To think there's a whole mental health aftermath to the pandemic which isn't really being addressed

[crackerscandycanes]

Just looking at people I know, people seem to be really struggling at the minute, and of course the cost of living is a big part and all the bad news etc, but I also think that some of it is the aftermath of the pandemic and everything we had to go through being locked indoors for all that time. It seems as if we're not supposed to mention it now or reflect, but I think there's a lot of mental health issues on the back of it.

We lost mum at the very start of Lockdown 1 and, for me, what made a bad time worse is that we were unable to go through the "normal" grieving process, not to mention having to make all the arrangements over the phone. The first time we saw the undertaker/celebrant F2F was at mum's funeral. The roolz had relaxed a bit by the time dad went at the start of Lockdown 2 but we were still being told what we could and couldn't do when it came to saying "goodbye". I can't speak for everyone else who had to deal with a lockdown death of a loved one, but in my case, it almost destroyed my sanity and it's only now, 2 years later that I am able to start to come to terms with the fact that they have both gone.

(TW self harm)

Someone very close to me had a complete mental break last year. They are autistic and suffer with crippling OCD and I'm completely convinced that lockdowns etc were the catalyst.

I started self harming at the end of 2020 and was put on antidepressants, both for the first time since I was in my early 20s decades ago. I was in a very, very dark place.

The posts here at the time by a few individuals absolutely did not help. My own OCD focused on them and all the worst case scenarios. I'm immunosuppressed/CEV and was convinced I would die and several times considered just getting it over with. Yes, this seems disproportionate now but at the time I was in no fit state to see that.

@Lemie

I am pleased for you 👍. It wasn’t for us though and my kids haven’t suffered academically. I know a lot of young people who really suffered having to do work at home. Like I said we all did things that we thought was best during that time. It’s just some people got flamed for it more than others.

Ive had a few roastings on mumsnet but never to the extent of when I admitted I hadn’t done a single thing to facilitate home learning. Obviously reflecting on my own family it’s all worked out absolutely fine and I did manage to instill a love of physical activity in my children which is going to benefit them I hope for a very long to come.

I also knew that home schooling was going to affect MY mental health and I had to keep myself happy and sane in order for my kids to be happy and sane……It really was a domino effect in many families. I know my limits.

While I agree that there’s a mental health aftermath from the pandemic and some people had a very hard time I’m not sure what would help now. I think having a national response which the media would run with would make it worse. Revisiting how things were handled and arguing about it just makes me feel angry and wound up ( as someone who was bereaved due to Covid). Sometimes we do just have to make the best of things and try to move forward.

I think people need to stop being bombarded by the media. It's just one media frenzy after another - Brexit, Covid, Government/Politics, war in Ukraine, now it's the cost of living.

We've significantly cut back on reading news/watching TV and feel much better for it.

I think part of the problem is that alternatives approaches couldn't be tried in real time. There appears to be people that think the pandemic could have been handled with

There's definitely a conversation to be had about the effectiveness of certain aspects of lockdown and how arbitrary some of the restrictions were. As someone who had a child in that time I was more aware of them than most.

But what I can't abide is this twitter-esque conspiracy theory attitude some seem to have that this was all some nefarious government plan. No. For better or worse they were making it up as they went along. I'd be very first to call out tory malice but they were absolutely winging it with covid, as basically every national government was.

I became very dissapointed in people. In the beginning people didn't want to wear masks, needed to be outside and still have parties, jetting off in the summer getting and spreading Covid, later on refusing vaccinations for non medical facebook reasons. All those threads where people said that only the old people died and it was their time anyway. Plus that there life wasn't worth living without a piss up in Spain (get a better life!). Those people are murderers in my eyes. They could have shortened the pandemic and saved lives and wellbeing of people but going on holiday and going to parties was more important and sod those vulnerable people, they can just go die.

@EmmaAgain22

how on earth could Jennifer be described as far right?!

You're aware she's not a new user, ie. she's returned with a name change returned after a ban. Her posting history is very much right-wing with a good sprinkling of conspiracy.

For some of it they were winging it yes. Then after the winging, some people with power and influence saw an opportunity.

People seem to think there should have been a way to manage the pandemic in such a way that didn't negatively impact them in anyway. Who knows, it seems pretty unlikely though- pandemics are shit.

As are the natural disasters that kill and displace 100000s of people constantly, the millions facing starving in the horn of Africa and so on. No ountry can expect immunity from shit events.

Funnily enough, I was disappointed in people for the very OPPOSITE reasons you’ve stated here. Peer pressure at its finest.

I have and do. I recommend it.

Covid was where the media learned to impact daily lives to an extreme extent. Obviously informed by behaviour groups too.

That was a good way to profit from reactive interaction and they won’t scale back on their own steam. It takes the consumer switching off instead.

Most school refusers are on the spectrum though.

I'm so sorry. Hope you are able to grieve properly now, and eventually heal.

No one thinks that.

