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.

What is is a non doomy way of reporting spiralling prices and failing public services?

I blame the people who demanded it and the media whipping it up. We probably would have avoided so much damage without that fear spiral.

It is the reason many people i know (myself included) carried on as normal during lockdowns. We continued seeing family and friends when it was forbidden because we understood the importance of human contact for our DC and ourselves. Covid was far less dangerous to us than mental health issues so we prioritised. I do understand that the elderly and vulnerable did not have the luxury of this choice and had to isolate to protect themselves from Covid.

Stunningscreamer

Thst just isn’t true. I’m seeing a therapist to cope with my ill dc. It costs £70 for 50 minutes. That’s £280 a month!!!Like many we are really squeezed and it’s a struggle to find it. It took me and a professional supporting our family hours to find him. It’s bewildering knowing what you need and many have closed waiting lists. It’s easy to get ripped off. Between us we contacted so many on a list that we worked out were viable. So many were retired, not taking on new clients. Two thirds never replied!

And we can’t help the war but we’d be better placed without what went before. Anyway I’m not here to engage with the left again just taking comfort from people voting yanbu which wouldn’t have happened previously.

At least people are seeing sense now

50 minutes just isn’t enough and I should be paying for more but we just can’t afford it.

What was the alternative though @celan? Millions catching covid, the NHS being overwhelmed, their staff catching it and dying, total chaos?

Lockdown was always going to happen. Almost every country was doing it. A lot of revisionism going on now.

The average of death from COVID was 83 older than the average lifespan and death from other causes. The government lied to us they went OTT over it , COVID was not ebola or even the Spanish flu !

This is why we need a grown up discussion on whether we can afford a huge machine like the NHS. The chronically ill are being missed.
sorry for your loss.

If more NHS staff were off with covid then no-one would have been treated for anything. Until the vaccines were bedded in by spring 2021 then we had to go careful.

Completely agree.

None of us suffered physically through the pandemic with illness, either covid or undiagnosed because of covid. And we are a fairly robust family mental-health wise. But my teenager children were so upset and affected by it all, they missed their friends and just felt so isolated and alone. Being stuck in his room with no university social interaction for all of the 2021-22 year almost broke my 19 year old. He is improving now and much happier as Uni is back to face to face learning.

My 15 year old daughter threw the most almighty toddler tantrums which clearly showed to me that she wasn't coping. In the Jan 2021 - April 2021 lockdown here in Scotland we allowed her to have a friend over for pizza and Netflix and it did both of their mental health a world of good and I don't care if that was "selfish".

So many people who were struggling to cope with the lockdowns and restrictions were being told just to get on with it as other people had it worse.

Interesting

I know so many familiars with children esp under 12 who split up

And when socialising first started, literally every time I went out for a drink the other woman there (121) said 'I'm an alcoholic' And all had been doing 1 bottle wine / kids of gin every day. This was my mother in law, church leader friend. Ambitious career accountant friend, banker friend with twins omg just literally every time with 7 people

So depressing - gov effectively caused alcoholic ian for many and ruined many families

My 8y old is terrified of divorce as so many parents separated in her class during and after. I'm sure it wouldn't have happened without Covid

I think the first lock down was needed after that the vulnerable should have been told to shield. Utterly unreasonable that a healthy population was locked up for a disease that would cause very minor problems in most people. I never had it . I'm a HCP the people I saw "die" from COVID were in terminal decline from other illnesses. . The media didn't want to tell you that though.

Some of us were lucky enough to be living with family and didn't need to do this. That is why I think the massive failings were. People living alone should not have had to be alone for so long. I was in a lucky situation we have older children at home and they thrived. They really enjoyed each other's company (for once!). DHs mental health has been a bit battered because he he was working frontline NHS and saw terrible things (parents dying in from of their young children). We undeniably needed some form of lockdown but it should have been a different one.

Much talk about covid on this thread, I decided if it happened again, I'd say 'fuck it' to staying locked up at home & carry on my life as near normal as possible.

downanduppy
Well done you 👏👏 I was exactly the same. I have 3 adult daughter and 6 grandchildren. I never stopped seeing any of them. I have elderly neighbours who still needed my support. Fortunately the weather was lovely so I was able to have get togethers in my garden.

Yeah, the government lied to us in order to cripple the economy. What a genius plan.

No, I don't feel like this at all. Myself and everyone I know, is back to living a full life and feeling so grateful for it. I have no idea why anyone would want to dwell on the past or ruminate over it - just move on!

FiveMins "Some of us were lucky enough to be living with family and didn't need to do this."

one of my former friends was furious when I said I was lonely and struggling. She said "what do you think it's like being stuck in with a husband and two teens?"

I would have seen friends but they were furious at me for suggesting it, wouldn't countenance the notion that my long standing mental health issues covered them legally if they met me. Terrified of the law.

the only people kind enough to offer to meet were on here and then we lost touch. I don't even know what my username was but I am grateful to those posters.

I was so stressed and anxious at the start. I remember being utterly fearful when I was in a shop, touching things and then put my fingers to my mouth without thinking.
My family, and pretty much everyone I knew in my area, got covid quite early on and we didn't die, weren't hospitalised and dc had barely any symptoms.
Suddenly all that fear was gone. My anxiety reduced totally and I felt so free.
But now, I've been hearing at the G20, they've been talking about the next pandemic and how they're going to implement surveillance of travellers and I can feel my anxiety rising again.
I can't deal with going through that again. Especially if it's a worse pandemic.

These days a child that plays up a bit stretching his/hers parents nerves is almost immediately given anti depressants

As someone who works with children and families, this is a load of old nonsense. I do wish people wouldn't state as fact something they obviously know nothing about. The majority of kids open to CAMHS never even see a Psychiatrist, let alone recieve medication. It's rare for GP's to agree to prescribe antidepressants to under 16's as it would breach their guidelines, so this isn't something they do lightly. They certainly don't prescribe them for kids who are "playing up a bit".

I think the trauma now is that when living through Covid, we kept hoping we would see the end. Now we appear to have come to the end of peak Covid (eg it doesn't feature much in the media etc and schools back to normal) but life has become worse! In fact, the entire time since 2015 seems to be deteriorating- Brexit, Covid, Ukraine. It's hard to look forward to the future

Charles "But now, I've been hearing at the G20, they've been talking about the next pandemic and how they're going to implement surveillance of travellers and I can feel my anxiety rising again."

pandemic = profit + control

And if one more person asks me why governments want to control people....!
does everyone live in la la land, .i suppose so, so I will try to live there too.

There are a few but best ignored.