‘Covid lockdown robbed me of all things I need for mental stability’
AYOUNG woman who has battled with mental health problems for years has described how lockdown made it more difficult for her to access the professional support she needed.
Jessica Matthews, 24, from Bridgend, has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bulimia and depression.
Before the outbreak hit Wales, she was having face-to-face contact with a community mental health nurse as much as twice a week, as well as having emotional regulation therapy.
But all that came to a grinding halt when the lockdown was enforced.
Jessica claimed she went from seeing a community mental nurse see me twice a week to no contact at all.
“I don’t blame the community mental health team at all as they had to start working in different ways, but all of the things that I needed to access to stay mentally stable and avoid hospital admissions were taken away from me,” she said.
“I couldn’t get hold of anyone as everyone was either working from home or they were self-isolating.
“I also didn’t know whether there would be crisis support if I needed to go to hospital.”
Jessica said she felt “forgotten about” after she claimed she was unable to contact her community mental health team for the first six to eight weeks of lockdown.
To make matters worse, during this time her mum was struck down with Covid-19 and became seriously unwell.
“I moved in with my partner on the Wednesday, and then on the Friday my mum started experiencing symptoms,” she added.
“It was so stressful.
“At that point I really could have done with some input from the mental health team.
“I felt this pressure that I had to stay well because people around me – and people I didn’t know – were dying, becoming seriously unwell or losing their loved ones.
“I didn’t want to be an extra burden on my family, my friends or the NHS.
“I wanted to keep a brave face.” Despite Jessica’s mum being off work for three weeks, she did not suffer any major complications from the virus.
While that helped to reduce Jessica’s anxiety, she still felt isolated and trapped by the situation.
“My family and friends are amazing, but they can’t give me the same support as the professionals,” she added.
“I felt really alone, and then I felt guilty and ashamed. I was in this constant cycle of emotions.
“My partner was really supportive, but he didn’t really understand what I was going through.”
Jessica said the Covid lockdown also exacerbated her obsessive compulsive disorder.
“I became more obsessed with using the alcohol gels and washing my hands. Going out became very difficult,” she admitted.
“I would have to count the number of times I turned a light on and off, and if I didn’t do it the right number of times I thought my mother would die from Covid.
“I don’t really have any tactics to draw upon to get over [my OCD] as I haven’t had that kind of therapy yet.
‘I felt really alone, and then felt guilty and ashamed. I was in this constant cycle of emotions’ – JESSICA
My partner did provide me with some reassurance, though.”
During the first few weeks of the outbreak, Jessica said she needed to take some time off work as a peer mentor in a mental health recovery unit in Swansea.
Jessica claimed that after two months she started getting phone support and is now receiving some face-to-face time.
“Speaking on the phone was really helpful, but being able to see her in person has made a big difference,” said Jessica, who is now back in work.
She added: “Being in lockdown was really scary and caused a lot of anxiety, but now having things back open also has the same effect.
“The thought of a second peak also makes me very anxious.”
In May 2020, campaign group
Time to Change Wales surveyed more than 100 people with experience of mental health issues from across Wales.
It found that self-stigma presents a “significant challenge” to people experiencing a mental health problem, with more than half (54%) of respondents saying it has worsened since lockdown began.
Some 22% of respondents also said they felt stigmatised for their poor mental health in employment during the Covid-19 restrictions.
Lowri Wyn Jones, Time to Change Wales programme manager, said: “Mental health stigma and discrimination are not likely to go away in the course of Wales’ recovery from the pandemic.
“In fact, the pandemic can further exacerbate experience of stigma and self-stigma so it’s more important than ever for Time to Change Wales to continue supporting Champions, communities and employers to challenge stigma and to create a culture of change so that people can access the support they need, when they need it.”
In response to Jessica’s experiences, a spokeswoman for Cwm Taf University Health Board said: “The Covid pandemic quickly changed the way that patients accessed our health services.
“All community mental health team patients who are ‘care co-ordinated’ following the Covid-19 lockdown were risk assessed to determine the level of contact they required from their care co-coordinator.
“This ranged from face-to-face contacts for those assessed as higher risk and regular telephone contact for those assessed as lower risk. The outcome of these assessments was communicated to all patients.
“This was undertaken in accordance with national guidance during the Covid-19 outbreak to minimise the risk of infection.
“All care co-ordinated patients have a contingency plan for emergencies built into their care and treatment plan on how to access mental health services in Bridgend in a crisis.
“In Bridgend there is a single point of access for all patients in crisis which has remained unchanged throughout the pandemic and is available 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Each patient would have been given the single point of access telephone number.”