Hospital visitor ban is needlessly cruel
THE ban on visiting loved ones in hospitals and care homes is harmful to mental health. We all depend on connections with family and friends to sustain our physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing, especially when this is threatened by illness. This ban breaks that connection at a time when it is most needed. Partial connection can be sustained for some by phone and video link, but that is not the same as physical presence. I am not only writing as a visiting lecturer in mental health at Leeds University and a retired senior mental health social worker, but also as a concerned husband. My wife has been in hospital for over a month suffering from severe depression and a range of physical problems including a broken hip. Suddenly I am not allowed to visit, let alone hold her hand to comfort her. At the same time, I am free to go to a pub and drink any amount of alcohol. Such mixed messages are not just ineffective, but also destructive to the social fabric of our lives. Of course, there are practical problems and unrestricted visiting is not feasible. However, for people who are in hospital or care homes for a prolonged period, especially when they have mental health problems, ways need to be devised to maintain sustaining and comforting relationships. Human beings are social animals who need social interaction. We know that if babies are not cuddled or shown warmth and love they will die. Adults need emotional support from and contact with those close to us, especially in times of illness. There has to be a balance whereby sensible precautions and protective measures are taken to reduce the risk of infection, but appropriate social interaction is still not only allowed but encouraged as part of the road to recovery and the sustaining of wellbeing. Sadly, we have evidence that the coronavirus crisis is associated with increased rates of depression and suicide. This is inevitable in view of the need for people to become more physically distanced and less able to touch, hug and soothe each other. The phrase socially distanced confuses the need for physical risk reduction with the need to cut off social contact as if they were one and the same thing. With sensible rather than panic-driven measures, it is possible to be protected from infection while allowing social relationships to continue. Love, physical closeness and emotional connection are the roots of good mental health and any rules and policies on coronavirus must be calculated in terms of minimising risks. The line is being drawn in the wrong place and this was shown graphically as I have been prevented from seeing my wife in hospital, let alone touching her, despite being fully prepared to comply with all requirements in terms of protective equipment and procedures. The irony is that in attempting to control the virus to protect people, we damage what it is to be human and cause incalculable distress.