That doesn't mean the impact shouldn't be acknowledged and talked about. Or that it's ok to call people weak and snowflakes and wet for being impacted.

Welcome to a tory government. Some cronies getting rich off PPE contracts doesn't negate the necessity of lockdown outright though.

Of course natural disasters happen it doesn’t mean the reaction to them can’t be discussed and assessed.

I’m glad to see some acknowledgment from various quarters that it was the wrong approach.

I think it's because it never really ended. It's just fizzling out.

It's like there was a tiger in the village, everyone had to hide inside and knew other villagers were being pulled out by the tiger and being eaten alive - terrifying, making everyone hide inside and fear for loved ones - then the tiger hasn't really gone but you just have to decide it's probably not going to get you and start going out again.

But it's not the same, death can be just around the corner, death was always just around the corner and all the daily shit seems trivial and banal and meaningless. And the cost of living stuff reminds you that even in the tiger times, some people were in brick houses with electric fences while others were in tin shacks.

Had the government acted promptly in March and then September 2020, the impact would have been a lot less as restrictions would have been shorter. Part-time schooling in the classroom returning in June or July 2020, more funerals with a congregation, and 20,000 fewer people dead. Indeed even having churches/mosques/synagogues open for private prayer only would have had some help for the bereaved.

Had the government followed the restrictions, not had parties in Downing Street, not gone on unnecessary PR 'work' trips, and sacked Dominic Cummings instead of giving him the airtime for his story, I am sure the impact on mental health would also have been less.

Holding the criminal actions in government and those responsible to account in a court of law would be the right albeit small step. Boris Johnson should face corporate manslaughter and corruption charges, along with several other members of his government.

I'm never convinced by the argument that lockdown would've been shorter had the government acted quicker in early 2020, simply because restrictions didn't actually track cases at that point. The reason we didn't open up earlier in summer 2020 isn't case numbers, because they were low in May-June. It was a policy decision.

I do agree that the knowledge the government broke their own rules has done significant damage though. Its possible the impact on trust will be much worse and longer lasting than we can currently know, and if so the public health consequences could be awful.

The earlier argument falls down when you look at the North. They did it earlier on their curve and look at the carnage there - much lengthier restrictions.

It’s still a poor argument that doesn’t hold up and I’m glad it didn’t happen.

Although I’d change it all as a response anyway

Of course.

I am pretty certain I have some kind of low level PTSD from the stress I experienced in the pandemic. I am only just coming out the other side of it this year. And I had it pretty ok - objectively - compared to many. The continued bad news isn't helping anyone either.

I agree with your point about how the focus should be on the here and now.

The solution is for the government to spend more money supporting mental health services but equally important on schools where over worked and underpaid teachers are being asked (or volunteering because they see the damage and actually do care about the children) to step in to make up for long waiting lists and equally understaffed and under resourced mental health support from the NHS. And yes as a previous poster said the individuals themselves (or in the case of children then the parents) do need to take some responsibility about helping themselves and not seeing mental health issues like a broken leg where a doctor can simply fix it.

The problem however is that after £450 billion was spent on Covid measures there simply isn't any money left now to pay for the much needed cash in schools and hospitals. Liz Truss tried to borrow extra money (albeit for tax cuts and not schools and hospitals) and it blew up in her face.

Sunak and Hunt have now cut spending and increased taxation on the better off just to stop the debt problem getting worse. And whilst I want the incompetent Tories gone, I don't think that Labour and Starmer could do much to fix the problem because equally the money is not there.

And let's not forget that Sunak's popularity was never higher amongst the public than when he was throwing this £450 billion around on testing (£130 billion), furlough (£70 billion) and bounce back loans (£45 billion).

So the only solution very sadly is to for schools and hospitals to do the best we can with the limited resources we have been given and acknowledge that yes there will be a mental health crisis including suicides and yes amongst young people. But this is the collateral damage that was clearly pointed out at the time but that the majority were willing to accept as a price worth paying to try and stop Covid spreading.

It didn't have to be like this and that is what makes me sad and angry - not some heartless callous disregard for the elderly and vulnerable.

I think it's because it never really ended. It's just fizzling out.

And it's gone onto cost of living and strike issues - it's never ending.

On paper we shouldn't have been badly affected - no-one in our family died and no close friends.

However siblings and DH got badly screwed over by their employers - 2 have more jobs the other a carer who worked throughout pandemic got bullied out as it affected health to extent NHS was looking for investigating for serious conditions and is struggling to find anything.

Family who live alone now have depression and are on medication for that - in every case.

Education has been affected - last year wasn't a normal year for our children at their schools/college and strike affect us as we don't drive - impacted getting into work/college - seeing family also meant canceled or non booked holidays - so haven't had holiday for three years.

Dentist and NHS - are difficult to access. The new normal everyone spoke about isn't mask wearing but services not being as good as they once were and constant worry about money with food inflation and fear about heating costs.

No-one wants to talk about it as what's to say - everyone say well we got through it and gets on with next set of problem because what else can anyone really do.