Agony aunt Lorraine lends an ear to Nicola
TV star listens as the First Minister speaks of pressure
Breakfast TV queen Lorraine Kelly turned therapist to quiz the First Minister on her mental health amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Nicola Sturgeon opened up on her headspace to the former East Kilbride News reporter during an interview on her ITV show.
The leader of the SNP admitted to Lorraine that she was struggling to find the time to “switch off and relax” while dealing with Scotland’s response to the coronavirus and shared worries about loved ones battling on the frontline, including her sister Gill.
She then urged fellow Scots to hold on to the “positives” during the pandemic after bravely opening up about her own mental health.
Nicola Sturgeon said she was hopeful that positive principles such as “kindness, love and solidarity” would be strengthened for the future by the lockdown.
Speaking on the ITV show, the First Minister said: “It’s difficult at the moment, so as you know one of my great passions in life and normally how I switch off and relax and kind of recharge my own batteries is reading.
“I’ve got to be honest, probably for the first time in my adult life, I’m struggling to give the time or indeed the concentration to do that.
“I’m aware of course for those of us in positions like mine, this is unprecedented.
“We’ve never dealt with something like this before, it’s tough, it’s difficult, it’s challenging but I remind myself every day that no matter how tough I find it right now, there are people working on the frontline of the NHS and in care homes where it’s so much tougher.
“People I think struggle with the notion that politicians are human beings but we are.
“Many of us, myself included, have got family on the frontline of the NHS and we worry about them, we worry about our own families in all of this.”
Sturgeon told how not everybody is sharing the exact same experience when dealing with the restrictions of movement, particularly those in difficult living situations.
She added: “I don’t think it is right to say everybody is in this together in the same way because if you’re living in overcrowded accommodation with three kids, that is a very different and much harder experience than somebody who is living in a big house on their own with a garden.
“Not everybody is experiencing this the same way but ultimately, fundamentally, we are all going through a similar experience.
“We’re all in it together, we’re all dealing with it in our own ways and it’s why I think it’s really important right now that we don’t forget.
“We’re having to stay away from each other physically, but we don’t forget to care about each other and reach out to each other and look out for each other.
“If these sorts of principles of kindness, love and solidarity are ones that get strengthened through this.
“While this is not a situation any of us want to be in but if we can hold on to some of these positives that might come out the other end of this then I think that’s a good thing.”
Lorraine joked with the First Minister about her husband Peter Murrell offering to cut her hair during lockdown, a gesture which the SNP politician “kindly” refused.
Sturgeon replied: “I think every woman can probably understand why I did that.
“There’s probably not a woman of a certain age alive that’s not struggling with the fact that they can’t get to a hairdresser just now.
“This is a really serious situation, it’s a tough situation, not least for those that have got relatives and loved ones who’ve had the virus or died from this virus but we shouldn’t forget maybe the lighter moments as well because we all need that to help us get through.
“If my hair struggles help people with that then it’s a small price to pay.”