With the pandemic wreaking unprecedented mental health havoc, we have all shared a traumatic experience. It’s no wonder mental health support groups are gaining traction.

Last month I attended my first support group shortly after my birthday, aptly titled Oh Sh*t, I’m 30, on an app called Sesh. I finally admitted what I had been trying to push out: Saying 30 out loud made me feel and face a range of emotions. In my foray into therapist-led support groups, we shared, meditated, and felt into our body spaces for a quick hour in our private virtual, and then vanishing, Zoom space. It was a nice way to carve out an hour dedicated to processing the things I was feeling.

There are mental health support groups for pretty much whatever you’re facing: life changes (yes, turning 30 counts), fertility challenges, addiction, loneliness, identity. Spaces to address our mental health issues are more accessible than ever thanks to Zoom. They’re not meant to be a replacement for individualized mental health treatment conducted by a professional (and should not be used that way—discussing your emotional well-being with a health-care professional is important, and your mental health should never be dismissed by a provider, family member, partner or friend), but getting plugged into a support group or mental health community can be a powerful way to supplement your mental health care. Think of mental health support groups as self-care for your psyche—not a replacement for going to the doctor, but part of a holistic approach to keeping yourself healthy and happy.

Eryn Bizar, an organizational consultant and sommelier, first connected with her Portland-area support group for those dealing with chronic illness and pain through her therapist as part of her plan to manage fibromyalgia. “The intention was not to have a place to mope about it, but to connect with people who had similar type things, people who just get it,” she says. The weekly commitment “created stability during a time in my life when everything felt out of control and unstable,” Bizar says. “It’s enabled me to develop great compassion, not only in dealing with my own stuff, but in being a resource and ally and a friend to others.”

Mental health support groups have proliferated over the past few decades, as tapping into the power of connection has been proven therapeutic across countless studies. “Connection causes optimism,” said Naz Perez, founder of Heart Broken Anonymous. In her monthly support meetings, over 10,000 global participants have come together to share their stories, listen, and start to heal. “The science shows that we can heal through community.”

Whether you’re in a time of struggle, or just looking to activate your growth mindset for optimal mental wellbeing, here are 16 mental health support groups to check out:

Mental Health Support Groups for General Wellness

Coa

An all-women team launched Coa, an emotional fitness gym with online offerings, during the pandemic. “Just like we can always have better physical fitness, we can always have better emotional fitness,” says Emily Anhalt, a cofounder and clinical psychologist. With a focus on researched methods and community learning, all classes are created and facilitated by licensed therapists. In going through classes with a cohort, “what we’ve seen is that people feel closer to each other, they’re more able to have vulnerable conversations, and they have a shared language for how to bring their emotional selves to other aspects of their lives,” says Anhalt. You can sign up for a series or take a drop-in class, starting at $25.

National Alliance on Mental Illness

More than 20% of us have experienced mental illness—even before the pandemic—but fewer than half of us receive treatment. These often “hidden” conditions strike all people and are on the rise. National Alliance on Mental Illness coordinates a network of trained peer and clinical facilitators around the country to help those with mental illness and their families. Thousands connect locally and virtually in community support groups, free and open to all. (NAMI Conexion offers Spanish-speakers a place to comfortably share too.)

Sesh

Each week on Sesh, 50+ sessions are offered by facilitators from around the world. With up to 14 others, these group sessions help you explore body positivity, handle screen-time burnout, or discuss anxieties about reentering the world after COVID. There’s everything from a weekly queer and trans BIPOC session to groups for dealing with your parents’ dating expectations (en español), all accessible through a WiFi connection. With a free two-week trial, you can try out unlimited one-hour sessions to see what feels right; then $60 per month continues your membership. And, Sesh is starting to accept insurance.

Support Group Central

Support Group Central’s platform opens up support group registration for free or low-fee sessions. From narcolepsy to veterans to chronic illness and caregivers, SGC has more than 30 domains for you to find and explore support groups. 

