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Mental health crisis

84 replies

WindChimeTinkle · 29/10/2020 14:12

From just my immediate circle of friends, 3 out of 4 of have had severe anxiety and depression due to the pandemic. None suffered with mental health issues before. It is not due to fear about covid but due to the horrendous way of life now. I'm not sure I can face this winter.

OP posts:
TheDailyCarbuncle · 29/10/2020 14:15

It doesn't matter OP. If your suffering isn't due directly to covid, it doesn't count. All that matters is 'keeping people safe' from coronavirus. Every death from covid is a tragedy, deaths from everything else are just collateral damage, you shouldn't even give a second though to them.

Redolent · 29/10/2020 14:22

@TheDailyCarbuncle

It doesn't matter OP. If your suffering isn't due directly to covid, it doesn't count. All that matters is 'keeping people safe' from coronavirus. Every death from covid is a tragedy, deaths from everything else are just collateral damage, you shouldn't even give a second though to them.
You’re part of the problem with you ever-antagonizing posts. What reassurance have you actually delivered here? What have you achieved? You’re just as bad as the people you decry - jumping on any post in order to make a particular point.

People are perfectly capable of nuance whatever their priorities in this crisis may be.

I’m sorry OP. I saw this tweet today and it was very sobering:

London Ambulance Service: "... Our crews now attend an average of 37 suicides or attempted suicides per day, compared to 22 in 2019 and 17 five years ago."

RainbowParadise · 29/10/2020 14:30

Why is that antagonising? Are being not allowed to get increasingly angry that coronavirus does seem to be all that is being considered?

SAGE themselves have had this to say;

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/20/sage-experts-warn-of-impact-of-covid-policies-on-young-generation-z-harm-pandemic-coronavirus

yet seem to be consistently shouting for full lockdowns at the same time. Fuck the young then. Fuck anything else apparently. Other than corona.

Paddy1234 · 29/10/2020 14:32

I have been to two funerals in last two three months due to suicides. Heartbreaking. Neither each person saw a mental health specialist face to face since March

Redolent · 29/10/2020 14:42

@RainbowParadise

Why is that antagonising? Are being not allowed to get increasingly angry that coronavirus does seem to be all that is being considered?

SAGE themselves have had this to say;

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/20/sage-experts-warn-of-impact-of-covid-policies-on-young-generation-z-harm-pandemic-coronavirus

yet seem to be consistently shouting for full lockdowns at the same time. Fuck the young then. Fuck anything else apparently. Other than corona.

They’re not shouting about lockdown for the fun of it. Presumably because of scenes like this, which are only going to get worse:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=nrue4AoEuGg

I don’t think OPs mental health issue is any less or more important than that of the ICU staff in that video. But if you offer your comments on one, but not the other; if your offer your sincere condolence on a non-covid death, but not a covid one, and vice versa, then you’re part of the problem.

SnuggyBuggy · 29/10/2020 14:45

I've had some treatment for anxiety for the first time and my counsellor said they've had a huge increase in first time referrals. We also have a family member whose been suffering from poor mental health and things were just starting to get better only for this. It's grim.

RainbowParadise · 29/10/2020 14:50

So we allow the next generation to be the collateral damage then? The suffering from that will be far worse than the virus, I'm really starting to think so anyway.

Inkpaperstars · 29/10/2020 14:50

Medication might be a good idea for a lot of people, since it might help to stop the problem becoming more complex and self perpetuating. Since it is largely situational and the situation is likely to change, they should be able to withdraw in time. The medication is no magic bullet but it may help to stabilise people, and other help can be hard to access.

LindaEllen · 29/10/2020 14:50

I like to think that in the future, people will be more understanding of mental health issues if they themselves have felt it during this time.

It is shocking that so many people are struggling but, by and large, when things get 'back to normal' they will be okay.

Some of us struggle all the time, even when on the face of things everything is fine with the world.

So I hope that this situation will open people's eyes and make everyone realise that nobody is immune from mental health issues, and it really can hit at any time.

