Mental Health Services Available Through Teladoc
MESSA members and covered dependents can access medical and mental health care through a partnership with Teladoc Health.
Services are available through Teladoc Health online or the Teladoc Health app from the Apple Store and Google Play. Once registered, clients can access:
Teladoc 24/7 Care
Visit with a board-certified provider for colds, sore throats, sinus infection, or strep throat and other minor illnesses or injuries. No appointment is necessary and the average wait time is 10 minutes.
Teladoc Mental Health
Connect with a licensed therapist or U.S. board-certified psychiatrist to get treatment for mental health concerns, such as grief, anxiety, depression and more. These visits require an appointment. Evening and weekend appointments are available. }
Teladoc Virtual Primary Care
This new service allows members and covered dependents who are 18 years and older to visit with a U.S. board-certified Teladoc Health primary care provider from the comfort of their home. This option is fast, convenient and can cut down the average wait time to see a provider to less than a week.
Teladoc Chronic Condition Management
Teladoc offers free programs for qualifying members to provide support for these common conditions:
Wellness Extra: What to Do with Post-Election Feels?
The University of Maryland offered these suggestions on how to deal with Election Stress Disorder after the 2020 election. While this phenomenon may not be included in the DSM, it is recognized by mental health professionals as a common and documented experience, characterized by lack of focus/distraction, depressive symptoms, increased anxiety, and exhaustion.
Individual social and political issues – specifically those that revolve around health and safety, like gun safety, healthcare, immigration, and police brutality – may heighten that stress even further.
So what can you do to try to manage any election-related stress you might be experiencing?
1. It’s good to care — but you need to set boundaries.
Don’t let stressful news cycles take over your life. Make sure to set aside time to consume and discuss politics, and time to avoid them.
2. Practice ‘values-based living.’
The closer your everyday actions are to your values, the more fulfilled you will be (and the better off our climate and political system will be as well).”’
3. Take a social media break
When it’s time to set aside politics for a moment and take a break, we recommend connecting with friends on different platforms, or keeping secondary accounts where political content is blocked or unfollowed in favor of adorable cat videos. And of course, we always support time that you can take away from the screen to fully rest and recharge – like taking a walk, or reading a book for fun and escape.
4. Limit your news consumption
Carve out opportunities to disconnect from the media, particularly if you find yourself becoming distraught, anxious or emotionally reactive. Staying in a state of high stress over extended periods of time can be harmful to your physical and emotional health.
5. Set an alarm for the news.
Set a dedicated time once per day to check the news, and set a timer to keep yourself accountable. Turn off all nonemergency push notifications.
6. Ask yourself these two questions when reading the news.
‘”Is this article helpful?’ and ‘Is this article real (or reflective of my own truth)?’ If you answer ‘no’ to either of those questions, give yourself permission to move on from it.”’
7. Pick up a new hobby or [watch] a funny movie.
Whatever you can do to get yourself to smile will help you in a way that is deeper than you might expect. In fact, smiling even without meaning it can reap benefits for stress management and “trick your brain into happiness."
8. Change what’s changeable and control what’s controllable — and understand the difference.
Most of the political climate is not controlled by us nor can we change other’s beliefs or feelings around it. Accepting the idea that we can only control ourselves and change things for us is a powerful reminder to not get caught up ruminating on the unchangeable and the uncontrollable.
9. Celebrate the good things.
There are always people fighting for justice, communities that pull together, and folks making a difference and uplifting each other. Don’t forget to seek out those stories – and even identify them in your own lives.
Read the full University of Maryland article at https://blog.umd.edu/terpstakecare/managing-your-mental-health-in-an-election-year/