The Clutch

If you’ve ever listened to an episode of Unf*ck Your Brain, The Clutch is your 24/7 community feminist-wisdom hub. The support network focuses on the intellectual and emotional aspects of existing as a woman in a man’s world, designed to help you unpack social conditioning and self-critical talk. At $97 a month, this support network includes live coaching opportunities, a self-coaching program, on-call trained coaches, and a Facebook group of over 2,700 members and growing.

Shine

The Shine app promotes well-being through mindfulness and gratitude, with daily meditations and prompts. On the community pages, you can share your thoughts and read through others anonymously. The app, founded by BIPOC women Marah Lidey and Naomi Hirabayashi, features guided meditations delivered daily by diverse experts with voices that soothe the soul. A premium subscription to interact with the anonymous community forum is $69.99 a year, and there’s a seven-day trial for you to see if this is your jam.

Mental Health Support Groups for Grief

Heart Broken Anonymous

Heart Broken Anonymous founder Naz Perez researched other peer-support communities like Alcoholics Anonymous and studied the pain of heartbreak to craft a healing space for those dealing with relationship pain. It’s not just about break-ups—stories shared in sessions may be about romantic relationships, the end of a friendship, or losing a loved one or even a pet. “The same part of your brain that lights up for physical pain lights up for emotional pain,” says Perez. “We process emotional distress like an open wound.” HBA has no religious or political affiliation and considers everything shared confidential. Participants can choose to speak for four minutes about what they’re going through in each meeting, which has a recommended $10 donation (the Zoom link is shared with those registered).

Mental Health Support Groups for Fertility, Pregnancy, and Parenting

Post Partum Support International

About 10% of women struggle with infertility, and up to one in five women will experience a mental health or substance use disorder in pregnancy or postpartum. But the process does not have to be isolating. Post Partum Support International runs a range of groups for all kinds of new parents: military, BIPOC, NICU, queer, desi and more, all facilitated by the 300+ trained volunteer support coordinators. There’s also an on-demand support line to call or text: 800-944-4773.

Resolve: The National Infertility Association

Resolve: The National Infertility Association also offers monthly virtual support groups in family planning for general and BIPOC-focused support. The Zoom rooms are capped at 70 people, with breakout rooms of 10 folks to open up the conversation more intimately.

Mental Health Support Groups for Identity-Focused Support

Asian Mental Health Project

The Asian Mental Health Project started offering free weekly check-ins to hold space for pan-Asian communities in March 2020. With politicians using terms like the Kung flu, there was “a surge of Asian American hate,” says founder Carrie Zhang. “It’s a lot to unpack, and it’s really hard to talk about in households where you’re not raised to talk about your feelings.” Following her own experiences in support networks, and peer research identifying common themes across Asian American communities, Zhang formed AMHP after college and runs it with an all-volunteer team. “With the horrible shootings in Atlanta, and Indianapolis, there has been a huge need for support, and also a big influx of support from non-Asian allies,” said Zhang. Anywhere from 10 to 90 folks gather on Zoom where moderators facilitate an open discussion, and guest wellness and mental health practitioners often join to add value. “We make it clear it’s not a clinical support group, but a peer-to-peer wellness check-in,” Zhang said. “We follow the rules of What’s said here stays here, but what’s learned here leaves here.”

Therapy for Black Girls

The Therapy for Black Girls Sister Circle has 400+ members supporting each other via a digital private group. Founded by clinical psychologist Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D., the online space features 200+ weekly conversational podcasts, and a paid 24/7 online forum with monthly members-only events.

Recovering From Religion

Recovering From Religion offers a welcoming web of resources for those dealing with questions of faith. The network is welcoming to those of all identities and faith traditions, whether you’re no longer religious, working on family religious issues, or just questioning your faith. Hundreds of passionate volunteers answer calls at 1-84-I-Doubt-It (844-368-2848) or offer hope through web-based chats. Sixty local support groups help those work through questions, doubts, or changing beliefs.