The lack of support in the moment is shocking currently, though.

dollychopss · 29/10/2020 14:52

@TheDailyCarbuncle

It doesn't matter OP. If your suffering isn't due directly to covid, it doesn't count. All that matters is 'keeping people safe' from coronavirus. Every death from covid is a tragedy, deaths from everything else are just collateral damage, you shouldn't even give a second though to them.
You my friend is a total idiot
RainbowParadise · 29/10/2020 14:53

@Inkpaperstars

Medication might be a good idea for a lot of people, since it might help to stop the problem becoming more complex and self perpetuating. Since it is largely situational and the situation is likely to change, they should be able to withdraw in time. The medication is no magic bullet but it may help to stabilise people, and other help can be hard to access.
You really think people will be able to just withdraw from meds? And that meds is the solution to this anyway?
TheDailyCarbuncle · 29/10/2020 14:53

@Inkpaperstars

Medication might be a good idea for a lot of people, since it might help to stop the problem becoming more complex and self perpetuating. Since it is largely situational and the situation is likely to change, they should be able to withdraw in time. The medication is no magic bullet but it may help to stabilise people, and other help can be hard to access.
Are you seriously suggesting that people should medicate themselves in order to tolerate the conditions the government has imposed on them? Fuck me I thought I'd heard some grim things recently but that really takes the biscuit. Is medicating yourself in order to tolerate and intolerable regime of control something you envisaged yourself advising?
SufferingFromLongLockdown · 29/10/2020 14:54

I've started walking up in a panic and then not being able to get my heart rate down for hours.
I can manage anxiety most days, but what do you do when a person attack starts in your sleep!

March through June was horrendous and the panic attacks have started at the prospect of being back there.
They've got worse whenever the press has leaked a rumour of further restrictions. I thought when they set up the three tiers system I'd start to feel better as I'd at least know what I'm dealing with, but now they're still talking tier 4 and further lockdowns. It's never ending.

SufferingFromLongLockdown · 29/10/2020 14:54

@Inkpaperstars

Medication might be a good idea for a lot of people, since it might help to stop the problem becoming more complex and self perpetuating. Since it is largely situational and the situation is likely to change, they should be able to withdraw in time. The medication is no magic bullet but it may help to stabilise people, and other help can be hard to access.
Maybe they should put it in the drinking water.
RainbowParadise · 29/10/2020 14:55

@TheDailyCarbuncle you put it much better than me lol

SnuggyBuggy · 29/10/2020 14:57

I have had my moments where I've wanted to find a private provider and ask them to medicate the fuck out of me because its not going to resolve any time soon.

dollychopss · 29/10/2020 14:57

Op a lot of people are suffering you are not alone

Seriouslymole · 29/10/2020 15:00

@TheDailyCarbuncle - totally, totally agree and yet you cannot say it for fear of people jumping on you. The fallout from the conditions imposed on the population will be FAR greater than any deaths from covid (and it does bear repeating that the average age for covid deaths is 82.4 years - average age that is, meaning that some are a lot older) and yet, apparently you're not allowed to care about anything other than covid at the moment. It's an outrage.

OP - I'm sorry you're struggling. It is awful at the moment but try and focus on the positives in your life, even if it's just a well-made bed or a perfectly boiled egg or a reviving cup of tea and try and get out and get some fresh air every day. It sounds trite but it really works.

RainbowParadise · 29/10/2020 15:00

I've had depression/anxiety in the past caused the first time by a suspected chemical imbalance, the second time by the situation I was in.

Medication would make not an iota of difference for me when the reasons are situational.

Xmaspartyanimal · 29/10/2020 15:03

I have an opposite experience. I have serious mental health condition but I haven't been this stable for years. The lockdown in spring really did good for me.

Redolent · 29/10/2020 15:06

@RainbowParadise

So we allow the next generation to be the collateral damage then? The suffering from that will be far worse than the virus, I'm really starting to think so anyway.
I agree, it is worse for young people than the virus (the under 20s at least, who rarely even get sick from it). It’s why schools at least should remain open - some vague semblance of normality for them. But of course that’s not enough.

