 get a therapist. Hi everyone, this is Dr. Wallace. Today I'm gonna ask you what tips will you give a friend to cope with COVID-19 mental health concerns? That's a great question. I would say, you know, take care of yourself. Try to understand that we're all going through this and you're not alone. And if you do feel like you're alone, you know, reach out to people. Well, I think to reach out to others, just stay connected to people, to find things to do in your time that, you know, kind of keep you active. So I think what's helped me a lot is having a core group of friends via like a support system via text message or Skypes, phone calls, facetimes. So even though we're not physically meeting people in person and hanging out in big groups, it's really nice to connect with a core group of friends digitally. So this was a big one. Back when we couldn't be in person and everything was virtual, it was really hard to connect with people. The way that I tried to cope with mental health was to find some online game. Like I play Minecraft with my friends online. We call each other over the phone and then we're playing on Minecraft in the virtual world together. Be in touch with your friends constantly. Do not shy away. Everybody's feeling similar. I would recommend to definitely reach out to loved ones, whether over the phone or by text message, email, whatever means you have. Isolation is hard and all we can do is try to connect with one another and whatever means that we can. Keep in touch with family. I think certain industries have come up with Zoom and being able to FaceTime and keep in contact with family that certainly helped a lot too. Keep connections with other people the best you can. I think as humans we need that and there's creative ways to do that now which is exciting. Finding places to open up and be vulnerable and connect with other people because with mental health there's a lot that we experience and when we might feel that we're alone. I was just having a conversation with a friend today about that and I told him, you're not alone. He was describing something and I said, hey, I've been there too. Working out and then trying to come up with maybe a plan or like a project, like a long-term thing that they could benefit from, that they can look forward to. Something to be hopeful about, I guess. Exercise, go out to the house, do things you can do, so do of course. Taking care of your health and the other one's health but move yourself. Don't be at home, oh, I cannot do anything. I need to be here, blah, blah, blah. To get outside if you can, go for walks, go for hikes, stay in touch with family and be appreciative that you're healthy. If you need a break, just definitely take it. I recommend meditation, I think that's really helpful. It doesn't work for everybody, it's not like one size fits all but that or yoga or being in nature too if you can, just breathing because not everyone has access to certain types of spaces but I think that can really help with mental health sometimes because all of that anxiety, depression, that's so real and a lot of people face it. We all have in some form or some level and so like he was saying, you're not alone. Calling your friends, if you're driving to and from work, make sure you call your mom, call your dad, call your friends, see how they're doing and sometimes sharing those experiences helps relieve one's own stress. You can see someone's eyes but with the mask too, sometimes I bring it down to smile to somebody so I'm like hey, you know and it brings something out of them so just encouragement is kind of what they need with as far as advice goes, it's just that whatever look you have in your eyes kind of brings them out and they'll go out and about and they'll have fun. Tips that I would actually have given them were to look at all the things that you have, look at the bright side of things, look at all the things that you have going for you, take the time out to be thankful that you may not have the sickness but others out there are actually dealing with this very rough due to their previous health concerns and stuff like that so we should be very thankful of the position that we are in. Look to nature, try not to get too excited about what people are talking about, just think about your own body's natural voice and if you listen to yourself, your own conscience can guide you to the right answer.