“This virus is causing mental illness in lots of ways”
Sir Simon Wessely, professor of psychological medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
My wife had COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic, so we had to self-isolate. We live in a comfortable house – so, in many ways, I’m lucky – but I still hated it, because I’m a sociable animal. On the day our isolation ended, the pubs closed, so I was upset to have missed out. I’d been dying for a pint at my local.
There are some people, around 7% we think, who haven’t minded lockdown. They don’t mind working from home. But I don’t think it’s psychologically sustainable. We need the structure and routine of going to work. We need to see people in person to form relationships. It reminds me of an experiment that the conductor André Previn did, where he stopped conducting an orchestra halfway through a piece. For a while, everything continued, then the timing went and the orchestra had to stop. That’s how I feel about things like working from home: we’ll manage for a bit, but it’s not sustainable.
The effect of the pandemic on NHS staff’s mental health has been varied. Rates of anxiety and depression in the general population have gone from one in 10 last year to one in five now, and there are similar increases among NHS staff. But we don’t hear so much about those staff who say that, while it’s been an incredibly challenging time, they’ve grown as a result. They report real job satisfaction, probably due to good teamwork and cohesion, with a real sense of purpose and focus. As a result of their experiences, many can handle pressure better. But that’s clearly not everyone’s experience.
The main problem for the public is that usually in times of adversity – war, floods, terrorism – we come together. But this virus means we’re isolated. That’s what’s truly wicked about this pandemic. It separates us just when we most need each other. This is why the mental health consequences are more dramatic.