To think Lockdown will bring on longterm/permanent Mental Health issues

[tttigress]

Bit anecdotal, but I can already see people that were on the edge of MH issues being pushed into patterns that will permanently affect them.

Surely being locked up for 10 weeks will:

-increase fear of crowds
-increase germopobia
-increase OCD
-increase fear of strangers

Without getting into the rights and wrongs of the lockdown, do you think people will still be living with it in 10-15 years time due to permanent MH damage?

I think the opposite.

People who revel in their MH issues will always find a way to play them up even more.

Someone at work has been predicting confidently that the lockdown will definitly cause her to kill herself. She's still here, attention seeking like mad. People are beyond tired of her, and I'm sure she'll have lost her audience entirely very soon.

Most people who are genuinely stressed are worried about relatively short lived/fixable work and housing issues.

A huge majority of people are benefiting from the time out of the rat race. I know my children are thriving, as are their friends.

I think its important that people distinguish between lasting mental illness and a normal reaction to adverse situations.

For a majority of people mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety will not be indicative of a mental illness, but are a completely normal reaction to the situation we are currently experiencing. It is perfectly normal to be anxious about going out into crowds when you know there is a deadly virus around and it isnt indicative of long term mental illness.

Some groups will be more severly affected such as front line workers who have been around death, and those who were already vulnerable to mental illness, but for the majority it's not mental illness and when things return to normal, after a adjustment period, they will too.

Its has destroyed lives . A total over the top hysterical reaction and are things improving? No.

Yes of course it will affect mental health.

The people who have been locked up with their abusers.
The people who live alone and suffered from extreme loneliness.
The children who have had their worlds upended but don't understand why.
The students and recent graduates who are faced with an uncertain future and a wrecked economy.
Those who have lost their jobs or will probably do so when furlough ends and again faced with a wrecked economy.
And of course, the number of health and care staff who will have to deal with PTSD after seeing so many people die.
Not forgetting those who have seen loved one's lives cut brutally support and often without the opportunity to say goodbye.

Of course there will be a huge mental health fallout.

But what disturbs me most is the way we are now approaching this.

Before Covid there was an increasing acceptance of mental health and thanks to years of campaigning.

Now I'm seeing more and more instances of people saying those with mental health concerns need to get on with it, pull themselves together, invoke the Blitz spirit or some other nonsense.

The lockdown was absolutely necessary to save the NHS but it's become cult like and any time anyone tries to point out its negative effects they are shouted down under the mantra of saving lives.

Why can't we do both? Why can't we say, "yes the lockdown is needed, but actually it's pretty damn hard for a lot of people and this needs to be looked at."

I think it's indicative of how partisan we have become as a society. Everything is in black and white. Everyone is defined by their voting habits or what gender they are etc etc. There's no consensus anymore.

We kept ds with severe asd in school to try to prevent this.
At home under lockdown restrictions I think it is likely there would have been serious repercussions on his mental health which given his age ( mid teens) would have affected his adult life.

We will be avoiding non essential interactions with others for the foreseeable future to avoid risk of us and so him having to self isolate.

@Unshriven You really need some education. Really shocked by how ignorant and offensive your comment is.

Germaphobia definitely.

We were all doing SO well to reduce the amount of single use plastics and that's all gone out the window with bulk buying of dreadful plastic wipes, hand gels, liquid soap, anything with "antibacterical" on the label rather than just plain soap.

It's also the paranoia around snooping - in normal times if someone said their neighbour was spying on them and noting down their movements you'd say they were imagining it and to see the GP. Nowadays judging by most MN threads, they're probably right.

Possibly. Lockdown is no problem for me. The idea of things going back to normal brings up a lot of old issues regarding crowds and social spaces. I've never been comfortable with them (ASD, history of serious anxiety) but got to the point where my issues didn't affect everyday life and I could cope with the difficult situations.

I live in London and have no idea how I'll be able to get on a crowded train again.

If it means people are more hygienic then good.

The mental health ramifications will come more from the fall out of a trashed economy and millions out of work. People furloughed for example might be enjoying the sunshine at the moment and are relaxing while being paid by the government and quite enjoying it (not all but an element). However, when it's winter and they've lost their jobs and there's a second wave of Covid then they won't be as carefree about it.

People are more happy in summer while the weather is nice.

It hasn't done mine any good but I accept it had to be done.

I feel constantly anxious and I'm quite afraid of setting foot outside, even into the garden. I expect it will pass.

I live in London and have no idea how I'll be able to get on a crowded train again.

This is going to be a big thing. I'm the same as you, I start work at 6.30 am when in the office and finished by 3 every day so I avoid rush hour and busier trains. If i'm traveling via train at the weekend i'll even look at events and sporting fixtures that are on so I can help gauge how busy it'll be before committing to use them.

It's a national joke how packed the trains get and people just put up with it. It'll take a while for that to go back to normal. More home working might help with rush hour trains going forward.

I’m worried about my MIL; she’s clinically vulnerable but not shielding so is right to be cautious, but she’s always struggled with agoraphobia before lockdown, and it will be very difficult for her to leave her house in the future I think.