Worrying article in the Guardian

[SpongeCake23]

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/16/uk-lockdown-causing-serious-mental-illness-in-first-time-patients?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1589620149

People with no history of mental illness are developing serious psychological problems for the first time as a result of the lockdown, amid growing stresses over isolation, job insecurity, relationship breakdown and bereavement, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has disclosed.

Adults and children are having psychotic episodes, mania and depression, with some taken to hospital because of the heavy toll on their mental wellbeing.

Eight weeks into lockdown measures, the Royal College of Psychiatrists is warning that services could be overwhelmed by “a tsunami of mental illness”

Psychiatrists are also concerned about stress linked to the fear of contracting Covid-19. Being cut off from family and friends, and disruption to normal NHS services, are also exacerbating existing mental health problems. Some now refer to the emergence of “lockdown anxiety”

A specialist in the psychiatric care of children and young people said they had seen more under-18s with autism having to be admitted for inpatient care because they were “not coping with changes re Covid” and others “with deteriorating mental health state and increase in significant self-harm and increase in completed suicides”.

Something needs to be done and quickly, in my opinion.

This is going to have a longer lasting impact and more devastating after effects than the virus itself.
We’ve already had a family member commit suicide during the lockdown, because of being in the shielding catogery, but also a struggling alcoholic. I luckily don’t know anyone who has died of Covid, but I know people who have had it and are now fine.

This is a virus with a very high survival rate, I’m terrified for the future, especially for my son.

People have been reduced to gibberish wrecks in their homes.

*gibbering

Yes it's a worry and depends what kind of stress you have in the workplace. Lockdown for many will be causing an increase in family tensions, domestic violence, no break from the kids, financial worry over potential redundancy etc, all of which can push people who ordinarily just about cope over the edge. I suffer from anxiety and depression myself but have found lockdown has been less stressful - there isn't the pressure of the daily commute to work, the morning rush, worrying about the dogs being home alone some days. I am lucky that we are financially ok, have a loving dh, kids who are abiding by the rules and mainly getting on with school work etc and have a big enough house to all have our own rooms and work from home easily. Lots of people don't have this, some don't even have a garden, their support networks are gone and things that keep them ticking along like day care for the elderly, parent and baby groups, support from other parents at the school gate, just normal interactions are gone and people will suffer mentally because of that loss.

Sorry that first sentence should say what kind of stress you have in the home !

My concern is that it won't be temporary either. That the mental health of the who survive their illness will be permanently damaged.

We know that trauma can create permanent psychological damage (e.g. PTSD) and/or be the trigger for ongoing psychiatric illness. How much of this triggering of mental illness will be repairable?

I agree OP I think mental health problems are much more worrying and long term than COVID-19.

Completely agree OP. The virus is causing excess deaths and we can see it's immediate effects. How will the excess deaths caused by the measures to prevent virus spread measure against those in the end? The treatments for other illnesses currently on hold and the health outcomes of those who are pushed into poverty by this and the mental health repercussions etc etc... All building in the background just not immediately apparent... Yet. The response to the virus could be, in the end, worse than the virus itself and where the tipping point is, I am not in a position to know. But I hope those in authority find a way to walk that tightrope as best as possible.

I do wonder how mental health services are going to cope after this is over with. It’s a real concern and I hope the general public would be willing to put up with tax increases to pay for it.

I really, really hope a lot of people notice this, OP. Thanks for drawing my attention to it. I am not in the slightest bit surprised, unfortunately. I am in this category myself.

I am pleased to find this thread as in some circles I move in it is currently very frowned on to have any conversation that considers anything other than the dread of the virus and the necessity for a pull-all-the-stops-out and hang the consequences approach to it.
I am a diligent observer of all the lockdown rules and support in every way the restrictive actions on virus spread... But... Other problems still go on and arise and we have to look at the whole picture.

@Babyroobs I’m in the category you mentioned there. Have a toddler, no garden, existing mental health problems and I had my routine of toddler groups, playgroups and seeing my in laws regularly to help out with my DS (my parents don’t live nearby). I also had my face to face anxiety and depression peer support group, all gone overnight. They are providing a zoom and phone service, but it’s sadly not the same. I am accessing it though. I feel so gutted that everything that was once keeping me afloat, has been taken from me.

Op you say ‘something needs to be done’

Like what? What can be suggested here as you make it sound like it’s something which can be fixed? What in your opinion should be done?

The chief executive of one mental health trust said: “We are definitely seeing ‘people not known to services’ who are acutely unwell. They are mainly young men aged 18-25 who require admission.

Are young women just able to cope better? As it states in the article it's this demographic who seem to be flouting the rules the most and just don't know what to do with themselves.

Its very worrying yes, but what alternative was there to the lockdown?

Half a million deaths, so far, and the health service crushed? Huge amounts of people would have been dying without any medical or palliative help at all, many of them alone. It would have been horrific

I'm not surprised to read this at all! I read a similar article last week. It stated that some people who were considered mentally strong and assertive pre-lockdown have found that this way of living has triggered quite severe OCD and psychotic episodes for the first time ever. Basically it implied that a mental illness was always there bubbling under the surface but it just needed something to trigger it to present itself. It also stated that people who were well educated with professional high flying careers were more likely to suffer these episodes but at the same time were better at covering them up to others to ensure they maintained their public status / image. Apparently there have been numerous studies done over the years on establishing the link between people who are highly driven and their subsequent risk of developing certain forms of mental illness.

