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.

The impact on children and teenagers was huge and as a society we are minimising this, the number of school refusers has soared, anxiety is through the roof and yet everyone expects them to be resilient and just carry on as if nothing has happened without the chance to discuss their feelings or experiences- I feel we will be paying for Covid as a society for a few generations and the government should at least invest in proper mental health provision to help people

This too. The amount of abuse was off the scale.

As a mental health professional one of the major problems is that the majority of NHS MH services are for moderate to severe MH problems. We have very clear guidelines of what that means but the general public usually misinterpret what is mild to moderate MH and get upset / frustrated/ angry when they are rejected for not meeting the criteria.
In Scotland over the last few years therehas been millions spent of MH services particularly for Primary mental health services in GP practices along with a roll out of LIAM( low intensity anxiety management) within schools.
Most people will experience and recover from MH in a natural way without any professional input.

I’d be really interested to see your reference for this. In my CAMHS there has been no increase in school refusers pre/ post COVID.
In fact there is no difference in the amount of referrals post COVID , so
much media hype.

Yes, I agree.

Before the pandemic we thought we could buy anything on the planet at the clock of a button, go anywhere in the world. It was our right.

And it seems a lot of this was on the back of a false sense of economic security. Money being printed on the promise of paying it back tomorrow. And that was governments.

Some of the early Covid threads were batty. That poor woman who wanted to drive to London to collect her mentally unwell daughter who’d had a relationship breakup and bring her home for lockdown.

I feel traumatised by lots of things from the pandemic - watching it coming closer and closer to the UK when most people were still pooh poohing it, watching news reports from Italy, reading reports that people were just dying in the street on the way to work in Japan, thinking there was no medical help available for me or my family, having to go out to work when lots of people weren't, not being able to see my family for months / years. It was awful.

I think it's complicated. At the start I really thought that although it was scary, we came together as a country and supported each other. Now it's affecting my mental health more that most people are behaving as though covid has gone away. But people are still getting ill repeatedly and many are not taking reasonable care to not make other people ill. There's still hundreds dying a week from covid (for those not aware of this, look it up, it's not in the news but it's happening...) and increasing evidence that even if an initial infection is mild, there are post covid sequalae increasing risk of blood clot, strokes, dementia, kidney problems, damage to immune system, fertility issues etc etc, and they increase with each subsequent infection. There's a lack of leadership and sensible messaging from the government.

After the lockdowns I thought it would be ok, we know what to do now to control it, and that we would do those things and be able to get on with the things that are important to us with some minor adjustments in place to make them safer. But that's not the case. The majority it seems won't pop a mask on in the shops or on the bus (or even, increasingly in health settings). Most aren't testing any more (understandable if they can't afford it), and some people aren't even staying home if they're ill. Government not bothered. I would like to see them creating jobs and safer environments in public buildings by improving ventilation will which pay dividends in increased productivity and reduced sickness and pressure on the NHS for years into the future. Covid is going to clash with the cost of living crisis this winter too as people who cannot afford to be off work struggle in and then spread it to collegues/customers. Or those who are too ill to work lose money. And whilst those who can least afford to catch covid either for financial or health reasons pop along to the warm hubs because they can't afford their bills and catch a dose of covid there instead making their whole situation even worse.

It is so incredibly depressing and you're right, the cost of living crisis isn't helping either. I cannot see any way forward with this government in charge. If they are not going to address the cost of living crisis, the energy crisis or covid properly, they're certainly not going to plough money into mental health resources.

Rick Hanson is a good one - very calming presence e.g.

Katie Morton shared her struggles with the isolation during Covid. This video about the long term mental effects of Covid might be exactly what you’re after -

Dr David Maloney Psychotherapy -

You might need to dig back a bit to videos/posts from 2020 onwards and search for any particular topics you’re interested in e.g. stress, fear, social anxiety.

Thanks Iwritethissittinginthekitchensink and also to all the posters on the thread, thinking of those of you who have lost loved ones and suffered.

Unless something really bad happened to you or those close to you during 2020/21 I can't for the life of me see why anyone would want to look back at that time. As for masks and such like now, no thanks! I say that as someone who took it all very seriously back then and stuck to all the rules etc. It's over for the main part and I'm looking firmly forward ⏩

At the start I really thought that although it was scary, we came together as a country and supported each other.

Mmm, I'm not sure that was a universally held opinion, shall we say. There are a great many of people who felt very much unsupported during that period.

Unless something really bad happened to you or those close to you during 2020/21 I can't for the life of me see why anyone would want to look back at that time.

You clearly know fuck all about mental health and that's part of the problem.

Plenty on here were telling people to be more resilient, and people have it worse.

Instead of calling us whingers listen to us.

The bullshit that we supported watch other is just that bullshit.

I purposely excluded people who'd had a hard time, I couldn't have made it clearer. I'm talking about people who didn't, why would they want to look back?

I work in a secondary school and we have definitely seen an increase in anxiety, depression and eating disorders post pandemic. A lot of children have been badly affected.

@Yazo

I'm so sorry, about your dear friend. My former partner died on Tuesday, and I agree with your post. He had 2 serious health conditions, what I can not understand is he had all kinds of tests last October and they came back clear.

So sorry to just place mark but I appear to have lost that option and I really need to read this

I purposely excluded people who'd had a hard time, I couldn't have made it clearer. I'm talking about people who didn't, why would they want to look back?

But you didn't you stated 'Unless something really bad happened to you or those close to you during 2020/21'

You missed out people who nothing bad happened but doesn't mean they didn't suffer from restrictions that ruined Thier mental health.

You aren't getting it at all and the effects of what happened on people.

I think that people need to stop constantly harping on about the fact that they had to stay indoors. The people who do have a legitimate reason for needing support are those who lost loved ones, those who worked in health and care and really went through terrible experiences and those who lost their livelihood. People who are harping on about staying in need to get a grip.

You don’t get to say who needs mh support.

This

💐

Well then something bad happened to them didn't it. For most folk just being bored and yes possibly very worried still shouldn't end up with MH issues long term. I was really really scared to start with but I'd never claim to be scarred by it.

Indeed.

OP Well, yes. But what can anyone do about it?

Lockdown drove a truck through my life. The last time someone started a thread about this, I participated, then I completely lost it. I had pneumonia and had to go for a walk at 1am to calm down. I felt like smashing the windows of my small flat in much the same way I felt trapped there during lockdown.

What is there to be done about it? The damage can't be fixed.

"I cannot see any way forward with this government in charge. If they are not going to address the cost of living crisis, the energy crisis or covid properly, they're certainly not going to plough money into mental health resources."

Agree. It's so depressing.

Why do people think they get to decide what people's mental health should be like? The level of stupidity and arrogance necessary to come out with that is off the scale.