Having gone through one pandemic this year, I fear we are in the early stages of another. COVID-19, which has ripped through the world this year, causing death and economic misery along the way, has been joined by a mental health crisis. I know this to be true because I believe in scientists, medics and experts in particular who know this to be true, unlike the sceptic COVIDiots who accept the word of conspiracy fruitcakes like David Icke and Piers Corbyn who think it’s all made up. I also know it’s true because people I know, who have never before suffered from mental health issues are going down like nine pins.
It was inevitable that I would buckle under the influence of the virus. I hate change at the best of times, never mind change which turns our world upside down and kills people I know and love. So, as my loyal reader will know, I sought therapy when I felt myself going downhill. That was down to experience, I suppose, recognising the symptoms and knowing what to do when things turn to shit. My fear is that mental ill health newbies might not know what the hell is going on and so not have a clue what to do about it. I’m going to tell them what to do.
I spoke, via an internet messaging service, to one friend who told me they spent increasing periods of the day in tears or feeling tearful. I am no psychotherapist but I did suggest this could be depression setting in. I always say this because when depression sets in, you don’t know where it might go or, potentially and more worryingly, where it might end. This is because everyone’s black dog is unique to them and it is why I see my own black dog as a kind of comfort blanket, a weird form of stability. I know where I am with my depression and I understand where it usually goes. If you are new to depression, or any other form of mental illness, then it’s very important to recognise this and, immediately seek medical advice.
I suspect there are thousands of people, maybe millions, who have had feelings they might never have experienced before. It could be low mood, it could be anxiety, it could be a dizzy combination of both. So don’t just leave it. My mum didn’t leave it when I was a pre pubescent boy, going through panic attacks and night terrors, that later developed into severe clinical depression. If she had, I don’t think I’d be here boring you to death about it. If this is you, in the COVID-induced horror of 2020, don’t just hope it will go away. It might, but then again it might not and these things have a habit of developing into something far worse.
