We have been pointing out here on this thread and in social media for months how Covid and the disastrous effects of the lockdown are inextricably connected. You just can not speak of one without the other, although we do see how many people do try to separate the two, and we understand the psychological processes that creates this lack of clarity in the minds of most people.
Yes, for a very small percentage of the population, particularly elderly with comorbidities, the virus can be deadly, especially when not treated properly. The exhortation from those who know this has been to keep the immune system strong and not succumb to the stress created by the media and government lockdown hype. It is also clear that the fomentation of the riots is also be used to cover up the absurdity of the lockdown, plus to distract from the fact that Coronavirus is not that big of a deal.
It also has been pointed out that deaths via lockdown and the anxiety and depression from the lockdown will cause more harm -
@Joe and many others have consistently and continually pointed this out for a long time. Quite frankly we have been railing against the lockdown and the hysteria.
I am not surprised at what
@Gaby wrote about
depression and anxiety being triggered, and there has been a significant increase in suicide watches. In my country, although all the statistics are not in yet, there have been suicides, and increase in depression, and strange “accidents” (increased number of cars with single drivers in head-on collisions with semi-trailer trucks, for example).
Well, the depression and anxiety triggered by the lockdown has come into my home and become personal.
My highly sensitive 17 year old son has always been one to stress little things and be a bit obsessive in his pleasing of others. He has not required mental health care as he has managed quite well by keeping things in order and diligently carrying out his responsibilities. He is outgoing, has friends, even has an innocent “hand-holding” girlfriend, got a summer job, completed this year of school with a scholarship, and is liked by literally everybody. His sister and I have noticed that he has been almost “too joyful”, and doesn’t seem to have a bad day, and does not complain or talk back, or show any normal teenage rebelliousness. Truly a “golden boy” who volunteers to walk the dogs of his elderly friends, goes for long walks with friends his age, socializes, does not do drugs or alcohol, spends time with his elderly relatives – he is loved by everybody.
Then the lockdown hit in April. He had really found martial arts to be therapeutic, and that was cancelled. His choir performances and practices were cancelled. His work practice place was cancelled, there was no more meeting at school – everything changed. Although lockdown measures were not overly strict in the country where we live, and within our family things were calm and the virus was understood to be a nothing burger, and I thought everything was quite balanced – well, a storm was brewing within my son. He stepped up his conscientiousness, went for walks with friends, fastidiously worked at his school tasks, diligently completed housework and all other duties, sent in job applications and called potential employers. So we didn’t know how much he was suffering as he did not talk to us about it.
Well Wednesday evening when the house was mainly empty he went up to his room and attempted suicide by two means – he was serious! I won’t go into the raw and horrendous details now but fortunately there was some will to live as he called the emergency number, however the suicide was still in session when the paramedics arrived.
Afterwards in the observation room at the hospital there were many hours of Mom and Dad with him, with very long moments of silence, and us just letting him talk when he felt like it. He relayed in his own words how he has struggled for a long time with stress and anxiety, but he has managed and slept well over the years, and the anxiety has been manageable, but he related
in April things turned for the worst and “I could not handle the anxiety anymore, every day was worse, as everything changed, and the restrictions and not being able to go to school, or do my work practice, or anything, made my stress and anxiety worse”. He has mentioned this April time frame several times when talking to his family and the medical staff: when the lockdown was in full force it was obviously the trigger, and his will to live decreased each day. He did not speak of this though, he thought it would go away, and he was worried about putting pressure on his close ones. He said he could not take the anxiety and pain any more, and just wanted to end it all.
I am going through various emotions and at times I do feel an anger that wants to lash out: “YOU LOCKDOWN SUPPORTERS AND THOSE OF YOU THANKING THE GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA FOR CREATING HYSTERIA AROUND COVID, DO YOU KNOW YOUR DAMN LOCKDOWN ALMOST KILLED MY SON!!!”
Therefore I am not surprised, as Gaby mentioned she knows of patients under suicide watch. My son is at a very well-known and respected youth psychiatric hospital under suicide watch right now. There is hope, as even though the desire to live has not fully returned, as he says he “wants to leave”, he said he is open to get help and treatment. Yesterday he had a good talk with the psychiatric staff and psychiatric doctor, and my son told us it was helpful. All of us close to him feel he is in the right place and that there is hope, and there is a sense of relief that he is getting help and the tools to deal with this anxiety and depression.
This has been a huge learning lesson for myself us as a family. This is a "billboard dropping on my head" moment, in terms of a sign from the universe. We are getting support. Thank you forum for being here to help maintain my sanity during this extremely troublesome times.
Also I do not want to distract from this thread and turn it into a thread focused on my issues. I know the forum is here and there are other threads where this personal issue can be dealt with - I just wanted to emphasize that the fallout from this Corona/Covid debacle is still upon us, and more than ever we need to keep vigilant and aware, even though there are other chaotic events happening at the moment.
Moderators: if I've divulged too much personal information here in this thread, likely in my emotional state, please feel free to move it to somewhere else.
