Have you recently been able to concentrate on what you’re doing? Have you recently felt constantly under strain? Have you recently been able to enjoy your normal everyday activities? Have you recently felt that you were playing a useful part in things?
More importantly do you know anyone who wouldn’t answer “Hell, no,” to every one of these questions right now? Except perhaps a medical professional or a shelf-stacker who’s absolutely playing a useful part in things, but probably hasn’t slept well in a fortnight.
The questions are from a standardised mental health screening tool called the GHQ 12. It’s used in surveys all across the world to get a sense of how many people are struggling with mental health problems at any one time. To qualify as having a “diagnosable mental health problem” you need to score 12 points or more.
Every “Hell, no” gets you three points. And if you didn’t score your full 12 with the questions I started with, don’t worry, you have eight more questions to complete. Eight more chances to qualify as struggling with your mental health.
In other words: yes, we are all a little bit crazy right now.
Of course, you might argue that this kind of mental distress doesn’t count as mental illness, or that it should be classified differently from conditions that occur spontaneously. Depression that creeps up on you for no reason and takes over your life is certainly different from what so many of us are experiencing: feeling shit because life is shit. And that’s especially true when we know that life is probably going to get back to normal-ish in a few months.
But we must not be complacent. It is true that mental health problems can come from ‘nowhere’, but it’s also true that they can be caused by poverty, trauma, pain and turmoil, and all too often are. What follows is a huge oversimplification of what little is understood about the reasons for the strong links between life experiences and mental health problems. But I hope it helps make sense of what’s going on.
When bad things happen to us, our thought patterns change. Run out of money and get into debt: you start to feel anxious. Stuck in an abusive relationship with someone who might hit you if you upset them: you become hyper cautious. Witness violence: you worry for your own safety. Lose a loved one: you shut down emotions that might overwhelm you.
These thought patterns become a “diagnosable mental health problem” when they affect your ability to live well. That might be because the problems don’t go away: debt doesn’t fix itself and abusive partners don’t turn into Prince Charming. But it might also be because you get stuck in those cycles of thinking even after the problems have gone away. The mental pain that started as a response became self-sustaining.
In normal circumstances most of us can bounce back from difficult experiences. But not everyone can, and not everyone does. And the longer our trauma lasts, or the sharper it is, the harder it is to get back to how we were before.
That means that there will be a huge and lasting impact on our collective mental health from what we live through over the coming months. We have to prepare ourselves for it.
Before you point out that we’ve lived through worse: I know, we have. Of course we have. We could list examples of collective trauma from human history for as long as this quarantine lasts, and we wouldn’t reach the end. But sanities were shattered by those experiences. For most of history, what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder was the standard form of our existence. When most mothers lost children; when most men witnessed war: these were not times for human flourishing. Most of us will have a living or remembered relative who can barely speak about their life in war. We humans can survive almost anything. But the conditions for our thriving are utterly different. Those conditions are what is under threat.
Early studies from Italy confirm the truth of this. In a recent study of nearly 3,500 people, not one said they weren’t anxious. People with health problems and women in particular are riddled by anxiety. Middle-aged people — those with both parents and children to worry about — are reporting the highest levels of worry.
So how do we respond? Well, despite my personal despair at the impossible standards expected of us by the fitness guru Joe Wicks, keeping us all healthy and active in this lockdown time is going to be vital. Keeping us on top of our finances is probably next on the list — and if the “money saving expert” Martin Lewis isn’t offered a knighthood, a dukedom or the monarchy by the end of this, then our honours system needs a serious overhaul.
Everyone’s talking about home education, but it isn’t just the children who should be logging on. People who keep learning are the most likely to stay resilient in the face of mental health problems. Keep learning and you will keep well. So this really is the time to take up cooking, or the piano, or to grow your own vegetables — just expect yourself to be bad at the start, and never get further than mediocre.
But there’s one thing we mustn’t do, and that’s catastrophise. Donald Trump has started arguing against his own public health experts by saying that the shutdown should end soon, because a recession will “cause” suicides in the thousands. That is reckless, wrong, and downright dangerous.
Suicide rates do tend to rise during recessions. But that is not inevitable. Most importantly, public messaging about suicide will have a dramatic effect on the number of people who try to take their lives.
Every suicide is a tragedy. But it is also a rarity. Every year 5.4% of 16- to 74-year-olds have suicidal thoughts; 0.7% of us make an attempt to end our lives. And only 0.01% complete a suicide attempt. Another way of thinking about this is that the vast, vast majority of people survive suicidal thoughts.
