There is a great deal of sickness in the community at the moment, including COVID-19, flu and various colds.  While it is important to take care of your physical health at this time, it is also important to manage your mental wellbeing. Whether dealing with health anxiety, uncertainty, stress, or worry, many people face mental health challenges during this time.

There are a range of digital mental health resources available, providing information, support and tools to help people manage and maintain their mental wellbeing.

Resources for Health Anxiety

Health Anxiety is the excessive concern that there may be a threat to your health which can trigger an anxiety response. While it is normal to worry about your health, it can be problematic when it is excessive, persistent, leads to excessive unhelpful behaviours or causes significant distress. The resources below provide information, support and strategies to manage health anxiety.

Better Health Channel

Conditions and treatments

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/conditionsandtreatments

Better Health Channel is an informational website to help people understand their health and medical conditions to improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities. Their website includes information on a range of conditions and treatments, including the flu and other seasonal sicknesses.

THIS WAY UP

Health Anxiety Program

https://thiswayup.org.au/programs/health-anxiety-program/

THIS WAY UP offers a suite of CBT programs for a range of different issues. Their Health Anxiety program helps users learn practical strategies for managing excessive worry about health over 6 lessons. The program helps users work with their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours to make a positive change in how they feel.

Centre for Clinical Interventions

Health Anxiety

https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Health-Anxiety

The Centre for Clinical Interventions is a specialist public mental health service providing information and self-help workbooks and modules for a range of mental health issues. Their website includes a range of resources including workbooks and information sheets on health anxiety. These resources are designed to provide users with information about health anxiety, including how it develops, how it is maintained, and how to decrease health worries and concerns.

Mental Wellbeing Resources

During this time of year many people experience stress, anxiety or worry. Whether it is concerns around avoiding getting sick, worry about missed work, or stress while sick or recovering. The resources bellow are designed to help people manage their mental wellbeing, providing a space to consider their worries and strategies to improve wellbeing.

HeadGear

https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/resources-support/digital-tools-apps/headgear/

An easy-to-use smartphone app, guiding users through a 30-day mental fitness challenge to build resilience and wellbeing.

ReachOut WorryTime

https://au.reachout.com/tools-and-apps/reachout-worrytime

An app to help control everyday stress and anxiety by giving you a place to store worries, and alerting you when it’s time to think about them.

MoodMission

https://moodmission.com/

An app based on cognitive behavioural therapy designed to help individuals overcome low moods and anxiety by discovering new and better ways of coping.

myCompass

https://www.mycompass.org.au/

An interactive self-help service that aims to promote resilience and wellbeing for people experiencing mild to moderate stress, anxiety and/or depression.

Niggle

https://kidshelpline.com.au/niggle

An app that helps young people track their wellbeing and find information, quizzes, videos, podcasts, and tips to help take their ‘niggles’ and improve their social and emotional health.

Resources to Support Health Professionals

Health professionals are also under additional stress at this time of year, with increased workload and concerns around their own health. The resources below are designed to help health professionals take care of their own mental wellbeing, and understand more about health anxiety to take care of themselves or help clients experiencing health anxiety.

TEN – The Essential Health Network for Health Professionals

https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/the-essential-network/

An app connecting health professionals to tools, resources, and peer support to help them manage life through COVID-19.

Black Dog Institute Webinar

Understanding and Managing Health Anxiety

https://medcast.com.au/courses/296

This webinar focuses on the latest understanding of the nature, assessment and treatment of health anxiety and how to help people with health anxiety. It outlines the symptoms and key features of health anxiety, recent changes in the diagnosis of health anxiety, key psychological processes that underpin health anxiety, identify helpful assessment tools and strategies that can help people with health anxiety.