LGBTQIA+ Community Resources

PFLAG offers peer-to-peer support for those whoa re queer-identifying or questioning, as well as and loved ones of people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Check out your closest chapter (there are 400+!) for Zoom and in-person confidential meetings. The LGBT National Help Center offers online one-to-one chat peer support Monday through Saturday, and maintains a directory of local resources across the U.S., including community centers and support groups. Licensed-therapist-led sessions happen locally all over: Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s most comprehensive LGBTQ community health center, offers a few support groups  virtually, and in person for $15 per session. This year’s eight-week spring sessions include trans and gender nonconforming, grief and loss, HIV+, and women-focused groups. (Sesh, above, also offers queer-focused support series each week, led by licensed clinicians.)

Mental Health Support Groups for Addiction

Recovery Dharma

Buddhist teachings guide Recovery Dharma’s network of groups, meetings, and communities (sanghas) that use communal discussions and meditations to support those seeking recovery from addiction or addictive behaviors. The peer-led movement has over 7,800 members on Facebook and dozens of virtual meetings per day for identities, phases of recovery, and by geographies.

Mental Health Support Groups for Domestic Violence

The National Domestic Violence Hotline

Ten percent of high school students experienced physical violence from a partner in the last year; 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner; and more than 48% of people have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner. Women ages 18 to 34 generally experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence, with women of color experiencing domestic violence at disproportionately higher rates.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline has on-call volunteers to connect anyone with the right resources.

Hope Recovery

Domestic violence has surged during the pandemic—Hope Recovery offers confidential support groups and workshops each week for survivors.

For more resources on finding the right support community or group therapy option, check out Mental Health America’s directory of care organizations and guide to support groups.

“Fun fact, did you guys know that there’s this thing called revenge bedtime procrastination,” she asks in a video that has now been viewed 13.6 million times. “Where people will refuse to sleep because they don’t have much control over their daytime life, so they will sleep very late at night, even if they’re super tired, because they just don’t want that free time to end at night, and they don’t want tomorrow to start?”

Haider’s video, bleakly relatable with its stark background and drained Starbucks cup, garnered millions of likes and tens of thousands of comments. “Okay, so it has a name” and “I do this” are common variants. “I feel personally attacked,” reads one comment liked more than 50,000 times.

Why do we do this?

Chel’sea Ryan, a clinical social worker and therapist at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS in Phoenix, says she has both personal and professional experience with this phenomenon. After a day of office work and an evening of caring for her kids, she would lose sleep in favor of unwinding, reasoning, “This is my only time to breathe, be human, be a woman.” But her late-night habit created an anxiety spiral that eventually resulted in panic attacks. She’s seen it in her patients too. “A lot of clients have kids, or multiple jobs, or home life isn’t that great,” she says. “So they’re picking and choosing times when they can really cater to themselves, and usually that’s at night.”

If we’re really going to cater to ourselves, why not do a few minutes of yoga, or drink tea, as we’ve been told to do 5,000 times by freakishly cheerful wellness influencers? Why fall face-first into our phones? “For many of us, when we finally put away all of our technology at the end of the night, it is the first time that we are left alone with our thoughts and feelings without any distractions,” says Shapiro. “If we’re afraid of what we may find, or—perhaps more commonly—know that we will be met with uncomfortable, complicated, or heavy thoughts or feelings, we are going to unconsciously try to avoid them. Engaging in the late-night scroll may be an attempt to either push off the flood of emotion that may hit us when we close our eyes, or to exhaust ourselves to the point that we instantly fall asleep and don’t have to think at all.”

Dark! Accurate! And, ultimately, Shapiro says, not going to work. “We’re trying to protect ourselves, but we forget that avoidance actually makes the emotions stronger and we enter into a cycle of late-night anxiety,” she says.

Why is this so much worse right now?

“Demands on our time have gotten higher during the work-from-home period of time, not lower,” Ashley Whillans, Ph.D., a researcher and behavioral scientist at Harvard Business School, tells Glamour. She’s been studying how people are using their time during the pandemic in five countries, including America—her group’s research found that women, especially mothers, are spending more time on childcare and household chores than fathers do. (Surprise, surprise.)

