you can control whether you wear a mask, you can control whether you wash your hands, you can control how well you eat and sleep. But just taking good care of ourselves. There are a lot of ways that we can kind of take some control and we need to do that especially when we feel like we have very little control.”

Dr. Ohrt adds, to help ease tensions, create time and space for yourself when needed.