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.

@1dayatatime YES My elderly mum said the same She didnt agree with the school closures either.

I think you have used the right word with trauma. The way we were put into lockdown and then in and out was absolutely traumatic.

OP - I am definitely struggling to return back to how I was prior to the pandemic. And I consider myself lucky - I did not lose anyone close to me at all.

It’s common knowledge I thought

Yep, it was a disaster. So many preventable deaths.

💐xx

YANBU many won't even talk about the pandemic. Effectively we were jailed on and off , civil liberties taken away and shamed if we weren't enthusiastic about it. MN were frothing at the mouth about all the restrictions. The most powerful thing is the lack of hope. In 2019 I was hopeful for humanity, today I wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly announced a nuclear apocalypse was incoming. It's absolutely a terrible time in humanity it will be poured over in history books when we are long dead.

@milkyaqua

That was his outlook, but he wasn't on here reading how people like him have had their time and should move over and die.

And don't forget the shielding, disabled and vulnerable population! Gosh, what an incredible burden they were then, and in the minds of some people, continue to be. Never mind that this population includes people of all ages, and those that still work. The ableism was absolutely horrifying.

I'll give one (very personal) example. I have a family member with end-stage cancer. He has absolutely no immune system due to endless rounds of chemo and a bone marrow transplant a year or so ago that didn't work. Now, the idea of him having Covid is frightening as that would likely kill him. I've spoken about him before (under a different name) and some said that would probably be a good thing. Who says that?

He currently does have Covid, BTW. But he was able to get anti-viral drugs within a few hours of testing positive and, happily, is doing much better.

Christ on a bike, it's like MN 2020 again. How many times do people need to explain lockdowns protected kids with severe medical conditions, parents, colleagues and young neighbors just as much as elderly people? You can't tell who were MV by looking at them, and without vaccines we would have been dead.
Ableist, unpleasant, I'm alright Jack attitudes.

I agree with Tangerine: " Now... it feels like we're all tapped out of emotional energy."

It's like everyone is stressed, under pressure. Exhausted. Emotionally. Life feels much gloom. Plus covid heightened our selfishness, whilst there was some community/clapping, a lot of it was having to look after yourself first. Life certainly feels more miserable now, post covid.

You were banned for a good reason. I don't remember anyone being called a Nazi - that's uncalled for - but you certainly were far-right in your views and the sources you shared. That's fine, but many of those sources were unreliable at best and harmful at worst.

I agree @PlinkPlonkFizz.

This thread has taken a really unpleasant turn. It's turned into a bashing of anyone who thought that the lockdowns were the right course of action.

I don't think the government handled it well, nor do I think they were honest. I think someone like Rory Stewart who has on the ground experience of Ebola and other viruses would have been a far better candidate.

However, it was a brand new, global virus which was killing people. Not just the elderly. And the deaths were particularly unpleasant. And let's not even mention Long COVID! So many people died in horrible circumstances.

Lockdowns have left their mark on me too, but at the time they felt like the only solution. Hospitals were already being overrun with COVID - if the virus had been left to run rampant, we all could have been absolutely fucked. There could have been thousands and thousands more dead. The point is that no one really knew how bad it was going to get. The lockdowns and restrictions were desperate containment measures against a new and evolving virus.

Lots of people suffered as a result of the lockdowns, and many continue to do so. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and it doesn't mean that it was the wrong thing to do, given the information that was available at the time.

The problem is that the Tories pissed away billions of pounds by handing whopping contracts to their pals who actually did fuck all. If that money had been put into mental health services or to clear the cancer treatment waiting lists etc, we wouldn't be in such a bad position now. Yet again, the issue has been how it's been handled and where the focus on remedial action has been.

I agree with you, OP, and I recognise that sensation of burnout.

I think number, length, and severity of lockdowns and restrictions was handled badly. At the same time, I can understand Exhausted Flamingo's point. I notice that the government is not addressing the fact that if the NHS and care sector had been in better shape with more capacity to begin with, we wouldn't have had to lock down so severely to "protect the NHS." Obviously we couldn't have been 100% prepared for a novel virus, but we could have had a lot more capacity, and a lot more competence and integrity in our leadership.

