Sleep, hydration, diet ways to combat anxiety, depression

Since the advent of COVID-19, mental health providers have seen an increase in anxiety and depression across the board.

Dr. Stephanie Moses, the creator and director of a mental health fellowship for mental health clinicians and primary care, said there has been a lot of attention on school age children.

“So we definitely know there’s been a significant impact there, and also … in the geriatric population, but my guess is it’s across the board. It’s hitting young adults, middle-aged adults. I think it’s just so widespread,” Moses said.

She added that this is the after-effect of COVID.

“At the very beginning, there was a lot of anxiety and fear but it kind of felt particularly in our nation that people were pulling together and trying to be supportive. Then just a lot of other social stressors and tensions happened and so now we’re definitely seeing the impact of the pandemic,” Moses said.

Most patients are experiencing depression and anxiety. The most common thread in the Permian Basin, though, even pre-pandemic is finances because of the ups and downs of the oilfield.

“That’s definitely still a thing since oil … just dropped within the last week or two, so people are stressed …,” Moses said in a Dec. 20 interview. “But then also … once you hit September/October, generally speaking, going into the … holiday season people start to feel either an onset of their symptoms, or symptoms get worse because the holiday time tends to be…