SA Covid-19 Mental Health Support Line records 400 per cent spike in calls

South Australians have deluged mental health lines as lockdown anxiety and financial pressure put thousands under strain.

The state’s Covid mental health helpline has had a 400 per cent surge in calls for help from anxious South Australians in the last 48 hours.

The spike in demand comes as South Australia enters day two of lockdown with SA chief psychiatrist Dr John Brayley urging the public to take positive steps to care for themselves and others.

Additional qualified counsellors have been added to the SA Covid-19 Mental Health Support Line, run by Uniting Communities SA.

Public calls for mental health support jumped from a recent average of 20 intensive support calls per day to 100 on Tuesday, when level five restrictions were announced.

Uniting Communities Chief Executive Simon Schrapel said among concerns reported were financial stress, particularly from casual workers anxious over not being able to afford food and rent.

Matt Morris, one the councillors at SA Covid-19 Mental Health Support Line located in the city. Picture Mark Brake

“We have also had a number of people call in worried about not having food for their pets because of lost income or due to isolation,” Mr Schrapel said.

“And we’ve taken some distressing calls from people on the borders who have waited in queues to return to SA – most often to provide support to family members – who have been turned back as their exemptions have expired.”

Dr Brayley said the state’s third lockdown in 16 months would be challenging, but that South Australians were equipped with past lockdown experience to better take care of themselves and others.

“As this is our third lockdown, we can use our personal experiences of what helped and what didn’t to help us through this period.,” he said.

Dr Brayley said people needed to stay connected, maintain a routine, stay active and eat healthy.

He said while it was still early days in lockdown, that health authorities would continue to closely monitor and review demand on mental health services.

SA Chief Psychiatrist Dr John Brayley. Picture Dean Martin

Mental health experts warn the state’s already overburdened mental health system will get a brief reprieve during lockdown while new, existing, and old mental health patients steered clear of accessing acute care via Emergency Departments (EDs).

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists president Associate Professor Vinay Lakra said help lines would be the first signal of mental health strain.

Prof Lakra urged South Australians to keep a check on their mental health and wellbeing through preventive and proactive measures, and seek help sooner rather than later.

He said subsequent lockdowns in Victoria, now in its fifth shutdown, and NSW, had shown the ED network became “significantly” impacted with more acute mental health health patients in the weeks and months after lockdowns.

Lockdown puts young at high risk

Children and youth are among the highest-risk groups for mental health effects from lockdowns, experts warn.

The state’s third lockdown comes after a tough first half of 2021, with data showing a record 29 per cent jump in calls to Kids Helpline from South Australians as young as five.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists president Vinay Lakra said the lives of children and youths were normally highly structured through school and extra-curricular activities.

“The lockdown throws all that structure out and that can cause stress and anxiety,” Associate Professor Lakra said.

He said in other states, lockdowns had resulted in spikes of 25 to 40 per cent for young people presenting to emergency departments for mental health reasons.

He said it was also important that carers of children monitored their own stress levels and wellbeing and maintained routine, kept active and connected with others.

In the first six months of this year, 3219 South Australians aged five to 25 contacted Kids Helpline, compared to 2489 for the same period in 2020.