Rita Panahi: The rest of the world thinks we’re crazy

Dogs killed in the name of Covid safety, a premier scolding people for watching a sunset. No wonder everyone thinks we’re barking mad.

The rest of the world increasingly thinks Australia is barking mad.

What else can you say about a country where dogs are shot dead in the name of Covid safety, where state premiers scold their constituents for watching a sunset on the beach or for wanting to enjoy the Sunday sunshine outdoors, and where the media relentlessly scaremonger to the point where the public is as hopelessly uninformed about coronavirus in August 2021 as they were in March 2020.

You know something is terribly wrong when a once sane people can rationalise council workers shooting dead dogs to prevent volunteers from a rescue shelter travelling to pick them up.

We really have sunk to new depths of lunacy. This is precisely the time we should be hearing from our chief psychiatrists.

Melbourne has been in lockdown for 200 days. Picture: Paul Jeffers

Most of you would not be aware that the states have not only chief health officers but also chief psychiatrists.

As far as the public is concerned Victoria’s chief psychiatrist Dr Neil Coventry has been missing in action throughout the pandemic.

A rather strange absence given Melburnians have endured more than 200 days of lockdown and seen an enormous jump in the number of children self-harming and suffering suicidal ideation.

Has Dr Coventry been consulted about the “shadow pandemic”, the mental health impact of Victoria’s Covid-19 response?

Leading child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg has called on the chief psychiatrist to speak up and wants a full picture of the health impacts of lockdown released, not just Covid-19 numbers but also mental health data.

“In the services of transparency that would make a lot of sense, be upfront and honest, and I’d like to hear from the chief psychiatrist of Victoria, we haven’t heard a thing from him,” Dr Carr-Gregg told me.

There has been an enormous jump in the number of children self-harming and suffering suicidal ideation during Covid lockdowns. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“We don’t know if he has been consulted. What is his view? Why isn’t he giving out advice to the people of Victoria?”

New South Wales’ Chief Psychiatrist, Dr Murray Wright, has been outspoken throughout the state’s Delta lockdown, regularly issuing mental health advice for those struggling under stay-at-home orders.

As the rest of the advanced world, with varying degrees of success, learns to live with the virus a number of state premiers in Australia are talking about ongoing restrictions, border closures and even lockdowns once we are 70 and even 80 per cent fully vaccinated.

If that happens expect to see demand for mental health services skyrocket to new heights.