No real mental health crisis from pandemic

[Nimbostratus100]

Confirmed by BMJ, after surveys across high income countries across Europe and ASia

This doesn't surprise me in the slightest, despite a myriad of anecdotal accounts on MN and in some other places.

I know I asked many hundreds of children myself, and found more enjoyed and benefited from lockdown than suffered because of it, and mental health charities knew at the time that suicide rates were falling, which has later been confirmed.

Some people's mental health deteriorated in the lockdowns. Some people's improved. Overall, there was a small rise in mild/moderate mental health problems being reported, while suicides decreased.

Can we stop blaming the pandemic and lockdown for poor mental health across the board now, but particularly in schools.

Erm I have horses.

Lockdown was a fucking nightmare. Hth.

I'm just highlighting this because...well, it's something to see.

you enjoyed it, you spent a lot of money, have a garden big enough to camp in, and had no fear of breaking the law from the outset.

going to the data - it is saying it only looked at middle to high income as well, have I got that right?

one of my fears of it happening is based on the fact that many people seem to have loved it.

My then eleven year old dd tried to take her life twice during the first lockdown. We couldn't access any mental health support. Even the crisis team who were requested when she was taken to hospital didn't get in touch till over a week later. And then only offered advice over the phone that was useless. We couldn't get gp appointments and camhs waiting list ended up being 20 months from referral till she got her first appointment. In the meantime we pooled all our resources as a family and got private treatment for her. As did so many other parents. By the time the camhs appointment came through she was doing much better which was a good thing as all they could offer was online support groups.

I'm glad it seems most people weren't effected too negatively. And can look back on that time with fondness even.

But personally that study seems a load of wank 😁

It is a meta analysis

Community mental health teams weren't going out for visits , it was mainly phone calls and zoom. You can't properly assess someone's mental state over the phone. Many people have chaotic lives so don't answer the phone or run out of credit to ring back. I think people who already had serious mental health issues were severely let down.

Couldn't agree more

@Nimbostratus100

It's a meta analysis that doesmt say anything about the long term impact of lock down on mh or children

This

Asked “many hundreds of children” my backside

The heartlessness of some of these replies. ‘My child suffered horribly” other poster “well my meta analysis says it didn’t happen and we went horse riding so stfu with your anecdote”

Thank you neverendinglauaundry for doing what the OP, who "asked many hundreds of children", should have done in their first post: Linked us to the study.

I do have to wonder why some people find it so difficult to acknowledge the benefits of lockdown?

because there weren’t any

There are experiences of people with severe mental health problems on this thread saying the opposite. That it was a much easier time.

I know from experience that the only reason my dd is alive now is because we were together 24/7. After her first suicide attempt we didn't leave her side. Same experience for a lot of other parents we met through that horrible time in our lives. Wonder if this is why suicide rates were supposedly lower.

I don't understand what your post is trying to achieve?

I feel like it's to undermine people who suffered? I don't know 🤷‍♀️.

You'll have to excuse my muddled brain as I didn't get diagnosed with this neurological disease till a lot of damage was done. That's also lockdowns fault lol

Your experience fits with the results of the study that (according to the OP) reported a small rise in mild/moderate mental health problems. So what is it you think is “a load of crap” exactly?!

You title is misleading - the study does not report on mental health since the pandemic at all, it reports on mental health DURING the pandemic. They compared pre-January 2020 with points during 2020. Remembering that the pandemic impacted different countries differently during that time. The study states “High risk of bias in many studies and substantial heterogeneity suggest caution in interpreting results.”

It says nothing at all about mental health since the pandemic. However we know in England the rates of referrals to CAMHS are now double prepandemic levels.

Worse the meta analysis doesn’t even say it

So frustrating to see them not acknowledge that. Painfully blind to what the study includes. Maddening!

As for the horses, well yes I’ve seen that a few times

@OutOfChocolate

You seem determined to deny any negative impacts of lock down.

Why is that?

I think there are sectors that definitely suffered from increased mental health issues directly due to the pandemic - in particular the elderly and those not or unable to be online, who lost their social groups due to venue closures, and withdrawal of services.

The study doesn’t show any benefit to MH during lockdown.

My daughter’s mental health was a bit ropey pre-lockdown - however, she was able to see a therapist weekly, she was well supported in school for her mental health and her SEN, she had a good friendship circle and support network, routine, support groups she attended for her disabilities, hobbies, etc.

Then lockdown hit, and all that was removed. Her mental health plummeted to the point she couldn’t leave her bedroom, let alone the house, without a panic attack.

Then when school reopened in September when she was going into year 11, she still didn’t have access to her friendship circle (different bubbles), her support network had gone, her SEN and MH support was pretty non-existent, preparing for GCSEs that they didn’t know whether they would take or not, etc, etc.

If you asked her if she preferred lockdown, she’ll tell you, yes. But it still had a massive, massive affect on her mental health, that 3 years later is still impacting her day to day life.

She has Tourette’s and lockdown meant she didn’t have to go to school, so she didn’t have to deal with the bullying, she didn’t have to deal with the exhaustion of ticcing, of worrying about swearing in assembly, of trying to suppress tics and the tic attacks that follow. She could just -be-

Lots of similar stories from her friends/etc.

My daughter’s psychiatrist at CAMHS, and other friends who work in mental health services locally all say there’s been an unprecedented demand for their services, and they don’t attribute it all to a back log - yes, of course some of it is due to a massive backlog, but not all

But serious mental health issues would be expected to rise after the pandemic. I have seen it amongst people I know with serious mental health problems. During the pandemic lots of pressures were reduced and there was a pulling together culture. Once the pandemic ended everything went back to normal with the same old pressures and new pressures with the cost of living crisis. Sitting in a cold house and struggling to buy food does not have a good impact on your mental health.

Lock down itself was terrible for some and great for others who could escape from social life. However now I think mental health is worse because it's now apparent that reintegrating has been difficult because social ties and feelings of obligations have weakened. Cost of living crisis is not helping as people can't afford to go to the pub or join new clubs etc

Strongly disagree!

Brexit also hasn't helped as can't easily go and explore working opportunities in Europe which is the cheapest place to get to

I said my dd went horse riding. Sorry that we have a horse. She loved lockdown.

Everyone else in the family fucking hated it. I think it depends on what kind of person you are.