Trinity professor Brendan Kelly has published an e-book to help people look after their mental health during the coronavirus crisis — and it took less than two weeks to produce.

The TCD psychiatry academic sets out to answer questions such as, How worried should I be? What information can I trust? What should I tell the children?  Can I survive the panic, let alone the virus?.

Coping With Coronavirus has been published by Merrion Press as an e-book only for the derisory sum of 99 cents or pence.

According to Kelly: “The anxiety associated with the coronavirus crisis is different to the anxiety seen in traditional disorders, because demonstrably there is something to fear, and that’s what makes this worry so ubiquitous, so persistent and so challenging to manage. 

In Association with

“The good news is that just as we are capable of finding sophisticated ways to make ourselves more anxious, we are equally good at finding sophisticated ways to manage our mental health, once we put our minds to it. Anxiety management techniques help hugely once they are modified to suit the new situation that we face, and in Coping with Coronavirus  you will find all the practical tools you and your family need to navigate these dark, uncertain days.”

Prof Kelly (pictured) approached Merrion Press two weeks ago, having noticed that despite all the practical advice about how to avoid C-19 and limit its spread, there was nothing available to help people deal with the psychological strain of these “unprecedented and scary times”.

The author produced a manuscript in just five days, and five days later the book is on release. 

Latte Goldstein of River Design provided the cover design free of charge, and  any royalties will go to medical charities assisting with the global response to coronavirus.

Coping with Coronavirus is available from several platforms: Apple, Kindle, Google Play, and Kobo and anyone who wants it can first view a preview here.  Merrion Press says an audiobook is on the way.