Lockdowns Destroy Lives

Kieren, 23, is from Norwich in England. This is his story.  My personal experience with lockdowns and other Covid measures has been horrible. I’ve always struggled with anxiety and depression since I was a child. However, this past year has been the worst of my life. The constant uncertainty, mass hysteria and draconian measures have destroyed what little mental stability I had.  I’ve been suicidal a couple of times and I doubt I’m the only one. There is also next to no help out there for those whose fragile mental health has deteriorated during lockdown as Covid takes priority over everything. Why is treatment being delayed or suspended for various illnesses that combined kill way more people than Covid ever could? As a young person, I’m extremely unlikely to die of Covid. A severe deterioration in my mental health would be far more of a risk for me. In fact, I’m already at rock bottom in some regards, as are many of my friends and family. We’ve all had enough. Some of us hav...

Alicia is from Hertfordshire in England. This is her story.  Last March, my dad was a happy ninety three-year-old living at home with family help and outside care. Although he suffered with a degree of dementia, he still knew and recognised us. He was happy and engaging. He still enjoyed eating and overall had a good quality of life. That all changed on March 21st when lockdown started. The family were forbidden to see him. We could no longer take him out for his favourite car journeys and treat him to fish & chips while he happily reminisced about his life. As a result of being isolated from the family, he stopped sleeping properly and kept asking his carer where his family had gone. He went from regular contact with his loved ones to being isolated at home with a carer.  A couple of months later my father's health started to deteriorate. On May 13th, a doctor told me he had less than three days to live. We feel the distress of being separated from his family le...