But the whole thing remains a fucked up, horrible situation for the vast majority of people. I’m on the cautious side due to a vulnerable husband, but I loathe every second of it. Its horrible for the people who feel isolated, for people losing jobs and the businesses they’ve built. It’s horrible if you’re vulnerable and sending your children to school every day, with the virus rife in your community and the death toll mounting. Its horrible if you can’t visit your parents in a care home; it’s horrible if you’ve worked in a care home and seen the absolutely virus rip through it. There are no easy answers, that’s what makes it so difficult.

Inkpaperstars · 29/10/2020 15:10

I have chronic mental health problems and without medication I might not still be alive. I likely will never be able to function without it, sadly.

Yes, I do think that people whose problems are not so longstanding but largely situational will be able to come off it.

Of course it won't be right for everyone and many don't need it. A lot of people are not in fact experiencing mental health problems, just having a normal human reaction of feeling sad, concerned, troubled etc. The absence of happiness is not a mental health problem. However, many are developing mental health problems and trying medication, while very far from ideal and possibly not helpful, could be worth a try if it saves them from becoming worse.

We shouldn't be in this position but we are, and there is no moral victory in becoming severely unwell because you should have had another way when one isn't available.

I am not convinced by the approach of this govt or any other particularly, I don't know what the most effective measures would be. However, there is no way of going back to normal, if the restrictions aren't messing everything up the virus will be. Ideally we limit the extent to which it is both. So I am afraid I do not buy the idea that the mental health problems all stem solely from an imposed regime, and that there would therefore be some kind of worthwhile resisitance in not taking whatever measures you can to help yourself.

HitchikersGuide · 29/10/2020 15:10

OP you are not alone.
It's made worse by the fact that anyone showing sadness or anger over the restrictions is shouted down so aggressively - we have reached a stage where people are even more desperate because they can't even talk about their feelings without being treated abysmally. Therefore few people want to speak up and those suffering feel that they are alone. But if it helps in any tiny way, please know that others feel the same and I repeat, you are not alone.

TheDailyCarbuncle · 29/10/2020 15:13

Essentially it doesn't matter if you're vulnerable to covid or not, you are vulnerable to lockdown and you simply can't escape it. So being healthy, being careful, being immune, doesn't matter, as lockdown has extended the effects of the virus far beyond the physical and medical effects, into every aspect of people's lives. It's taken a natural disaster, a virus, and blown it up, extended it, added to it and made it as bad as possible for absolutely everyone.

The effect? Well you may not get covid now, but you could well get it in March 2021, while also being unemployed and severely depressed. So that's an improvement isn't it? Thank god for lockdown, saving lives.

Inkpaperstars · 29/10/2020 15:18

[quote Seriouslymole]@TheDailyCarbuncle - totally, totally agree and yet you cannot say it for fear of people jumping on you. The fallout from the conditions imposed on the population will be FAR greater than any deaths from covid (and it does bear repeating that the average age for covid deaths is 82.4 years - average age that is, meaning that some are a lot older) and yet, apparently you're not allowed to care about anything other than covid at the moment. It's an outrage.

OP - I'm sorry you're struggling. It is awful at the moment but try and focus on the positives in your life, even if it's just a well-made bed or a perfectly boiled egg or a reviving cup of tea and try and get out and get some fresh air every day. It sounds trite but it really works.[/quote]
People continually make this comparison between the impact of the restrictions and the impact of covid deaths/illness on health. A more valid comparison would be to compare a) the impact of the restrictions on general health/education/economy/utilities/security/social lives etc etc combined with the toll of covid illness and death while measures are ongoing, and b) the impact of exponential growth of covid to a natural peak on general health/education/economy/utilities/security/social lives etc combined with the toll of covid illness and death while measures are not in place.

Getting the balance right in terms of which measures are most effective, how long they are likely to be needed etc is very complex. But if we are realistic about the impact of exponential growth on everything non covid, it seems clear the absence of restrictions is not taking anyone back to a better place soon.