This is certainly a challenging time for a lot of people. It may bring up feelings of anxiety, distress, isolation and disconnection. People are experiencing severe hardship with the loss of jobs, businesses, livelihoods and the concern for the health and wellbeing of themselves and loved ones. We here at Outside the Locker Room are here with you, we are experiencing and we are feeling your pain, grief and discomfort. This is something most of us haven’t encountered before in our lifetimes. There are many questions and not a lot of answers, and uncertainty can be excruciatingly uncomfortable. We are fortunate enough to live in a day and age where we have technology and telecommunication services at our disposal. It is a time where we can still stay socially connected despite physical isolation; where we can be productive, educative and adaptive in response to these stressful times.
Over this period, we will be releasing videos, articles and various other resources to help us all stay well and connected. One resource we have found particularly helpful is this article from the Black Dog Institute about Managing Anxiety During COVID-19. This article gives us some really practical and useful tips on how to cope and channel our energy through these uncertain times.
Another great resource we have come across is this Speaking of Psychology interview with Dr Lynn Bufka around Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19. The second half of the interview provides some particularly great insight and tips around managing the quarantine period, keeping connected with one another, and balancing work and life schedules during lockdown.
We hope you find these resources helpful and that you get a tip or two in helping you and your loved ones maintain your wellbeing during these times. Please keep a lookout for more resources and tips that we will be releasing very shortly.
For anyone that may be struggling or wanting to speak to someone, we are still in full operation and we are available to have a chat to see how you’re tracking. Please email our welfare team at support@otlr.org.au if you would like to reach out. Let’s rally together, keep practicing that self care and we will get through this. We encourage you all to keep connected, check in on your loved ones and from all of us at Outside the Locker Room we hope you all stay safe and well!
Cindy Yu
National Welfare Manager
Outside the Locker Room