Mental toll acute with shut borders

FAMILIES ripped apart by blocked borders and lockdowns are suffering mental health heartaches, as children are cut off from much-loved parents and grandparents.

Child psychiatrists warn that travel bans are also stopping distressed children from seeing both parents in shared custody arrangements.

Two out of three Australians say social isolation and loneliness will drive suicide rates over the next 12 months, a shocking new survey shows.

Lifeline chairman John Brogden warned that some Australians were literally “dying of loneliness’’.

“There are always people dying of loneliness but that risk is worse than it has ever been during lockdown,’’ he said.

“There are grandparents who haven’t ever seen their grandchildren.’’

National Seniors chief executive Professor John McCallum said many older Australians were not techsavvy enough to use Zoom calls or social media to keep in touch with family.

He said that “lockdowns could be heart-wrenching and very hard’’ for elderly Australians living alone.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Victorian branch chairwoman Dr Astha Tomar said children were “yearning’’ to see grandparents, and the problems was even more acute for families with relatives overseas. She said children were suffering “distress, longing, despair and grief’’ in lockdowns.

Suicide Prevention Australia will release a new survey today showing that one in four Australians know someone who took their own life during the past year of the pandemic.

Chief executive Nieves Murray said three time more Australians have died of suicide (3318 deaths) than from Covid (1012 deaths) during the pandemic.