Caleb Bond: Lockdowns and restrictions are taking a serious toll on our mental health

Australian governments are deeply concerned about the physical risks of Covid but also need to recognise the mental health toll of lockdowns, writes Caleb Bond.

South Australia is heading into a full-blown lockdown – and the hospitality sector will be one of the hardest-hit industries.

It is hardly surprising this never-ending cycle of lockdowns and on-again-off-again restrictions has taken its toll on people’s mental health.

But some of the real numbers are shocking.

A whopping 85 per cent of hotel staff are worried about their mental health, according to an Adelaide University study.

They work in the industry that has been hit hardest by all these restrictions.

Every time there’s a sniff of Covid-19, the powers-that-be cut bar and restaurant capacity and often stop people from standing up at the pub.

Cutting a pub’s capacity to half obviously means they can do half as much business and, presumably, will only require half as many staff.

These poor workers know that their incomes could disappear or be significantly reduced at the drop of a hat.

They still have to pay the same bills as the rest of us despite the destruction wrought upon them by the state government.

Nearly three-quarters of hotel managers are also worried about their own mental health.

Strathmore Hotel Manager Tim Riemann and Hotel Restaurant Manager Lisa Clare. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Their job security is presumably slightly better than the bar staff. But they are the poor buggers who have to cut their staff’s hours and keep the business afloat as they are deprived of trade.

The success of the business – and, ultimately, the continuing jobs of the staff – ride on these managers’ shoulders.

It must be a great burden to bear.

The same study also found 65 per cent of pub patrons – you and me – are also worried about their mental health.

Let that sink in.

It doesn’t necessarily mean all these people are on the brink of depression or ready to take their own lives – but it does mean that we as a populace are feeling the strain of these restrictions heavily.

It can lead to such dark places, though.

The rate of attempted suicide among Victorian teenagers, for example, has soared 184 per cent this year.

Data released by Kids Helpline last month revealed teenagers aged 13-18 accounted for 75 per cent of crisis interventions between the start of December and the end of May.

In the same period, 44 per cent of emergency interventions in Victoria were in response to a teen’s immediate intent to take their own life.

Calls to the hotline from children aged between five and nine also soared by 80 per cent.

Child-abuse interventions also increased by two-thirds in Victoria as lockdowns and home schooling led to increased tensions in homes and made it easier for children to be harmed.

This is the reality of lockdowns and restrictions.

Victoria felt it harder than anywhere else – but Sydney is now on the same path. We might not be in lockdown, but there is no reason it couldn’t happen in South Australia, too.

Governments have taken these measures to protect our physical health – but how much care is being taken for our mental health?

It is no exaggeration to say the past 18 months have likely been the most difficult in the lives of many people around the world.

People who have previously never been concerned about their mental health will have found themselves feeling mentally worse than they ever have.

Some present the option of locking down and not locking down as life or death. And they’re not wrong.

But the death that results may well be caused by lockdowns and restrictions rather than the other way around.

As the rest of the world hurtles towards high levels of vaccination, and begins to open up, we are doing the opposite.

Simply letting Covid-19 rip was never going to be an option. But we should not delude ourselves into thinking that lockdowns have come – and will likely continue to come – without significant cost, including human cost.