Improving your Mental Health During Wild Fire Season
Most recently, people have been evacuated from their homes and communities in Jasper, Alberta, and Chico, California. Smoke from the fires has moved into communities much further away. The air quality is impacted, placing a strain on many people's mental health. Our hearts and minds go out to the evacuees, first responders, local and national government officials, family members, and volunteers who are responding to the needs of those displaced. Even those with no direct connection who see the events unfold in the news are affected. It is disheartening to know that beautiful places are being destroyed and to think about the impact on wildlife. There’s so much to process, which can weigh heavily on our hearts and minds. Trying to forget about some of these things is hard because even when people want to get out for a walk, a cycle, or some event, the smoke is there, casting a darkness or unusual hue in the sky.
What can everyone do to improve how they feel? Adaptation is always essential. If it is too bad to go out for a walk, choose a place that gets you out of the house. It could be a mall or a rec center. If you want to stay in, decide that this is the day you select a new book or program to watch. Maintaining connections with loved ones can help. Having a call with a family member or a friend in another province or country and hearing about their news and life can be a welcome break from the same local topics. Planning a trip or something to look forward to always helps. People need hope and goals to remain future-oriented.
Volunteering can be an excellent way to exercise some control over what seems or feels very disheartening. Reaching out and getting involved can ease some of the guilt people can feel watching the news unfold. If volunteering is too active or unfeasible for you, donate to a cause associated with the fires. The donation doesn’t have to be significant. Every little bit can help. Volunteering or donating can help to alleviate some of our stress and sadness. These activities don’t magically cure or take away our thoughts and feelings, but they help regulate our emotions a bit. They can make us feel a little better, which is good. If everyone went into overdrive and were obliterated mentally from hearing and experiencing the impact of forest fires, there would be no one to keep everything else going. We must work on our own emotions, thoughts and feelings to be balanced individuals and continue to do what we need to do. If our daily activities are thrown off, we and the people around us can suffer. Mental health is vital for our day-to-day lives. So much can bring us down when we are exposed to the news, but even more so when we go out onto our balcony, into our backyard, or out on the street and smell the smoke. It is like there is no escape or way of blocking out what is happening in our province, neighbouring ones or even countries.
What gives you purpose and meaning? Is it getting outside? Mixing with family and friends? Volunteering and donating? If that purpose and meaning are feeling very minimal at the moment, where are you on the depression scale? How are your anxiety levels? If you want to look at these, I encourage you to talk to someone about how your life is being impacted. In these summer days, wildfires are more common. The joyful time of getting outside seems marred. It can feel unfair. Let’s see if there are ways to empathize with what is going on in communities and find ways to look after ourselves in these times.
Understanding the signs, symptoms, causes, and treatment of depression is the first step to overcoming the problem.