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'I've been suicidal and I doubt I'm the only one'

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 have lost our jobs, and when we question anything we are shamed by all the “protect the NHS, save lives” brigade as they get on their high horses. 

The government and a large swathe of the population no longer care about the millions of people suffering as a result of lockdowns and restrictions. They would rather focus on the minority succumbing to Covid because it makes for more sensationalist news. My own grandmother feels the same way as me. She has told me multiple times that she would rather take her chances with Covid than not see her family. 

I really hope things change soon and we all wake up to the possibility that there is a better way to fight this virus, than hiding indefinitely while the world burns around us. 

Thanks for letting me share my story.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 17, 2020 at 11:14 PM

    My Grandad is 83. He lives in a care home and has dementia. I used to visit him 6 days a week. I have seen him twice outside since March.
    Last week I got a phone call to say he had tested positive with 5 other residents.
    He doesn't understand why he is in isolation, he thinks he has done something wrong. We have spent hours on the phone to him trying to reassure him, comfort him, distract him because thats all we can do. He has threatened suicide. Yesterday he took off his watch and wedding ring and would not engage with anyone.
    When I rang I could hear him in the background saying I want to die.
    The toll a week in isolation has taken on him is devastating.
    It was not worth not seeing him for so long, he got it anyway.
    Coronavirus isn't killing him, isolation is.

    ReplyDelete

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