Unravelling the mental strain of Covid-19

Wednesday, May 20, 2020 0:01

By JENNY LUESBY

You will cope, if you are not weighed down by fear, anxiety, regret and self-recrimination.

FILE PHOTO | NMG 

The mental strain of the Coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns, curfews and relative social isolation didn’t show too much at first.

But as families have lived 24/7 together in the home, redundancies have kept coming in, any spare funds have been used, and uncertainty and fear have continued rising, there aren’t many of us left who would say this lockdown isn’t driving us a little mad now.

One psychologist I read talked about the mental health load for health workers worried they may get sick and infect their families.

Yet, the strain of this pandemic is more universal and pervasive than these examples, because it strikes at the way humans navigate the world around them.