Put Terror behind us

I’VE just finished watching BBC Two’s gripping naval chillerthriller, The Terror.

It’s based on a novel which imagined the fate of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror which vanished in 1845 while searching for the North-west Passage.

Stuck in Arctic ice in claustrophobic ships the crew battle mental demons while waging war against a supernatural monster dreamed up by author

Dan Simmons.

But this brilliant series left me wondering what really happened to the 129 lost men – and how they’d have coped if they had survived and come home.

They are certain to have suffered “reverse culture shock”, or “re-entry syndrome” which psychologists later identified among returning Antarctic explorers of the 1960s.

They would have been traumatised, struggling to adapt to a changed world after interminable isolation.

And they would have had to learn to socialise again, to mix with large groups of people in public and develop shared experiences with friends and loved ones.

Now, of course, we are facing our own re-entry, to a peoplepacked, post-pandemic society. But, while many of us will experience similar issues and emotions as lockdown starts to ease, I really DON’T believe we’re facing a national epidemic of PTSD.

And I’m disturbed at the growing number of “expert” commentators warning us to expect re-entry syndrome, pointing out every possible “trigger”and medicalising perfectly rational feelings.

Covid-19 has meant a truly chilly 12 months in our history – leaving millions grieving and lost.

Lockdown has been long, dark and lonely and the pandemic has undoubtedly triggered a mental health crisis.

So I am not belittling anyone’s struggle as I havesuffered from depression and anxiety myself.

But this should be a time for hope and realistic optimism. I am preparing for re-entry by counting down the days until I can get my hair done, booking holidays and dreaming of getting to the pub with my mates and chatting to strangers.

But, the experts warn, I may have become a different person, unsure about my body-image or place in the world and liable to panic in a room full of people.

We have to stop this navel-gazing and imagining a re-entry nightmare.

Because it’s time to face those demons and start our journey to freedom.