The Agenda with Stephen Cole: Mental Health

For many people the global pandemic COVID-19 has stirred up feelings of fear, anxiety and stress. But a degree of stress in our lives can be a good thing. It can force us to think about how to be safer. It can motivate us to keep our distance, wash our hands and follow government guidelines. But prolonged periods of stress can also have a negative impact on our mental and physical wellbeing. Healthcare professionals around the world have been offering guidance to how to stay mentally strong - emphasising the importance of exercise, routine and avoiding consuming too much bad news and endless scrolling through social media. It seems with little to look forward to and nothing to plan for, people are turning to their screens more than ever. Some estimates suggest time spent on facebook, twitter and instagram is up by as much as 82% since lockdown began. But mental health experts say increased social media use has been proven to contribute to feelings of depression, anxiety and trauma. By nature, human beings are social animals - so isolation has proved to be a big problem for many of us. And of course, once it's all over, we’ll be faced with a new level of anxiety about returning to the world we used to know. When faced with trauma there is a peak and valley response.. Right now we are at a peak where we engage with the immediate threat of the pandemic. Our bodies go into survival mode, which can be very taxing on mental health. The nervous system cant process everything we are experiencing and focuses instead on keeping us alive. Humans have an incredible ability to survive prolonged periods of stress and once the pandemic and lockdowns are over is over, there will be a steep valley where we recover. But that doesn’t mean the risk is over because many people will suffer trauma and depression. So the question is - how do we get back to a healthy baseline? And exactly what kind of support will people need to get there?