April Brooks, a crisis clinician and therapist at the Aspen Hope Center, has been helping people struggling with mental health during this difficult year in the Roaring Fork Valley on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, fear and uncertainty defined 2020 and shaped the landscape of mental health services this year.
“A lot of people aren’t leaving their home, and they’re scared, and it’s affecting mental health completely,” said April Brooks, a crisis clinician and therapist at the Aspen Hope Center. “You walk past someone on the street and they kind of jump off the sidewalk. How do we respond to that?”
COVID-19 survivor asks North Slope residents to do their part December 24th, 2020 |
When Frieda Kaleak heard back from doctors that her 6-month-old infant had tested positive for COVID-19, her first reaction was fear. I was tearing up because she could have been the youngest patient here in town with COVID, Kaleak said. She said she was worried she d be separated from her still breast-feeding child if she needed to be medevaced for more advanced care. I m not sure how she had gotten it, I m not sure where. I did my part in staying home, sanitizing, washing my hands, disinfecting everything with what I had on hand at home.