We will be constantly updating these resources as we come across new helpful tools. Please check back regularly. And please email us at info@booksellers.co.nz if you want to chat or if you have any useful links you'd like to share with the bookselling community. We have a FaceBook group for booksellers to chat, as well as a WhatsApp group. Let us know if you would like to join.
He waka eke noa.
HELPLINES
- 1737 – Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
- Lifeline – 0800 543 354 or free text 4357 (HELP)
- Youthline – 0800 376 633 or free text 234
- Samaritans – 0800 726 666
- Anxiety NZ - 0800 ANXIETY; 0800 269 4389
Useful new tools:
- John Kirwan has made free his mental health coaching app during the pandemic - you can find out more about Mentemia here.
- The Melon app gives you the opportunity to reach out to an online community of NZers, and also provides useful online resources.
- Just A Thought is an online course of therapy for anyone feeling pressure from the impacts of the current situation.
A UK-based online resource: Rehab 4 Addiction.
If you haven’t taken up daily Pilates or started writing a novel, that’s ok. It’s ok not to be productive and creative right now.
Coping with Covid-19 uncertainty and anxiety.
Self-Care Tips from the ABA:
- Stay connected to people you trust through video chatting, texting, or regular phone calls. Talk about your concerns and how you are feeling.
- When you are working/living with others during a crisis, it’s important to check in with yourself to distinguish which emotions are yours versus emotions you have taken on from a customer/friend/neighbor/family member. During times of stress, pay attention to your own needs and feelings.
- Keep to your daily routines as much as possible; invent new routines to replace those you can no longer practice. This can include cleaning, daily chores, singing, painting, or other activities.
- Learn simple daily physical exercises to perform at home, in quarantine, or isolation to maintain mobility and reduce boredom.
- Schedule time for family games, down time, and private time (if possible), and follow your schedule. Make time to unwind.
- Keep a growing list of positive experiences — your own or others’ — as well as things you are grateful for. Make joy a priority.
- Sleep.
- Eat regular meals, and try to keep them healthy.
- Laugh.
- Meditate. This has been proven to help with sleep, stress, anxiety, and depression.
- Remember that everyone reacts differently to stressful situations. Your response to a situation may be completely different than another person’s due to a number of factors.
- Help others, through peer support, checking on your neighbors, and offering childcare for medical personnel.
- Limit your news intake. Read credible news sources, and do so only once or twice a day.
Registered nurse Louise O'Brien is offering free online wellness consulations to help people navigate the challenge of Covid-19 anxiety: https://www.revitalizelife.co.nz/
The Ministry of Health has prepared these resources about mental health.
Answers from the Mental Health Foundation to frequently asked questions about looking after mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19.
Getting Through Together by the Mental Health Foundation has lots of useful resources.
Top tips from the Mental Health Foundation for looking after mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19 and beyond.
The Anxiety NZ Trust has prepared this helpful information sheet on dealing with your anxiety.
Taking care of your mental health while self-isolating.
Some free guided meditations, calming music and soundscapes from Calm.com.
Real-time Resilience Strategies for coping with coronavirus from the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience.
A useful video from clinical pyschologist Sarb Johal on uncertainty and anxiety during the COVID pandemic (NZ).
A concise but handy infographic from the World Health Organisation about coping with stress caused by Covid-19.
Six strategies from UNICEF for helping teens adapt to a new normal.