Instead we were asked to take steps that, while they were very important to protect the vulnerable, have had an undeniable effect on the health of the wider population. And yet the NHS still hasn't had its capacity increased. And MH or other well-being services haven't been invested in to address the support now needed by an increased number.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/20/build-back-better-after-covid-deceit-more-hardship

In my area that would be because no one will refer to camhs unless it is extreme due to being rejected as a referral/gp saying camhs too busy.

So school counselling teams and similar services are picking it up.

(This isn't to criticise camhs. I k ow you are overstretched. Just an acknowledgement that a lot of referrals arent even being made as they know wait time over 2 years. And that suicide/serious sh are prioritized)

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

OP I am curious to know what you feel could be done.

My hope in starting the thread was more thinking about the here and now rather than the rights and wrongs of lockdowns, which we can't change.

As for what can be done, I don't know, but a conversation about how everyone is doing, a recognition that it was traumatic, is a starting point. For me, the way the government is currently doing cuts and tax rises right now is damaging, because they're just piling more and more misery on everyone. A decent investment in the NHS would help people and a decent pay rise and recognition for nurses. I think its important to recognise what people did and what we went through and to put some thought into MH services.

I'd say we need a general election and a fresh start, with a focus on giving people hope in some way.

Another thing is, we need some proper thought about how young people have had to cope with months and months of home school and the impact on them. There's no attempt to support anyone now, we're just all left to it. This will make inequality worse because some people were buffered a bit through the pandemic.

I don't agree with Flamingo - I can't see that the thread has taken an unpleasant turn.

And agree with EmmaAgain. What exactly is OP suggesting could now be done?

I'm not sure that there is any particular need to talk about it, or if there is, There's plenty of opportunity to talk about stuff on mumsnet now if anyone wants to.

I disagree with that last post. Re young people. They lost out. Most of the year 7's to 10's I know coped it with it well. HoY said that ds2's year are are more immature than previous years because they haven't had as much personal relationships and interactions as previous years.

But as a school they are working on it. And I'm happy that ds2's school are. I feel they are doing a good job.

In our area CAMHs is inundated. There is a waiting list for the waiting list for EDs. There are no tier 4 beds. If you get taken on by CAMHs there is a lot of holding by less qualified staff and gate keeping from the more qualified.

Personally I don’t think it’s Covid but the lack of funding and support and treatment if you need help. Mental health services in our area are practically non existent. My DS was supposed to be a priority case on discharge at 18 from CAMHs for non ED. 18 months later he has had nothing. He feels hopeless, we do too. The impact on families is massive.He is spiralling.It’s a continuous battle. They fully admit they are a reactionary service.

I blame all this firmly on the Tories. They don’t fund mental health and don’t give a shit. It isn’t taken seriously by them in the same way physical health is.

EDs did rocket under lockdown and I think youngsters weee exposed to a lot of damaging stuff on line that will have impacted mental health but I think now it’s firmly the lack of services to blame

I think what helped get us through COVID and lockdowns was the hope that better times would come. Unfortunately due to Brexit, Ukraine and the cost of living the good times have not come.
I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling hopeless at the moment. I love from day to day.
I work in a demanding public sector role, and it's the worst I have ever known it, in terms of demand, low morale and staff sickness. It is hard to find joy in life right now.

I agree.
My friendship group suffered from some people not feeling sufficiently supported by others, and the resentment still festers even now. It bought a lot of negative stuff to the surface of all kinds of relationships.
I wasn’t even very badly affected compared to some people, but I think the pandemic had a bad impact on my mental health.

Absolutely, and inequality robs years from lives. There are vast disparities in the experiences of children and teens during the pandemic, especially the second lockdown. I don't see any real strategy to address this. The government promises were a joke.

crackers you are a lot more optimistic than I am.

I've been on lots of threads about the NHS so I won't repeat myself but for the purposes of this thread, the "reinstate, compensate" won't work now that nurses and carers etc were treated so badly.

The care home mum is in was desperately short staffed yesterday, they told us the Dept of Health still makes them test and isolate. They need to finish off measures like this.

Like a pp, the real shock for me was so many people wanting state control. Having seen what people are like in this situation, there isn't any hope. False hope is dreadful so no point dangling that carrot.

The recession was incredibly obvious and part of the fear and dread for many anti lockdown folk, we knew there was nothing but suffering coming to pay for all this. I do wonder about the people (in real life) who thought I was a crazy conspiracy theorist and have now vanished.