Families falling apart under Vic’s long lockdown

What is occurring in Victoria is nothing short of a catastrophic decline in psychological, emotional and physical well being (“Victorians’ mental health suffering under lockdowns”, (14/10). Within a mere 30-day time-frame between September and October in excess of 350,000 Victorians presented for urgent psychological, psychiatric and counselling services, according to Medicare records. In Victoria, Lifeline, Kids Helpline and Beyond Blue have recorded a 77 per cent higher level of requests for assistance compared with all other states.

Victoria’s sustained lockdown and restrictions are impacting family relationships. Interviews with a number of marriage counsellors and Justices of the Peace on Melbourne radio 3AW have indicated an exponential explosion in the rate of couples seeking to end their marriages.

One JP confided that compared with dealing (on average) with one couple seeking divorce every 60 days, he was now endeavouring to cope with more than 12 couples a month. This demographic tsunami in the making has sociological and psychological ramifications that will damage Victorian society incalculably into the future. Children deprived of a normal education and normal peer group interaction will now potentially be forced to cope with their parents permanently separating, a possible shift in residence away from friends and neighbours, a new school to contend with, a completely new life to adjust to. More than the danger of contracting COVID-19, these divorce-related, emotional and psychological implications for families constitute a far greater concern. It may be true that for all the health restrictions, curfews and lockdowns imposed on innocent Victorians, the cure is turning out to be worse than the virus itself.

Lyle Geyer, Essendon, Vic

Your editorial “Victorians’ mental health suffering under lockdowns” rightly articulates the prevalent psychology within Victoria, where weary, locked-down citizens are reaching the end of their tether regarding the highly ambitious and frustratingly ambiguous set of targets Daniel Andrews has laid before his people.

Along with hundreds of thousands of others, I am living in a postcode that is in its 15th week of lockdown, which eclipses even Wuhan’s timeline for stay-at-home restrictions. I can only describe it as living in a type of parallel universe: days bleed into the next; there is a bombardment of disorientating numbers; the respective authorities often resemble our foes, not our friends; restrictions feel arbitrary; and our CBD resembles something from the dystopian film I Am Legend.

As has been affirmed by infectious disease experts in the recent Great Barrington Declaration, we unequivocally know COVID-19 predominantly deleteriously affects the elderly and those with comorbidities. The now WHO-discredited practice of lockdowns is like the story of the man who tried to get rid of his rat problem by bulldozing his house — effective, but remarkably destructive.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Vic

Peta Credlin has hit the nail on the head (“Too much we’re not being told”, 14/10). The Coate inquiry is a toothless tiger. Inexplicably, it failed to call all seven ministers appointed to Daniel Andrews’ Crisis Council, in which one would imagine crucial information was disseminated. The three ministers that were called and the Premier were given a relatively easy run and did not face rigorous cross examination, despite their obfuscation and failure to give straight answers. It was not one of the numerous counsels assisting that questioned Chris Eccles on his phone calls to Graham Ashton on March 27, but Dan Star QC acting for VicPol who teased out the nitty gritty that eventually prompted Eccles to resign. It was only after a Credlin-led campaign that the inquiry asked for phone records. Uunless the inquiry reopens public hearings and gets more aggressive with its questioning, the only acceptable outcome for the board would be to recommend a royal commission.

John Pohlman, Leopold, Vic

Excellent articles by Peta Credlin and Robert Gottliebsen (“Courts, Canberra key to fixing Victoria’s mess”, 13/10). I share Credlin’s view that the hotel quarantine inquiry must restore faith in a system that has failed us. Gottliebsen’s observation that the federal government can step in and take over Victoria’s failed contact tracing system to minimise a nation-destroying third wave should be actively considered.

Greg Wickes, Jeeralang Junction, Vic