Chapter 6: Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives
Impact of the pandemic on mental health
During the pandemic, people have often felt less in control of their lives, which has been difficult for many.
People, from all age groups and communities, talk about the impact that the pandemic has had on their mental health. A Gateshead Council survey of residents found that in June 2020, 75% of respondents said they were very worried, or somewhat worried, about the impact Covid-19 was having on their lives at that time. Many people experiencing mental health problems, at whatever point on that journey, have found recent months very tough.
"I feel sad and nervous about how my life has changed. Frightened to go out and sad because I can't hug my parents (especially my mam...)."
Gateshead resident, Tyne & Wear Archives Lockdown Survey 2020, Accession. 5992
"Covid left me feeling confused I didn't know what to do. It made me realise I'm old I'm tired and I'm failing but most of all I need people. I can't put into words what it's like to be alone with no avenues to meet people, but I can say it makes you ask why you are here."
Service user, Age UK Gateshead.
"I was in a good place with my mental health but as the weeks roll on I get lower and lower. There's nothing to look forward to, weekends, bank holidays, birthdays, every day is Groundhog day."
Gateshead resident, Tyne & Wear Archives Lockdown Survey 2020, Accession. 5992
We're seeing lots more patients who are struggling with their mental health as a result of lifestyle changes during the pandemic. It's a priority for us to get people to pick-up their prescriptions in person, where possible, so that they have that interaction with people and get out of the house.
There has been an increase of cases with anxiety in patients. This accumulating from various factors such as fear, stress, financial constraints, not being able to see loved ones etc. To deal with this and other mental health related problems we have had to adapt to a more personal touch like community pharmacy used to be before the nature of the modern world. It is something we have always done as an independent pharmacy but in this climate, it has become the forefront of our processes.
Community Pharmacist
I had spent from June 2015 to March 2020 trying to get to grips with my poor mental health, having been released from my section. Over the next four years, I had various improvements and setbacks. The improvements were due to my time at the gym, some socialising, my mental health service run out of the GP surgery, my independent living officer and my involvement with the Poverty Truth Commission in Gateshead. The bad was my treatment at the hands of the Universal Credit system causing me to have relapses in 2017 and 2019.
In March of 2020, the Poverty Truth commission had its launch event and I told my story to a packed audience. I was at the peak of my mental health recovery and was looking forward to the year ahead, then the first lockdown started as did my problems.
First all of my support services vanished overnight, gym and coffee morning venues shut. I coped because we were all in the same boat. It became harder to manage when the first lockdown ended, for me nothing changed. I only left the flat once a week to get food, so my feeling of isolation and anxiety started to spiral. In July, I went to my sisters for three weeks, and regrouped, but on my return to Gateshead, with another lockdown announced, I had to give in and move in with family until Christmas and then with a third lockdown, I moved in permanently and gave up my residence in Gateshead.
It took until July this year, 2021, to restart with mental health services and start the long road again. Lessons need to be learnt around how to engage with those people who are diagnosed, or need to be diagnosed with mental health issues, without meeting face to face.
PJ, Poverty Truth Commissioner, Gateshead
In terms of how people have reported the impact of the pandemic, what we've heard has been a great desire for reconnection and shared activity, a wish to build on the mutual aid initiatives that sprang up, a renewed keenness for the outdoors for many people. However, while ourselves and many others in the Voluntary and Community Sector have tried our utmost, there is still a dearth of secondary care services which appear increasingly difficult to access and are often not face-to-face. What we are seeing is a greater degree of difficulty in many people's lives, from low income and Universal Credit changes to a loss or reduction in statutory support services, which naturally exacerbates people's mental health problems.
We wouldn't like to talk in terms of complex needs, because when people relate their stories, they aren't complex, but very, very, understandable, with intersecting factors. The complexity arises with the system's response to people, and its inability to acknowledge that co-/multimorbidity is the norm.
Alisdair Cameron, Co-Director, ReCoCo
Not only are some groups and communities at greater risk of Covid-19 transmission, severity of illness and mortality, but they have also been disproportionately impacted by the lockdown, and other measures put in place to tackle the health crisis. This has included increased barriers to accessing health and social care services, support services stopping or going online, the loss of routine, loneliness and increased isolation, financial difficulties or having to spend more time in unsuitable or dangerous accommodation.