This is my first ever blog post, so apologies in advance if its a bit hard to follow.
Over the duration of the lockdown there have been people fighting to extend it or to shut it down, both for their own reasons, but the loudest voices, the mainstream news sites, have almost entirely been on the side of keeping everyone isolated, along with the health officials in government.
All of these voices have been saying we should stay isolated to prevent the spread of Covid-19, and while i am getting more angry at the power grab politicians are making, with the pandemic as a fig leaf, that isn’t what im going to be talking about, if you listen to right angle you already know what im talking about on that front.
The actual reason im posting this is to shine a spot light on a completely overlooked reason to end the lockdowns. To give a little perspective, i have seen a total of ONE tweet about this about two months ago.
(The actual point because im a windbag)
Over the past month my mother has had one of her best friends and her boyfriend’s brother end their life, likely due to the stress life is putting on them right now.
The main reason we should end the shut ins is for the mentally fragile people who have only been hanging on because they have friends they can run to if they need it. We have been isolating depressed and suicidal people in their homes, made it frowned upon to go anywhere but the grocery store, and forced hospitals and clinics to lay off staff, making it harder for the depressed/anxious to get medication that keeps them regular. We then make it taboo to visit their “rocks” that they could always vent to or just sit and be with when life decided it was going to take a hammer to their good mood.
I believe we are going to hear alot of reports of people ending their life and not having anyone check in for months because of the lockdowns once things start to open up again.
As a person who takes medication to let me see the world in a decent light, it has been hard for me because my weekly schedule of getting out of the house has been destroyed, and i know i have it easy compared to some people.
In short, we need to open up the cities and protect the vulnerable to the virus, because if we don’t reopen soon, we will be sacrificing another group just because they are quiet about their pain.
(Sorry if this is really preachy, feel free to comment or criticize this. I’d appreciate it. Thanks! ^_^)
12 replies on “Quiet Suffering”
Thank you. I also want to add the plight of children. I was abused as a child. I cannot imagine no escape from home. Children cannot go to school and the added pressure of adults not having work. Abuse must be rampant. Schools are where must abuse is documented. We will have a generation of troubled souls. I had many thoughts of suicide because of abuse. I cannot tell you how terrible you can made to feel and helpless. I pray I am wrong but I feel I am correct.
If we don’t reopen the country soon, I may be one of those who joins the land of the dead. Damn you Governor Newson!! Thank you Ray for you blog!!
Welcome to the blog, and no, you are not that windy. A long time ago I posted a blog entitled either “Death by despair” or ” Death of despair” addressing the same thing you brought up. Good for you! Bring it up every so often, especially when more or continuing lockdown occur or are suggested. It is a “hidden” issue.
For some good news, I have also heard about suicides trending upward, both from the isolation and the failed businesses resulting from the shutdown. The riots and destruction have also contributed to the depression and life ending.
Domestic abuse has been talked about in some limited fashion, especially early. I think it was more in the lines of “this will probably happen but it isn’t as important and people getting sick” though, I’d imagine a number of abused spouses might trade a hospital stay… or got one anyway.
The other thing I haven’t heard as much about is how many heart attacks have happened at home, or sometime next year how many cancer patients with postponed treatments will die early.
Harder to measure… How many people are doing BETTER by not seeing the doctor?
Probably not as many. If they don’t want to go and cannot, and thus have lower stress maybe. Usually it is the people that do not need to see a doc but go anyway to be told nothing is wrong that need that placebo and while there is nothing wrong, the stress of not going could induce something.
I’m concerned about child abuse, as well, but have seen no stats. Having children at home, indoors, full time, especially with other stressors ….
Oddly, there were a variety of people claiming that with children not under the Sauron gaze of school staff, home abuse might go un-reported as their hateful parents torture them while schooling at home.
If spousal abuse is up, child abuse would logically be as well but I think the quarantine and lack of outside play (seems even the parks are shut down, or were in many places) would do more damage to children in aggregate than their parents and other adult caregivers.
Not to mention the “I’m not touching you” siblings.
Anecdotal evidence here: Last month, a work associate didn’t feel well, and went home early. He lives alone, empty nester, and estranged from his parents. He suffered a massive stroke on Thursday night, and was not found until Monday, because he failed to show up for work. Prior to the lockdowns, his adult children would come by on the weekends. but thanks to “stay at home” orders, no one checked on him that weekend. He lay there for four days. Had he received medical attention before then, he may have lived, but they said that would have been a wheelchair and a feeding tube for the remainder of his days on Earth. They pulled the plug on him the following Thursday, he died within minutes. Gov. Roy Cooper of NC, yes, the same asshole who tried to derail the RNC in Charlotte, has some culpability in this, and likely other deaths where folks are not checked on, medical care is not given. Rights delayed are Rights denied.
If the mainstream media decided that it suited their agenda, you would be hearing about this every day. I went to the CDC website and I found that the death rate for the first 32 weeks of 2020 was 9.8% higher than the first 32 weeks of 2019. I have not heard many “news” people providing anything resembling a comprehensive view of the data. In addition to mental health related deaths, we may have changes in other death rates. For example, more cancer deaths, fewer flu deaths, etc.
Ray, your post is neither preachy nor windy – thank you for spot-lighting another reason these prolonged, and unnecessary lock-downs must end.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience. I pray that you will not have to suffer much longer; that somehow someway those who have positions of influence will persuade President Trump to act on his own remarkable common sense and ingenuity to find a way to defeat those who see this virus as a way to subjugate American citizens, for whom they care nothing about.
His position here-to-fore has been to concede authority to each state to make its own decisions regarding the actions to take under their jurisdiction. Unfortunately, the elected officials in many (blue) states have let their lust for power, and scurrilous cowardice and other contemptible reasons over-ride what is best for their constituents.
You are certainly correct – this country must get back to normal NOW if not sooner.
I am sorry for your mother’s loss, and yes, I have heard several reports that suicide and domestic violence have resulted from this prolonged shutdown.
It becomes more and more clear, doesn’t it, that the demagog governors feel nothing for the people they govern, they could care less what is happening to them, they could care less for their rights, their essential needs as human beings.