Each day, I listen to the Maine Center for Decease Control’s COVID-19 update. Dr. Nirav Shah’s calming voice keeps Mainers current on the impact this virus is having on our communities. Every day, we learn how this virus is affecting the physical health of our state. We are also learning the influence this virus, and this long stretch of isolation, is having on Mainers’ mental health.

A recent study found nearly half of adults in the United States believed the pandemic was negatively affecting their mental health. Feelings of anxiety about health care are compounded by worries about child care and job loss. In this unsettling time, we are also physically isolated from our support network and unable to celebrate or grieve with those we love most.

Bettyann Sheats

This feeling of isolation is intensified for frontline workers, who are experiencing extreme stress as they head to work each day. While they keep Mainers safe, state government wants to ensure they feel cared for. That is why the Maine Department of Health and Human Services launched “FrontLine WarmLine” to help people who are feeling overwhelmed or depressed.

Moving forward we must make sure our responders continue to have resources if they are impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder. That’s one of the reasons the American Medical Association has called for resources for physicians’ mental well-being to be extended beyond this situation. We need to be prepared to care for the mental health needs of our health care workers and first responders in the years to come.

Here in Maine, we have already taken some steps to support first responders impacted by PTSD. In 2017, then-Gov. LePage signed legislation into law ensuring when an emergency worker is diagnosed with PTSD, it is assumed to be work-related and should be covered under workers’ compensation. The legislation shifted the burden of proof to employers to show that the individual’s PTSD was non-work related.

As a veteran, I know how PTSD can burden those it afflicts. Every day, roughly 17 veterans die by suicide. This impact is even starker for veterans with PTSD. The Silhouette Project at the State House two years ago displayed 22 life-size silhouettes of service members, representing the 22 veteran service members who died by suicide each day. That was the number when the son of the project’s creator took his life. The number has come down because of efforts like the Silhouette Project to bring awareness to veteran suicide.

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We need to be constantly thinking about how to bring awareness to and create supports for mental health.

Our first responders are not the only population impacted by the mental health effects of this pandemic, many of our seniors are also feeling more isolated than ever. Having a short conversation with older Mainers is an important reminder for these members of our community that they are valued and not forgotten.

It will take all of us to slow the spread of this virus, and it will take all of us to support our community’s mental health needs.

Just as you think about putting on a face covering or applying hand sanitizer, please think about calling your neighbors and checking in on seniors in your area. And if you know someone who needs additional support, especially our front-line workers, please connect them with resources in our community. During this time of isolation and anxiety, no one should feel alone.

Rep. Bettyann Sheats is serving her second term in the Maine House of Representative. An army veteran, she now represents Minot and part of Auburn.


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