CMHA Oxford Continues to Provide Crucial Mental Health Supports During the Pandemic

Wednesday, 29 April 2020 14:53

CMHA Oxford has noticed a 50% increase in people using their 24/7 Reach Out Line. They want everyone in the community to know, they are here for you and are ready and willing to offer mental health supports in these trying times.

OXFORD COUNTY - CMHA Oxford is staying open and providing crucial mental health resources to our community right now.

Community Engagement & Volunteer Coordinator Kathlene Campbell-Conlon says they are extremely busy these days.

"We are noticing an increase in calls to our Reach Out crisis line, we are seeing around a 50 percent increase in calls over this time period from last year, so we are seeing that people are reaching out more and people who have never reached out before are starting to connect with our services, connect with our crisis line to have that conversation about how they are really feeling. They are also able to gather some coping skills or just have that other human connection on the phone, that everything is going to be ok, that we are here to support you, we are here to listen to your concerns and provide you that support that people are looking for right now."

She encourages everyone who is struggling with their mental health right now to utilize these resources, even if you have never had to reach out before. A lot of people are struggling with mental health right now during the pandemic, you certainly are not a lone and they have people ready and willing to help you out, anyway they can.

Campbell-Conlon says they are still offering some in person counselling right now but only on a case by case basis.

"We encourage people to contact us over the phone or online, we understand their are people who are not able to do that. They may have limited resources and can't reach out over the phone or online, so if someone was to present that to our office, we do have a screening process in place to make sure that they are safe and the clinician is safe as well, it is an option but we do ask people to consider calling our Reach Out Line that is available 24/7."

Campbell-Conlon says they have also started offering support over Facebook.

"So our peer support team has taken all of their content and then some that they were sharing previously in our drop in centre and have brought it to the online Facebook world. Every day they are posting videos, resources to help support people and they are starting to grow that to small group chats."

You can follow them on Facebook online here. Reach Out is a 24 hour, 7 day a week service available for those experiencing distress. The number to call is 1-866-933-2023. or online at reachout247.ca. You can also access provincial supports including the Big White Wall online here.

Listen to the full interview with Kathleen Campbell-Conlon below.