Carter Center mental health journalism fellows have been reporting on the mental health impact of COVID-19. You’ll find here their reporting, mental health resources for journalists covering the pandemic and for the general public impacted by the virus.

Resources for Everyone

Tips from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on managing anxiety and stress around COVID-19. It includes how to reduce stress in yourself and others as well as advice specific to parents, first responders, and people who have been released from quarantine.

How to talk to kids about the coronavirus. The Poynter Institute’s senior faculty member Al Tompkins summarizes advice from the Child Mind Institute and draws from other helpful articles.

7 ways to keep your anxious kid calm during COVID-19. Writer Tara Mandarano shares some ways she’s distracting her daughter from her worries. (Tip: They also work for adults.)

Protecting your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Doreen Marshall, Ph.D. share five simple things you can do to take care of your mental health. There’s also an option to share your own story and ideas on their Sharing Your Story page.

Looking after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak, from the Mental Health Foundation in the U.K.

Care for your coronavirus anxiety, a toolkit with resources for anxiety and your mental health in a global climate of anxiety from self-care community, Shine. It includes an ask an expert option, free meditations, a section for parents, random internet things to help you recenter, and addresses specific concerns like financial worry, xenophobia, and isolation.

Coronavirus: Apps to help with self-management. This list of 16 apps from U.K.-based Orcha, a health app evaluation and advisor organisation, helps people at home manage self-care and anxiety, respiratory and heart condition symptoms, diabetes etc.

Taking care of your behavioral health (pdf). This tip sheet from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration describes feelings and thoughts you may have during and after social distancing, quarantine and isolation. It also suggests ways to care for your mental health.

Resources for Journalists

How journalists can fight stress from covering the coronavirus. The Poynter Institute’s senior faculty member Al Tompkins and his wife Sidney Tompkins, a licensed psychotherapist, offer 9 ways journalists can push back against the stress of an always-on story. It includes a helpful video on managing newsroom stress and trauma.

Critical stress safety help sheet (pdf). This downloadable tip sheet from the National Press Photographers’ Association offers guidance on covering critical stress incidents like COVID-19 and protecting yourself and your news crews, so they can effectively cover it, i.e. what to do immediately after a critical stress incident, how to handle the days after, and commonly reported reactions.

Covering coronavirus: Resources for journalists. The Dart Center has compiled English and Chinese-language resources for journalists covering COVID-19, including tips on interviewing victims and survivors, and working with colleagues exposed to traumatic events.

Media ethics, safety and mental health: Reporting in the time of COVID-19. Ethical Journalism Director Hannah Storm offers tips on responsible and ethical journalism while reporting on the pandemic, staying physically safe, and how to manage your mental health while covering the coronavirus.

The newsroom guide to COVID-19. Journalists in the Journalists of Color Slack channel, the News Nerdery community and OpenNews worked together on this guide, which covers general information about the coronavirus and what to do if exposed; how to care for your physical and emotional health as you cover the pandemic; caring for others (colleagues, reporters, or freelancers); and tips for event planners.

How journalists can deal with trauma while reporting on COVID-19. This guidance from the Global Investigative Journalism Network looks at before, during and after.

The psychological toll of coronavirus coverage. Colombia Journalism Review Delacorte Fellow Lauren Harris encourages newsrooms to slow down, ask themselves what matters most, and be a calm guide for readers. It includes a compilation of important coronavirus reporting.

The Kennedy Forum Illinois  is offering a free 60-minute webinar for businesses and organizations on how to manage stress and reduce isolation. Contact director of programs James Burns @ james(at)thekennedyforum(dot)org to schedule a training.