Series aims to help public handle stress

UCF RESTORES, a trauma clinic best known for helping veterans and first responders overcome PTSD, is offering an ongoing Facebook Live series starting Monday to help the public handle the stress of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is unprecedented in our lifetime — this kind of long-term, high-level stress,” said psychologist Deborah Beidel, the clinic’s director. “We as individuals don’t have ways to make this just go away, but what we can do is help people learn some basic skills — skills that we often teach in therapy — that they can use to manage the stress they have.”

The 15-minute sessions will run Mondays at 10 a.m. and Thursdays at 2 p.m. through May 18 on the UCF RESTORESTrauma Therapy Program home page. They’ll remain available for viewing on Facebook’s UCF RESTORES Wellness Education Series event page.

The sessions will cover reactions that are typical during periods of heightened anxiety, healthy coping mechanisms, the increased risk of alcohol and drug abuse, proper sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques and resources for support. They’ll also include time for questions.

“One of the things we know is that chronic high levels of stress can sometimes create changes in your brain, including things like difficulty concentrating and decreased memory,” Beidel said. “Now, those things will reverse once the stress has gone away. There is a repair and recovery process. But for that period of time when anxiety is high, we really need to pay more attention to taking care of ourselves.”