CMHA Crisis and Outreach Clinician Casandra Di Benedetto has some advice for those struggling during the stay-at-home order.
OXFORD COUNTY - It has been a tough couple of weeks for parents with kids learning from home.
Casandra Di Benedetto with CMHA Oxford says you should talk to your kids about how they're feeling about the whole experience.
"When you see them getting frustrated help them label that emotion; are you mad, are you sad or are you frustrated? They may be frustrated during school and it might not have to do with school work. It might have to do with the fact that they see their friends on Zoom and they really want to play."
She says change can be difficult and you should try to be kind and patient while you're working with them.
Di Benedetto adds also important to keep in touch with your loved ones during the lockdown, but you need to set boundaries.
"There are some difficult calls where you're calling a family member who is quite isolated and it may be hard to do. If you're finding that's taking a toll on your mental health set a boundary around that. Maybe it's not a call every day, maybe it should be a call every-other-day."
If you're having a tough time yourself, Di Benedetto says going outside for a couple minutes, eating healthy and making sure you getting enough sleep can boost your mood.
She says you can also contact the CMHA Crisis Line at 1-866-933-2023 if you need to talk to someone, adding nothing is too big or too small.
Walk-in counselling is available over the phone and you can also find some online resources on the CMHA Oxford website.

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