There is going to be a mental health crisis unlike anything…

There is going to be a mental health crisis unlike anything we've seen before. PTSD will be widespread, and look who we've got running the country.

Nearly half of ICU staff in England treating people in the first corona wave experienced severe anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or problem drinking.
1 in 7 had thoughts of self-harming or being "better off dead" according to research from Kings College London
— Louisa Compton (@louisa_compton) January 13, 2021

When soldiers return from active duty, the TRIM (Trauma Risk Management) system helps deal with issues arising from acclimating back into civilian life. It's designed to provide support in the aftermath of traumatic events. Which is what we have here, on a huge scale.

It won't just be frontline healthcare workers either. I fear a massive trauma response from the wider population, as and when Covid is brought under control and we begin to return to whatever 'normal' looks like at that point.

The armed forces could provide insight into how hospital trusts, schools and businesses could apply this for their staff / students at scale, but it would need government support and...no.
This is the same govt which has decimated mental health care over the past 10 years.

We already had a mental health crisis before Covid.
In 2017 the number of young people arriving in A&E with psychiatric problems had doubled since 2009 but mental health services were cut by £538million.

Rates of depression and anxiety among teenagers have increased by 70 per cent in the last 25 years. Almost 19,000 teenagers were admitted to hospital for self-harm in 2015/16, an increase of 14 per cent since 2013/4 and 68 per cent across the last decade.

These numbers were still climbing at the end of 2019, and now we're still in the throes of a global pandemic.

I'll take a stab at how much planning Johnson and his cronies have done to mitigate the onslaught of trauma-related psychological injury: none.

There are myriad organisations who would consult with the government and provide planning assistance to roll out community mental health training and support, but I bet they a) haven't even thought about it, b) wouldn't fund it.

I lead our mental health first aid programme at work and we're busier than ever. And this is a company with *significant* support for emotional distress and whose employees are well-paid and thus able to access third-party help.

My colleagues are struggling to cope with the last 12 months, and we're all working from home. Now overlay living in poverty / being forced to go to work / being a carer - any of the other factors which increases the chances of contracting the virus / losing your income.

If you work for the kind of company which talks about mental wellbeing, or already has something in place, petition them NOW to scale this up. It will be needed. People who are seemingly coping fine right now may well not when they reach the 'relief' phase of the crisis.

There is going to be a mental health crisis unlike anything we've seen before. PTSD will be widespread, and look who we've got running the country.

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