You are not the only one who is struggling. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Clear trends and solid statistics are not presented in modern news stories unless there is a specific individual who illustrates whatever point is being explained.
So, in accordance with modern journalist standards, this post will provide a specific story of a specific teenager who killed himself specifically because of the lockdown. Then we will look at overall statistics showing the lockdowns harm mental health. In other words, we will look at actual science.
So, here is the story: Lockdowns kill people.
Check out the following:
- Lockdown led one teenager to take his own life.
- Lockdowns are reducing the number of people in good or excellent mental health.
- Lockdowns are depressing elementary school children.
- Lockdowns are causing increase in binge drinking.
Power-hungry governors and economically ignorant, science-impaired public health officials, please take note.
12/9/20 – The Blaze – Teen boy attending remote classes commits suicide; mom says her son was feeling terribly isolated amid Covid-19 pandemic – A 16-year-old guy in Maine used to play on the football team. He used to have lots of friends. He used to enjoy school.
The isolation from his friends distressed him.
Knowing that if football continued it would be flag football instead of full contact distressed him.
Knowing that distance learning would be the norm for the foreseeable future distressed him.
Seeing his friends on the screen but not been able to interact with them led him to ask his parents to do full-time homeschooling because it was too upsetting not being able to interact with any of his buddies.
As an indicator of his failing condition this athlete stopped working out. He stopped riding his bike. He took naps instead of exercising. All signs of depression.
Tragically, he ended his own life.
His suicide note described how much of a struggle it was to deal with the isolation. It is reported he described the situation as being “locked in this house.”
The lockdown in Maine killed this young man.
May God comfort his heartbroken parents and sister. I pray God will eventually bring them peace, the peace that passes all understanding.
May God give wisdom to our political leaders and public health officials. A rapidly growing number of people in the U.S. know they desperately need to find some wisdom since it is visibly lacking.
The lockdown is devastating mental health.
12/7/20 – Foundation for Economic Education – Gallup Poll: Americans Mental Health Hits 20-Year Low Ahead of Renewed Lockdowns – A lockdown causes loneliness. Loneliness devastates mental health.
A regularly repeated Gallup poll asks people how they assess their mental health. The percentage who rate themselves as excellent or excellent & good is at a 20 year low. Three data points:
- Year – excellent – excellent/good
- 2017 – 45% – 82%
- 2019 – 43% – 85%
- 2020 – 34% – 76%
That shows a nine point drop in people who self assess as having excellent health and nine point drop in people who describe themselves in either good or excellent condition.
Article says most of that decline is attributed to the lockdown, not the pandemic itself.
A report from the New York Times, the Times mind you, cited research which says increased isolation leads to disrupted sleep, increased inflammation, and higher stress hormones.
Other studies indicate that higher levels of isolation correlate with a higher risk of dying in the next seven years. For isolated children it leads to poor health 20 years later.
The cited study says loneliness is as much of a risk for premature death as either obesity or smoking.
Loneliness is the fully expected consequence of the lockdowns which are the preferred treatment for the pandemic by our political leaders and public health leaders.
Loneliness kills.
The lockdown is causing depression in elementary age children.
12/8/20 – Medical Xpress – Steep rise in depressive symptoms among 7-12-year-olds during UK-wide lockdown – One of the challenges in quantifying the impact of the lockdown on mental health is applying an actually scientific approach. Doing so requires a baseline for comparison. Such a study has been completed in a small area in the east of England.
The baseline is a survey of parents, teachers, and children on mental health assessment 18 months before the pandemic kicked off.
This baseline was then compared to survey of parents looking at a number of factors regarding children to assess their anxiety and overall emotional well-being during the time of the lockdown.
The study was adjusted for other factors, such as age and socioeconomic status.
I don’t understand the technical measurement (“0.74 increase in depressive symptoms”), but do understand the paraphrase.
The description is there is a 70% chance that children saw an increase in depressive symptoms during the lockdown.
Lockdowns lead to increased binge drinking.
12/7/20 – UPI – Risk for binge drinking increases with each week of Covid-19 lockdowns – A survey of drinking habits during the first four weeks of the lockdown in the United States was conducted by the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. I think that means this counts as actual science.
Survey found that with each week of additional lockdown the risk of binge drinking increased.
Analysis show that one third of those participating in survey reported binge drinking. Those who previously were binge drinkers increased their consumption. Those who were not already binge drinkers reporting about the same amount of alcohol consumption.
Participants who previously were diagnosed with depression reported an 80% increased risk for binge drinking when contrasted to those who did not have a history of depression.
The shutdown is making people with depression or previous drinking problems drink more. There are serious long-term risks from doing so.
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