They also found that young women, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic, spent less time on leisure than their male counterparts. This may be because we have more demands on our time—maybe we’re parents, managing Zoom school, or scrambling to pay the bills with a second job, or doing the seemingly endless work of a job search, or simply allowing a 9-to-5 to balloon into an 8-to-6. “Our workdays last longer because there’s no clear separation of when we should stop,” Whillans says. This is not healthy. “Emotional detachment from work is hugely important for job satisfaction!” she says. “But the end-of-our-workday ritual has gone missing in the virtual environment.”

We are in the midst of a global anxiety crisis—one that didn’t disappear once we hit 2021—so naturally, we’re all wondering how to calm down. “You can’t keep a fight-or-flight response up for a year,” says Miranda Beltzer, a Ph.D. candidate researching emotion regulation and anxiety disorders. “It’s a perfect storm of things that can make people emotionally disregulated.”

According to the Household Pulse survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Census Bureau, well over 50% of adults in their 20s and 30s exhibited symptoms of anxiety- or depression-related disorders in November. The stats have been (understandably) high since the weekly survey began in April 2020. As anxiety rises, so does our need for self-care. 

“Of course, we’re all feeling down, but that doesn’t mean we get to skip taking care of ourselves,” says Julia Colangelo, DSW, LCSW, a therapist and adjunct lecturer at Columbia University. “It’s important to honor any and all emotions, and continue to seek out support as you may have before the pandemic.”

We asked experts in anxiety and emotion regulation for their favorite stress reduction strategies so you can figure out how to calm down.

1. Grab a weighted blanket.

ICYMI, weighted blankets feel like a 15-pound hug—and we already found the best ones to buy. Studies have shown that using a weighted blanket can significantly reduce anxiety.

2. Create tension to release tension.

Progressive muscle relaxation helps with de-stressing by tapping into your mind-body connection. The idea is simple: Tense up your muscle groups one by one—really squeezing until they’re pretty tense for 30 seconds each—and then release them all at once. Try this five-minute tutorial via InsightTimer after your next Zoom meeting.

3. Binge something comforting.

Whether it’s a playlist on repeat, that same episode of Friends, or a nostalgic holiday film, you can calm down your headspace through repetition. This is especially true for music. “When a melody is familiar, that can be comforting because you know what to expect, you know what’s coming next,” says Rachel Schwartz, M.A., LCAT, MT-BC, CASAC, a psychiatric music therapist.

4. Track your moods.

Keeping track of your changing moods can help you manage them. “Use a visual reminder to track waves of stress, calm, or anxiety,” says Colangelo, who uses an oversized wall calendar to track her own. “When you do experience a more significant bout of stress, you can go back to review your patterns and plan for support.”

5. Take a mental health day.

Tracking your moods can also allow you to plan ahead for low days. For example, your mental state may fluctuate with hormonal changes throughout your cycle, so if you know you typically feel extra anxious just before your period, “you can begin to anticipate certain waves of emotions and inform those around you,” says Colangelo. She suggests planning a Zoom with friends, or taking a mental health day if you can, just to relax.

6. Give yourself a massage.

Self-massage can help relieve pain and stress while stimulating physical touch while socially distant. Try a reflexology technique or outsource your rubdown to one of the best heated mechanical foot massagers.

7. Bust a move.

“There’s so much tension from the routines of masking and sanitizing and being safe—where can you unleash that?” says Schwartz. “Have a dance party in your apartment to literally shake off the energy you’re holding.”

8. Find your inner child.

“I encourage my clients, peers, and students to engage in more activities that activate our inner child and enhance our creativity,” says Colangelo. She paints: “It’s not for social media, I don’t post about it, it doesn’t matter what I make—it’s just for me,” she says.

9. Use your hands.

If painting isn’t your jam, try another form of active mindfulness, like knitting or embroidery, which can help boost your mood and focus on what’s right in front of you.

10. Retrain your brain.

“A lot of times when you’re in an uncertain situation, your head goes to the worst possible outcome: ‘This will never end, and I will definitely get COVID-19 or give it to someone I love,’” says Beltzer. Cognitive bias modification is a therapeutic practice that can help shift your thinking. You can find a therapist that specializes in helping you get out of anxious thought patterns. 

