Tackling lockdown anxiety

Thursday 14 May 2020

With a heightened awareness of mental health issues during the lockdown, Guernsey's psychiatrists are recognising more people may also need help managing their anxiety about life returning to 'normal'.

Dr Dominic Bishop has been advising the Civil Contingencies Authority on the measures imposed on the Bailiwick, alongside other health professionals.

He said that many people who were already known to the mental health services have coped with the lockdown better than they had maybe been expected to, while some who had been functioning well for years have relapsed because of the increased pressures at this time.

Dr Bishop said it is also understood that many frontline workers may suffer with their mental health when they finally are able to 'switch off' once the pandemic has passed.

Pictured: Doctor Dominic Bishop.

Overall, he said one area where people are already seen to be struggling with, is the concept of the future and what the next few weeks and months may hold.

"The things that I think people have really struggled with is the isolation; it's the uncertainty of knowing where we are now and where we're moving forward, and as we move forward people are actually struggling with the concepts of easing and going back into schools, back into work and I think people will need support to do that.

"And they'll also need to do it at their own pace within the guidelines and recommendations given."

For anyone who is struggling, Dr Bishop said the gov.gg website already has a lot of information about managing anxiety related to corona virus and the lockdown.

"A lot of it is about uncertainty. What people don't know as we go out of lockdown is exactly what's going to happen - that's really difficult, and there's a significant link between uncertainty and anxiety, they're essentially the same thing, but anxiety is an extreme form.

"I think that people, whilst there will be prescribed ways in which we can get out of lockdown, so whether or not its over three weeks or four weeks, you know that will now pan out, but as to how people decide to it themselves, that's very different and they will need to find a rhythm and a rate which suits them. The difficulty will be if people are struggling to get back to work and back to school, which they obviously need to do, and if that becomes overwhelming, then actually they probably will need to seek help and Healthy Minds is probably the right place for those people to approach.

"Healthy Minds is a primary care psychology service and there's an equivalent that sits under CAMS, so they also have primary care psychological workers so it does cover the whole age ranges."