Its very worrying yes, but what alternative was there to the lockdown?

Should have locked down earlier, used that time to bring in more widespread social distancing (like the supermarkets etc have) and we would have been able to ease lockdown sooner than 8 weeks with a much lower death toll and start to get businesses open and people back to work.

Obviously things like large scale gatherings are a no go for a good while.

I agree it's very worrying.

I think you're more likely to die of covid than suicide as a result of lockdown-the risks being relatively small in both cases. The potential for long term negative outcomes is there in both situations.

The only thing I'd add is... There is already going to be a epidemic of mental health issues in HCPs. They have nothing more to give, and that's with lockdown. As a side point to that, there is no mental health upside to living in a pandemic. Many adults with mental health difficulties rely heavily on ageing parents. While they're exposed to the harmful effects of lockdown now, they do at least have protection from the impact of an epidemic and an overwhelmed public health system.

Completely agree OP. Some people have got really major stuff to deal with but even comparatively minor stuff like having to queue every time you want to do shopping, or being stressed about being able to get the things you want, will get to some people. Even just having to try to plan when and where you go out for a run to avoid as many people as possible is stressful!

I wonder if people who have already experienced considerable adversity may be better placed to cope with all of this.

I know that, during adversity, I'm able to put a dimmer switch on various parts of my life in order to keep all going - I can keep most or all plates spinning until the adversity passes and I can shut down the response to the adversity and turn the dimmer up on everything else again.

I suspect that people who haven't experienced serious adversity haven't had to employ this from an early age and therefore simply try to keep going at 100% on all engines until they completely fall apart.

There will be a large element of the expectation gap in play too - many of us are no longer shocked enough by poor outcomes to be really traumatised and upset by something like this. Our expectations are low enough that this simply isn't "shocking" in a traumatic sense.

That's a good point @PicsInRed I've been struggling badly but I've shut parts of my life down to focus on what I have to. I compare it to walking through a brick tunnel - what's outside the tunnel doesn't exist right now. Problem is, there'll come a time when things change and I get to the end of the tunnel and step back into the world. I know what it did to me last time. I don't know if I can go through it again and tbh I don't think I want to.

I I totally get what picsinred is saying and I think we need to start working on building resilience in individuals.
This could well go on for several years with restrictions & lockdown relaxed for months at a time and then locked down again. We need to start helping people to get used to that idea and learn to live with it.

And I'm the opposite to you OP - I don't know anyone who's had a rapid decline in mental heath ( feeling anxious & a bit scared of course but using the headspace app and practicing techniques to manage the anxiety) but I know 6 people who have died from COVID including one of my oldest friends!.

This is an interesting thread. Ive never had mental health problems before. I'm struggling so bad at the moment. DH and I both work full time shifts, he is NHS and I am police. We have 2 and 7 year old DS, and like all others we have no childcare. Ds2 nursery has closed completely, and DS7 has a health condition so didn't attend school. We are working our shifts around each other, and this means me getting 3 hours sleep between shifts and never seeing DH. We have not had a day off together since March and are not rota'd to until at least September. Both jobs are high stress. DH work have been extremely welfare orientated and looked after him as much as possible. My work have thrown me under the bus, denied all reasonable adjustments I have offered (even down to me buying my own computer equipment to work 2 out of 6 days at home) and have now blocked a move I was supposed to be making next month - on welfare grounds. I am so tired I don't know what day it is, have incurred 3 speeding tickets on my way to work through rushing when DH got home late, feel like I'm failing in everything and generally struggling to cope with pretty much anything. DH and I have both worked in mn services and I can recognise the signs of anxiety and depression. I am struggling to sleep, but struggling to get out of bed. I have no motivation or enjoyment in anything. I am teary, all the time. I have no concentration span. I'm seriously worried about the rabbit hole I'm falling down.

10storey that sounds really hard and definitely unsustainable, I can't believe your employer is treating you so badly!
Is there a HR dept you can speak to?
Your situation was not at all the sort of situation I was thinking about, have you spoken to your GP? It might be worth seeing if they will sign you off for a couple of weeks so you can catch your breath!

This really interests me because it makes me wonder what happened to people after WW2 when the mental strain that had been experienced from 1938-45 was so huge. Was it all just ignored because mental health issues were considered shameful then? Was there an upturn in suicides and admissions into mental institutions. I need to read more about it really.

I think there's something in the comment above which asks whether people who have experienced significant difficulties prior to all this might be able to weather the storm better. I suffer from chronic health problems and have experienced being housebound (which is pretty similar to lockdown except that you're doing it on your own) so haven't found lockdown too difficult - though I am helped by the fact we have no real money worries and DH and I are really happily married. I have friends who have lived a charmed life though who are finding lockdown really hard, despite having no real financial worries.

I said this would happen long before lockdown happened. Once lockdown began, I posted a message of support on a Facebook comment made by a single mother friend of mine who was struggling with WFH and looking after her three children on her own. All
I did was to acknowledge the negative effects of lockdown. The responses I received back were disgusting - someone even me who I wanted in my family to die.