11. Chill out.

For times of extreme distress, Beltzer suggests a practice called ice diving. The basics: Fill a bowl with ice water and dunk your face in. This dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) tactic balances the nervous system, taking us from a sympathetic response back to a parasympathetic state. “We need these extremes, when we are feeling extreme or when we’re feeling an overall flatness,” says Colangelo.

12. Try aromatherapy.

Lavender aromatherapy has been linked to the ability to decrease stress. Essential oils can be a great aromatherapy tool (just make sure you vet them) or light a scented candle.

13. Rearrange your space.

“Can you shift your room around, and give yourself more of a sanctuary?” says Colangelo. Channel that Home Edit energy and tackle your closet to remove clutter in your space that could be adding to your stress.

14. Write a letter to yourself.

Colangelo recommends “future writing,” a technique to envision a time beyond the stress of “here and now,” to help you calm down. “Mindfulness is great until we get stuck in the present moment,” she says. “Writing to your future self can be cathartic and start to bridge the gap between the stuckness of here-and-now and the excitement for what good might come down the road.” (You can send yourself notes at FutureMe.org.)

15. Try breathwork.

Practicing certain breathing techniques, known as breathwork, engages our psychosomatic responses by regulating oxygen flow and mental focus. Try taking a deep exhale, which can stimulate your body’s relaxation response through the parasympathetic nervous system. Inhale for four seconds, exhale for six, repeat. 

16. Try a new meditation app.

There are tons of free meditation apps out there to help you manage stressful situations. If you haven’t found one you love yet, we vetted the best ones.

17. Read a book.

Understanding the science of our emotions can help us navigate them more comfortably. Burnout, by Emily and Amelia Nagowski, is a game changer for understanding our emotional pathways. (Their conversation with Brené Brown on her podcast is also illuminating.)

18. Switch off.

After you finish reading this article, power down your devices for just an hour—or a full weekend if you’re feeling particularly overwhelmed. Let your key loved ones know you’ll be offline for a defined amount of time and then allow yourself to take a mental break. While you’re at it, dive into How to Do Nothing, Jenny O’Dell’s assessment of our productivity culture and the attention economy is an enlightening guide to how we can redesign a better future with technology that feels less draining.

Right now can feel really damn hard. For free live 24/7 support, Crisis Text Line is here to help you.

Stefanie Groner is a writer in Chicago. DM her @stefsnapshots to share your favorite anxiety memes and self-care follows.

Cost: $9.99/month, $59.99/year (that’s $4.99/month), or $299/life. Or the free version is decent.

Buddhify, a membership-based program, has some of the most pleasant graphics and design of any of these apps. Among the regular soothing offerings, membership includes what the app makers describe as a “karaoke-style feature,” which allows users to lead others in guided meditations by reading along with prompts on the app.

Buddhify is navigated using a strangely lovely colorful wheel, which guides users to a number of readings, courses, and longer meditations.

Cost: $4.99 to access the app

Tide has plenty of good meditations, with slightly more unusual themes (“basking,” “emptiness,” “headache”), but the app’s distinguishing feature is sounds. Luxurious sounds (with a much less computer-generated quality than those on other apps), like “ocean” and “storm,” can be layered over meditations or breathing activities. Or you can pay for more couture “sound scenes,” like the sound of paint being spread on a canvas (seriously, it’s nice), a dishwasher (surprisingly great), and wild gibbons (not sure this is necessary).

Cost: $11.99/month, $59.99/year (that’s $4.99/month), or $399/lifetime with a decent amount of content in the free version.

The premise of Simple Habit is that just five minutes of meditation should be enough to help you feel better. A diverse group of teachers lead micro meditations on this aesthetically inviting app, which recommends themed sessions based on goals you input, or allows you to choose.

Cost: $11.99/month or $89.99/year (that’s $7.50/month,) or the free version has some content.

10. Meditation app

This straightforward-named, charmingly illustrated app offers courses with a series of different voices that can be personalized with background sounds and various durations. It comes with plenty of ambient tracks and sleep sounds, as well as bedtime stories that Glamour found…kind of chilling? But hey, some people fall asleep to true-crime pods; we’re not here to judge.