If you’re feeling at the end of despair, and you hear your leader confirm that suicide is normal, it will do nothing to bring you back. It is the worst message to send. Suicide is not normal. Suicidal thoughts are survivable. Most people live through the worst of thoughts. Most people find purpose and meaning in life again. Or as the Sufi poets have it: this too shall pass.
We are all struggling right now. Struggling for purpose. Struggling for coherence. Struggling to understand. We have to acknowledge the difficulty if we are to have a hope of conquering it. But we must tell ourselves the truth, too, that conquering things is what we humans do. We have lived through worse. And we will live through this.
It is the act of saying this that makes it true.
Polly Mackenzie is Director of Demos, a leading cross-party think tank. She served as Director of Policy to the Deputy Prime Minister from 2010-2015.
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SubscribeIt’s just a pity that it has to go so far before people start to wake up and realise that such patently bad ideas will have consequences.
It is a bit like alcohol. A few Democratic ideas make the public feel fuzzy and warm and benevolent but too much extreme Democratic ideas makes for a non-functioning addict that upsets all their old friends and only hitting rock-bottom sets the road back to sense and sobriety. Unfortunately, like alcoholics the answer is to avoid alcohol altogether and avoid voting Democrat however much it just appears a nice sociable and friendly activity.
Yes, but can we agree that it is more like a cheap pint of Carlsberg brewed under license, rather than like one of my lovely Westmalle Tripels?
Winsome Sears is the best political figure of 2022, an absolutely amazing speaker and persona. Born in Jamaica, come to USA in the 1960s as a young child, worked hard at school, became a US Marine. She talks of being a leader, how leaders must have the trust of their troops so they fallow, and that means integrity. A US Marine – a fantastic quality for a politician, real world lessons, and now Lieutenant Governor of Virgina with Youngkin as Governor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-YUYX33VsM
If you do not know her, she is the absolute antithesis of the Squad – she gives me great hope when ever I see her. USA is not done yet.
Interesting. I will watch out for her
yes yes yes – superb! what a role model!
Thank you, what a lady!
Seriously. People act like this is some kind of victory – but how did these people get elected in the first place? Their platforms and rhetoric are literally deranged. Who voted for them. What were they thinking. I would love to see an interview with a middle class Democratic voter where they honestly explain how they thought voting for these people was a good idea.
Short answer: tribal voting. It was bad in my home area when I was young, but faded in time. Eventually the party that felt it owned everyone’s votes angered the voters to the point it ceased to be able to win elections at all. I doubt this vote in SF was a turn of the tide, but it at least showed the people there can vote non-tribally when they actually pay attention to the issues. Although it should also be said, SF genuinely is the furthest left of anyplace in the US. So this won’t change its overall political makeup, but the voters are showing they have limits on what they will tolerate.
San Francisco is 6% Republican. That number is shocking. I moved out of S.F. 25 years ago, and now the city seems to be turning into a case study in disintegration and decay.
It’s impossible to convince most Democrats, especially older ones, that the party they are voting for is not the same one that it was 20 years ago (that’s what happened to me before I saw the light during the pandemic). They are trapped in a cult and refuse to come out. I’m on the verge of losing a friend of almost 40 years, who has become overtly hostile to any suggestion from me that goes against her core progressive beliefs.
Two brief examples: a link to Christopher Rufo explaining CRT was met with “I see he’s been on Tucker Carlson but not MSNBC” and a comment that CRT is “just trying to teach accurate history.” Within the last week, a suggestion to look at Viva Frei’s livestream of the truckers in Ottawa was met with derision regarding Frei’s being a lawyer (inherently suspicious character, apparently), and skepticism about why she should “trust some stranger on the Internet.” This statement was so irrational that I had no response. We can’t discuss politics at all at this point, and she is not coming out of the cult. To her consternation, her grandson just went through four years of college and came out a libertarian, which I think is a miracle.
“wrote a long Twitter thread accusing Asian Americans of using “white supremacist thinking to assimilate and ‘get ahead’,” and comparing them to a “house n****r”
Do these people actually believe what they write; or are they merely grandstanding for a social media gallery?
I think it’s a bit of both. In many ways, the more inflamatory the statements, the better they work, though this applies only to COWs (Citizens of Wakanda). The left echo chamber supports them no matter what.
Any idea how hard it is to get a recall on the ballot? VERY hard. This is a small step, but let’s see who the mayor appoints….
it would be a mistake to see the San Francisco vote as an isolated.
I am sorry but we have been hearing this stuff for the last 40 years and the march of the left seems to continue relentlessly, infiltrating and the corrupting our institutions and public services all at the public expense.
Nothing is going to change until there is a complete clear out .
