Info Hub hosts radio call-in show: Prioritizing mental health during COVID-19
The Germantown Info Hub hosted a radio call-in show with G-town radio and licensed therapist Tonya Ladipo to check-in with the Germantown community during the COVID-19 crisis. The show was broadcast Thursday, March 26 at 5 p.m.
Letrell Crtittenden, co-researcher for the Info Hub, hosted the show. Residents had the opportunity to call-in or submit questions through the Info Hub’s Instagram or Facebook page for Ladipo. Ladipo is the founder of the Ladipo Group which emerged in 2004. The group creates an equitable future by shifting perspectives, shaping behaviors and supporting growth in committed individuals and institutions, especially African American communities.
Thursday evening she urged everyone to not forget their mental health during a time when physical health, economic and financial uncertainty is at an uprising.
“Our physical health, our financial health is important,” Ladipo said, “and I just want to put our mental health up to par with that as well.
Ladipo listed several ways to maintain great mental health during the crisis including an activity most informed citizens partake in; Watching and reading the news. While most news outlets are covering the virus and potential effects of the crisis, Ladipo said it can have a major effect on your well-being.
“Stop taking it in,” Ladipo said. “This isn’t to say that you’re apathetic or you don’t care, but our brains can only process so much information. You can check in with the news, but you don’t have to do that every hour of every day.”
The licensed therapist covered several other topics; how to communicate the crisis to children, limiting screen time for youth, how to communicate to older parents, how to revamp self-care while quarantined and how business owners maintain sanity during these moments, which is a question many business owners are scrambling to understand today.
Michelle from South Philly called in to receive advice for small business owners who rely heavily on in-person interactions. She said it may be a struggle for small owners and freelancers to be productive while trying to navigate their future.
Ladipo insisted Michelle understand as a business owner she is still “100% human.” She said it’s time to look at what they can realistically do as a business and accomplish those things.
“So I just want you to kind of give yourself that reality testing of what you can do, realistically,” Ladipo said. “And my last tip, the hard part as a business owner, but look at the financials and how long can you last.”
Ladipo answered several other questions for the remainder of the show and touched on the separate effects for African-Americans. G-town radio plans to re-air this show Sunday, March 29th at 9 am on 92.9 FM or at www.bit.ly/ListenG-town.