Cost: $3.99/week, with a decent amount of content in the free version

Smiling Mind is a little different—it’s not a glossy start-up or the genius work of a college-aged coder. It’s an app made by an Australian nonprofit, developed by psychologists and teachers with kids, teens, and families in mind. It asks users to note how they’re feeling (happy? content? alert?) and offers intro courses, family courses, classroom courses, and sleep programs. As you go along, the app explains why everything is being done, without being condescending.

Cost: Free

This app accompanies the number one New York Times best-selling book of the same name, by Dan Harris. That book’s full title is 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works—A True Story.

The app is just as comprehensive and just as wordy. Harris aims his app at “fidgety skeptics,” and the app is a series of video courses—not just audio, like most apps—each led by a different teacher. The app keeps track of your mindfulness practice with a fitness-tracker-style statistics page.

Cost: $99.99/year

Aura, with a shimmery, flowing interface, asks users to share information to personalize their experience, then offers daily meditation sessions led by one of a number of experts, based on that day’s emotion. The app also includes a number of soundscapes, coaching, and antianxiety exercises as short as 30 seconds long.

Cost: $59.99/year (that’s $4.99/month)

Bonus

Okay, it’s not a meditation app…it’s so much more. Multiple Glamour staffers insist that the app Design Home—an interior decoration mobile game—has the calming powers of walking while being gentle showered in CBD drops. “Long before COVID-19, I’ve used Design Home to help curb anxiety,” says Glamour senior entertainment editor Anna Moeslein. “The premise is simple: Furnish beautiful homes with delightfully bland furniture, then vote on others’ designs to win prizes. The highest stakes are whether or not your new glass West Elm coffee table would look best in your Denver townhouse or Palm Springs ranch home.” If Tibetan singing bowls and ocean sounds don’t float your boat, Design Home just might (or it will at least give you a covered garage in which to store your fictional boat).

Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour. You can follow her on Twitter.

It’s safe to say 2020 was a year of grief, frustration, and collective anxiety—and 2021 doesn’t seem to be any more chill. Teletherapy is starting to look pretty good. 

If it hadn’t before, the question of how to find a therapist has probably entered your mind. We are (not surprisingly) more stressed, anxious, and depressed than ever. In 2018, one in five American adults reported experiencing mental illness, and 2020 is pushing the number of people dealing with stress and anxiety to historic levels.

“The most common issue since March has been anxiety,” says Amy Cirbus, Ph.D., a licensed mental health counselor and director of clinical content at Talkspace, a platform through which therapists offer text, audio, and video support remotely. “For some users right now, the current climate has exacerbated chronic mental health problems. For others, their mental health challenges are brand-new. We know just how tough it can be to reach out for help for the first time.”

Online therapy has become more important than ever. And in an age of social distancing, connecting virtually is the new norm. “By wearing a mask, your facial expressions, around your mouth or by the creases around your eyes, are hidden,” says Alyssa Petersel, licensed master social worker, founder of MyWellbeing, a therapist-matching service in New York. “A therapist might miss those psychosomatic cues, which are helpful in reflecting what you might not be saying, but are likely communicating nonverbally. A mask puts a barrier on emotional communication that might not be verbal.”

Finding a good therapist you click with can be intimidating IRL, let alone virtually. So to help you tap into the many benefits of teletherapy, we’ve created a step-by-step guide to help you find virtual-therapy options that are right for you, from one-on-one talk sessions to virtual groups and on-demand texting.

What is teletherapy about?

When we picture therapy, we often think of a room with a couch, a lamp, a plant, and a bespectacled person with a notebook asking, “How do you feel about that?” But in an age of social distancing, therapy (like just about everything else in our lives) has gone virtual. “There’s a lot more intimacy when you’re meeting a client in their home and they’re meeting you in yours,” says Atara Vogelstein, a licensed creative arts therapist in New York.

