Here are some simple tips on how you and your family can manage the additional stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Acknowledge the impact. While everyone’s experience may vary, we are all affected. For some the impact may have to do with the pandemic itself. They may be afraid of becoming ill. For others it may be about a change in work status. And for yet others, it will be about the ways in which the changes are reducing their access to stress relief and increasing the experience of difficulties that already existed.

2. Recognize individual differences in coping and allow everyone to handle in their own way.

3. Expect shifts in mood and behavior.

4. Know that support may take different forms at different times. Allow for time spent together and time apart, even if that’s just being in another part of the home.

5. Approach this time as a marathon not a sprint. It will take time before things return to normal. Don’t try to wait it out. Find alternate ways of accessing support, entertainment, and enrichment.