Covid causing mental health issues.

Gentlemen,

I'm asking the following out of my curiosity and for no other reason but when ever I turn on the news and covid is mentioned its has mental health attached, what I dont understand is why its an issue, my wife and I are not gregarious people we enjoy each others company, are both retired and can and do spend time at home alone,even when life was normal, we have friends and family and use all of the available equipment to stay connected so why dont we have mental issues.

Martin P

You may be the lucky ones. I have no issues myself, but know a lot of couples who are at each others throats a lot.

Steve.

Why would that be any different under normal conditions and any way its married life, my wife and I have our moments but I wouldnt put it under a mental issue heading.

Martin P

Perhaps you don't live in a high rise block furloughed from your minimum wage struggling with a PAYG phone you can't really afford..
...50% of the population have below average IQ...

pgk

It’s probably not just having your freedom curtailed that can be a problem for some people but many people are in financial difficulties with the threat of eviction hanging over them. My son was scheduled to be married in the spring and had spent many thousands of pounds which for a while was close to being lost. The fear factor has set in hard with some people and they really fear the risks of returning to work. I am thankful that I am not a worrier so although this has been an unexciting year with a bit of a Groundhog Day feel to it.

Mike

Now look at it from the point of view of mum dad and two young children, I strongly object to them being called kids, a kid is a young goat. Dad has to work from home, only place he can do this is on the kitchen table, no spare bedroom or study, just a standard modern three bed house, little or no garden so dads trying to work, zoom meetings, telling the children to be quiet why he is talking to customers, mum cannot prepare meals because she needs the table, the children want to see their friends and they cannot so they start picking on each other, mum has to try and keep the peace as well as worrying if dad is still going to have a job next month, etc etc, I can see how it could affect someone’s mental health. True story from a family near me.

I think the best answer is to say be grateful and count your blessings, and don't be sceptical of the toll 2020 is having on many people.

Neil

I'm not being sceptical of others but everybody is using the words for everything, a chap on tv tonight said he can now go swimming which is helping his mental issues which didnt seem relevant to me, I had a long time on the dole years with a child living in a village with no car.

Lock this one off I'm not making my clear and I'm in for a drumming.

Martin P

Ok so I have had mental health issues all my adult life, anxiety & depression with all it's complications & last felt what I would call 'normal' back when I was 20, [I'm now 66] so I am speaking from my experience.

MY experience is if there is nothing to worry about you will think of something & right now if you are predisposed to mental health problems I would suggest you give the media in all it's forms a wide berth as the constant drip drip of bad news or perceived bad news will soon take you down.

Just my own personal experience of a life long condition which I have to try to manage but effects all parts of my life.

Tony

Exactly. The pandemic is throwing into high relief the different circumstances many of us live in, and those with high proximity to others and little control over it are suffering badly, financially, physically and mentally - and it can be difficult for anybody to help some of them.

Edited By Mick B1 on 22/09/2020 20:30:16

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The short answer is stress pushes people who are close to the edge over it. The Covid pandemic not only increases stress for many people but the neccessary social distancing can remove the very things that alleviate that stress.

Those in robust mental health will get through pretty much intact, those whose mental health is more fragile may not.

What your workshop is to you the swimming pool may be to someone else.

regards Martin

Edited By Martin Kyte on 22/09/2020 20:51:36

I'd like to add I had a friends she was suffering fro advanced MS back in early April she took her own life, she found lockdown extremely difficult she would not let her advanced MS stop her doing things Mondays she would go for aqua therapy, Tuesday she along with her husband travel to their caravan in Wales making good use of her all terrain wheelchair on Friday they would return home Saturday she go horse riding Sunday was a rest day visit family or family visit her and then it all came to a stop she could not cope !

H

Martin P,

I agree with you totally.

Where is the stiff upper lip? How would these people go on if they had been alive 200 years ago? Ever heard of cutting your coat according to your cloth? Sorry, I have no sympathy with these snowflakes.

Just to put something into perspective, earlier this year I was doing some genealogical research on a man who may have been my wife's grandfather, and I managed to trace his ancesters back to around 1800. Strange as it may seem, two families of his ancesters, both originally living south of Lancaster, migrated to Bradford in the mid 1800's. Now how did they get there? No buses, roads probably no more than cart tracks, railways possible but maybe not, canal, possible but maybe not. Just think of the stress involved in uprooting from Lancaster, leaving all their friends behind probably never to see them again, and making that trip to Bradford, looking for somewhere to stay, and then finding a job.

And there are people today moaning about their lifestyle and how hard they are done by!

Peter G. Shaw

'

Imagine laying in bed on a thursday evening wondering how you are going to pay the staff on friday morning when you have just been told by the bank that they are going to call in the overdraft & reposess your house which you have used as guarantee against the loan.

Must be even worse if you throw in some covid for luck. Regardless of what you are told about loan holidays , the interest is rising & the loans still have to be paid- eventually. So it is not all about those with low IQ.

Then add in a bit of marital unrest & you have a pending suicide on the cards, I bet

Imagine being a wife locked in a 3 room flat, day after day, with some barsteward who wants to bash the life out of her, just because she says the wrong thing, or because the kids play up a bit.

I would have thought mental health issues will be VERY high on some people's agenda.

I know this is glaringly obvious but it hadn't dawned on me before. It explains a lot!

David

Anxiety creates a subliminal stress factor, what will happen next, is it going to affect me, will I catch it.

Many people live routine lives and when that routine is disrupted then they are unable to cope., then a finacial situation arises and being unable to pay bills add to the distress.

Covid 19 is going to put the future in turmoil and the ramifications will follow for a long time before life adjusts itself to something near normal.

Covid 19 is not going to go away as it is world wide and affects all Nations, travel and the kickbacks from that.

Many vibrant businesses are in tatters and many will not recover. Fear for the future as you knew it!

Well said Peter, the stress of traveling to Bradford must have been unimaginable - it's 60 miles and taken 7 or even 8 hours! They must have had nerves of steel.

Edited By Andrew Evans on 22/09/2020 22:08:31

So if the population is 3 and they have IQ's of 50 100 and 120 the average is 270/3 = 90 which means in this case only 30% of the population is below average IQ. Maybe it's not so glaringly obvious after all.

regards Martin