“To be fair, the recalled board members were defeated not just for extreme politics, but for their reluctance to open schools during the pandemic.”
The reluctance to open schools IS extreme politics! Have you not been paying attention? Yes, there are other forms of extreme politics, but this is a huge one.
There is not much to this article, keeping in mind that the recall means that the extreme left nutter Mayor of SF will appoint their replacements. Do you think there will be any significant change? Certainly the people recalled are vile, disgusting, stupid people, but will their replacements be significantly better? I doubt it.
This article is far too optimistic. These are perhaps victories in some small skirmishes, but the institutional bureaucracy, the Deep State (yes, it’s a real thing) still exists, is thriving, and can’t be recalled. The author might have noted that the NEA, a nationwide union for teachers (and against students) has about 3mm members, and has taken the position that schools can only open when they are “safe.”
And what about Rick Caruso. I read this a few times, but how is LA developer Rick Caruso registering as a Democrat a big deal? I just don’t get it, and the article utterly failed to explain the significance. Because he wants to win? Because it’s virtually impossible for Republicans to win? How is that news? How does that relate to the story?
If the author’s prediction for the improvement of America’s great cities is to come true–no sure thing– it will take decades or generations. The damage is far too deep, and control is held by institutions–such as teachers unions, police unions, corrections officers (prison guards) that have too much skin in the game and are far too powerful. Because government unions are seen as largely COW (Citizens of Wakanda) organizations, they are untouchable lest the race card be played.
And sadly, many teachers, especially in California where liability insurance is as expensive as it is necessary, are captives of their unions. The unions pick up the liability insurance, so they function as a protection racket. Having been one, I’d say many,many teachers would much rather just teach their subjects, and deconstruct “Social Studies”, a bogus cross-curricular subject to begin with. I can’t say if the laboring unions (SEIU etc.) are the same. I suspect they use their protection of illegals as a leverage. Unions no longer seem to function as delegates of their workers, they have become parasitic and their mission has crept to prioritize their own administrative self-interest. (Come to think of it, this could describe the trajectory of some Western “democracies” I could name …)
Thanks, Liz. You should write an article about this, I’d be interested in hearing more about the corruption of the teachers’ unions .
BTW The Tablet recently ran a long article on how large-scale illegal immigration helps employers to keep the workforce under control
It’s rather funny that we have to rely on the hatred for Asians of white ‘progressives’ and activist left blacks to stop woke policies. They obsess about anti racism and then find ‘acceptably woke’ excuses to be racist against Asians.
It may be racially stereotypical to say it – but like the Jews, I’m thankful that many Asians work so hard to integrate culturally (whilst maintaining valued aspects of their cultures) and be successful.
Which is why the U.K. will benefit from immigrants from Hong Kong.
This is good news but my sense is the triumphalist tone of the article is premature. It’s only when woke policies touch the lives of otherwise woke middle class urbanites that they rebel. Once the kids are safely back in school and teachers tone down the race rhetoric that negatively affects any minority, notably asians, we might go back to progressive politics as usual. Of course it will still be ok to target whites.
The real test will be the midterms. If covid is less of a threat, kids are returning to school and life is more or less normal, the Democrats might yet do well. Let’s hope a majority of people have fully internalized the long-term danger of the Democrats’ agenda.
A realist is a lefty who’s been mugged! Messing with one’s children’s education gets real, fast. (Never forget Mrs. Thatcher’s start as Minister of Education) As for what I, a Bay Area native by birth, regard as the tipping point, the planned degradation of Lowell High — though the Board did not stint in proposed changes offensive in part to all — the shining summit of many Asian-American aspirations — a Spanish dicho says it best: :Find out whose dog it is, before you beat it.” Ambitious, taxpaying Asian parents who are made to feel disenfranchised, especially in the matter of their progeny, were the wrong sleeping tiger to poke.
I am going to steal that expression – cultural appropriation be damned!
And again: “most insanely progressive”
What does progressive mean??
Usually people from the extreme left who believe that revolution must be a continuous process. Often inventing enemy (Recidivists/ Backsliders?) among their own collegues and supporters..
It’s a term socialists have been using since the late 1800s. Then as now, the ones who identify with that term are more focused on the cultural aspects of socialism, but that doesn’t imply a rejection of the economic aspect. They just believe you change the culture first to prepare it for the economic platform of socialism. The reason they worry me so much is I think they grasped the better solution than what the socialists across most of Europe were thinking at the time– though it should also be noted a lot of the current progressive platform– the so- called woke ideology– was actually brought over by Weimar academics in the 1920s following progressivism’s collapse after the Wilson administration and his authoritarianism.