TMC, Mental Health Moment: Post Mortem, 2020!

27 Jan TMC, Mental Health Moment: Post Mortem, 2020!

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, call The Center for Mental Health’s crisis line at 970.252.6220. For help with deep stress, Behavioral Health expert Lindsay Wright can be reached by calling the Telluride Medical Center at 970-728-3848 or, if you are a patient, by messaging her through the Telluride Medical Center portal.

In this week’s Mental Health Moment, Lindsay shares her thoughts about mental health during a pandemic by looking back at 2020.

Happy 2021, y’all, we made it!

But before 2020 fades entirely into memory, let’s take a break from New Year’s resolutions to reflect heartily on 2020.

Specifically, I’m inviting you to recognize all that you accomplished last year.

How to create a 2020 Post Mortem

Cozy up with a mug of tea and grab a pen and paper to spend time writing out what challenges 2020 brought and what you were able to achieve.

Many may see 2020 as a lost year, but while yes there may have been fear and anxiety, we must remember that from traumatic experiences come post-traumatic gains.

Start with a basic inventory:

• What are you proud of?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• What did you do to support those that you love?
• What disappointments and difficult experiences were you able to get through?
• What moments made you smile?
• What were you able to let go of?

Normalize whatever you did in 2020 to get through the year as good enough and worthy of your pride.

This exercise is not intended to outline bragging rights, but simply to acknowledge all of the hard things you survived.

This exercise serves to highlight the small joys that hopefully shone through, and is an opportunity to practice gratitude and to reflect on the strengths that got you to today.

Please remember that if you didn’t meet your creative goals, professional goals or didn’t save money, gained weight — whatever, it’s ok. You are here, and that is enough for today.

While different times of the year can bring along positives and negative emotions, we know that for many people, the winter months can be particularly hard. If this is true for you, please be mindful to take extra good care of yourself, and if symptoms do not alleviate or worsen, please reach out to your primary care physician.