Our Chicago: Managing your mental well-being during the holidays and into winter

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Gallup poll found that nearly half of all Americans report that they are frequently stressed. That's up from 40% in the mid-1990s.

Add the holidays on top of that, and, for many people, "all is calm" is just a lyric from a Christmas carol.



NAMI Chicago, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has launched a holiday mental health awareness campaign.

It's aimed at helping people recognize signs of distress, access coping skills and connect to free mental health resources.



Matt Davison is NAMI Chicago's chief executive officer.



"There's an inner conflict that often happens during the seasonal time and holidays when outwardly, you're hearing all the songs, you're seeing all the movies. They're espousing cheer and joy and kind of feelings of merry. But that's not always the case for peoples' everyday lives. It kind of amplifies feelings of grief or sorrow or kind of anxiety that people might be experiencing," Davison said.

Jasmine Watkins is NAMI Chicago's chief program officer.

"I think what's really important to remember is that life doesn't take a pause just because it's the holiday season. Everything that we struggle with the rest of the year is still very present," Watkins said.



Watkins suggests that people need to exercise "self-compassion, and be gentle, and remind themselves that it's OK if this year looks a little different from other years. It's a good opportunity to kind of take a break, take a step back, make sure that you're maintaining your usual routines is really essential."

For those who feel they can't get out of bed, Watkins recommends "drinking water, staying hydrated, whatever you can to find balanced food is a really good step."

And she says sunshine can have a big impact on someone's mood.

As for the holiday mental health awareness campaign, Davison says, "At NAMI Chicago, we operate one of the county's biggest helplines, in general, across the nation, on access to care, access to mental health services. In addition to that, with the support and partnership of Cook County Health, we've been able to lead a targeted campaign going into the holidays, focused on ensuring folks have access to resources, mental health services across the county. You can text or chat with us at 833-626-4244. It's a no barrier way to get into care and making sure people can kind of call, get access to maybe things they're not sure they might even need. Typically, what I say is you don't have to have it all figured out when you call. You just have to have our number."

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