Page 76 - Retail Pharmacy Assistants - October 2020

74 BODY & SOUL CURBING CABIN hesitate to be dramatic and compare what some parts of the country are going through to Stephen King’s chaotically wonderful story The Shining, but the shoe kind of fits. FI E V E R By Emily Devon. I’m sure our neighbours in Victoria aren’t dealing with the apparition of twin girls in the hallway, but for those who’ve had to endure a second round of restrictions and been limited to a 5km radius of their home, ‘cabin fever’ may have begun to strike. These restrictions have certainly provoked the use of such a phrase – as well as ‘stir crazy’ – and one can’t help but wonder how serious the effects can be, and what (if anything) pharmacy workers can do to help. A pharmacy is much like a grocery store, where regular shoppers will visit daily. It’s one of the only points of physical contact that a lot of people have with the outside world, so pharmacy workers are in a great position to help those feeling a little lost in their community. Earlier in the year, Pharmacy Guild National President George Tambassis spoke about the Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy (PharMIbridge) randomised controlled trial. RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • OCT 2020