Teletherapy, the blanket term for therapy sessions done through a screen, has been around for a few years. But relatively few therapists offered remote therapy, preferring to see clients in person. Michelle Herzog, a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) and certified sex therapist, runs a Chicago practice for couples and individuals and had never provided teletherapy before. When COVID-19 hit, she went all virtual, and her intakes have skyrocketed. “A massive chunk of my caseload I’ve never met in person,” she says. “But now meeting people over video feels normal.”

Hannah Singer, a licensed clinical social worker based in Boston, currently works with clients via Zoom and phone calls through a community mental health center. To support her clients, she tries to ”acknowledge the weirdness,” she says. “I give them the space to grieve that we don’t have answers.”

While therapists transition with clients online, Herzog explained that, as a therapist, “it’s important to have empathy that shit’s really hard right now, so we have to be flexible about how we do therapy.”

Teletherapy vs. in-person therapy

Doing therapy from home is definitely different from traditional therapy. But there are real benefits of teletherapy—in your own home, you may feel more safe. And getting vulnerable may feel less intimidating through a screen.  

Positive mental health communities on social media

Navigating social media can be stress-inducing—or it can actually help boost your mental health with the right follows. Add some quality content to your Insta feed with Small Talks, an IGTV series on which therapists answer questions; The Anxiety Healer, an account focused on anxiety management techniques; Dr. Mariel Buque, a psychologist and intergenerational trauma expert; Queer Sex Therapy, an account addressing (you guessed it) sex in the LGBTQ+ community; Therapy With Charlotte, which offers helpful breathing exercises and tips for managing negative emotions; and The Body a Home for Love, which focuses on resources for healing sexual trauma among Black women.

Mental health podcasts

Want to put your phone down and headphones in? Check out Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos’s The Happiness Lab; Dr. Joy Harden Bradford’s Therapy for Black Girls; for the aspiring meditator, Dan Harris’s Ten Percent Happier (it’s got an app with personal coaching too, and a COVID-19 sanity guide); and for couples therapy, Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin is a must-listen.

Academic therapy trials

Academic institutions often offer therapy interventions as part of their mental health resources. In other words, while they’re furthering the field of knowledge or testing out new therapeutic approaches, you can get free therapy (some studies will even pay you). If you’re interested, start with the MindTrail’s Project, a collaboration between the University of Virginia and the National Institute of Mental Health to treat anxiety.

Science-backed mental health apps

Wellness apps have boomed, targeting anxiety, meditation, grief, and self-improvement. But which ones are actually backed by science? To help you make the most effective download, One Mind PsyberGuide, a mental health nonprofit, has you covered. Explore filterable reviews on 166 free mental health apps, rated for their scientific credibility and user experience.

Give an Hour

Via Give an Hour, all military members and their loved ones are welcome to free therapy. The organization connects therapy seekers with licensed mental health providers. Services are also provided pro bono for those affected by specific natural and manmade disasters, like the ongoing U.S. border humanitarian crisis and 2020 wildfires. Currently, Give an Hour also offers six sessions free for hospital-based employees and their families in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Chaplains on Hand

For many people, spirituality plays a major role in mental and physical health. Board-certified chaplains are spiritual care specialists who work with health care teams on integrated mind-body health. Chaplains on Hand offers Chat with a Chaplain for those in “spiritual pain.” Given that existing can feel like, well, an existential crisis, you’re likely qualified to speak with a skilled chaplain via email, phone, or video all day.

Student-run therapy sessions

Therapists-in-training need practice—and many therapy students practice on clients via free or low-cost clinics at their schools. Accredited social work, marriage and family therapy, or psychoanalysis graduate programs near you may offer training clinics for as low as $10 per session. Don’t be shy in emailing or calling to ask about the options.

Free therapist-run and peer-led support groups

“When we look at how people most successfully heal from trauma, it’s often through relationships and community,” says Casey Tanner, LCPC, a Chicago-based therapist working with the queer community. Therapist-run and trained-peer-led support groups offer a free way to get support. The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers local chapters across the country and compiled a list of online therapy and support groups, and Mental Health America has a guide to 20-plus specialized support groups, like Alcoholics Anonymous, Caregivers, Overeaters, and so much more.

Body Politic

For those who have tested positive or survived COVID-19, and the direct caretakers and family of those suffering from the virus, Body Politic COVID-19 Support Group offers a therapeutic community. More than 18,000 people have signed up since March, and there are 50-plus channels for different topics from financial stress to medical advocacy and local communities.

Postpartum Support International

For new moms—who are at risk for postpartum mental health symptoms—Postpartum Support International hosts facilitator-led support groups for parents including subgroups personalized to specific communities: queer, Black, birth moms, dads, Spanish, South Asian, NICU parents, loss, and more.

7Cups

7Cups is a free peer-to-peer counseling platform and community with 24/7 support and 140 languages available. “Sometimes sitting with someone with a shared identity can be more healing than sitting with someone with a clinical background,” Tanner says.

Somewhere between March and Day 10,000 of quarantine, I became the type of person who can barely stay up past 9 p.m. I go from bed to desk to couch, from screen to screen to screen, and then drift off into oblivion mid-doomscroll. The lack of busyness has become even more stressful—instead of running myself ragged commuting and packing my calendar with things to do, I’ve become a Zoom zombie, exhausted by the simple act of living this year. My 2020 burnout is surprising and entirely real.

Yours probably is too. In 2019 the World Health Organization included workplace burnout in its International Classification of Diseases, identifying it as an “occupational phenomenon” that leaves us feeling depleted, exhausted, unable to focus, and feeling cynical or detached from our jobs. And that was before the pandemic hit, triggering mass job insecurity, an unrelenting stream of stressful headlines, millions of parents who became full-time teachers overnight, and reason to add Zoom fatigue to our vernacular.

It is entirely unsurprising that our stress levels have reached historic highs, according to the American Psychological Association. But experts are also warning of an unprecedented mental health epidemic—a new study published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry found that one in five COVID-19 patients develop a mental illness within 90 days of recovery. “We’re seeing this whole new category of burnout in people who’ve generally considered themselves pretty healthy and able to cope with what comes their way developing a sense of exhaustion in their core outlook. That is really hard to cope with,” says Robin Berzin, M.D., founder of Parsley Health, a holistic medical practice with telehealth programs in 48 states that specializes in treating chronic conditions.

Burnout feels, admittedly, more like a made-up millennial buzzword than an actual medical condition. It’s a hard thing to say—to yourself and especially to a doctor—that you’re so stressed you can’t function. But it is very real: “This inability to turn off, to go from 10 hours of Zooms and meetings to looking at your phone, the sheer number of hours absorbing media in front of a screen, is toxic to your brain. It’s toxic to your neurons. It’s toxic to your emotional and mental health,” says Berzin. “And if we don’t acknowledge that as real, we can’t get anywhere.”

We are utterly, irrefutably, burnt out. It’s okay—you can say it.

Burnout has real consequences for your health. “We’re seeing people whose underlying chronic conditions—an autoimmune condition, high blood sugar, heart disease, migraine headaches, eczema, fertility issues, hormone imbalances, digestive issues, the things that 60% of Americans are living with everyday—are worse,” says Berzin.

How to Cope With Burnout

This is not the year to dismiss your stress or force yourself to power through it. Here’s how to address and treat your burnout.

Do a self-assessment.

The first step in treating burnout is recognizing it. “Do a mini assessment of yourself. Sit down in a quiet moment and ask—actually ask yourself—Why am I feeling so burnt out and is this in my control?” says Berzin. “A lot of times people have the answer.”

Are you constantly getting work notifications even when you’re doing a workout, or making dinner, or trying to have some me time? Are you reflexively drinking half a bottle of wine every night? “Try to identify your top habit that isn’t serving you, and make that your focus area. Because if you can focus on that one thing and shifting it a little bit, you can feel incrementally better,” says Berzin. Something as simple as silencing notifications after a certain hour or committing to saving the wine for weekends only can have a huge impact on that constant sense of feeling frazzled.

Prescribe yourself self-care.

Self-care has never been more vital. “I think we’ve treated self-care historically as optional or like it’s some floofy thing that prissy ladies do in their spare time. But I’m like, No, you’re going into battle—self-care is not optional,” Berzin says.