Covid-19: West Bromwich charity CEO issues warning over mental health
Mental health needs will increase after the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, an expert has said.
Monica Shafaq, CEO of West Bromwich-based charity The Kaleidoscope Plus Group, issued the warning amid concerns over people's wellbeing.
She said coronavirus had impacted on everyone – from people reflecting on their current situation to frontline workers facing trauma.
Ms Shafaq said: "We have seen unprecedented changes to every part of our lives, with experts predicting it could take six months before things return to the way they were.
"But the main thing is, we can’t assume that things will go back to normal straight away – it won’t be as easy as that.
"There’s likely to be a degree of paranoia about whether the virus has fully gone and whether we can still catch it or be close to someone again.
"There will be trauma amongst health workers, an increase in mental health needs, huge changes to lifestyle and economic effects, as well as the uncertainty of what’s next."
The West Bromwich charity, based on High Street, supports thousands of people across the UK each year.
It was set up in 1973 and offers a wide range of support services including counselling.
"Lockdown has definitely given us time to assess where we are in life and has been a test and a lesson to us all," she said.
"We are finding that some people with hectic routines have been able to use their busy lifestyles to ‘cope’ with and to a degree, ignore, the impact of past traumas but because they are now being forced to slow down, those emotions are coming to the forefront and more and more people are presenting with symptoms of PTSD.
"We will have a new normal [after lockdown] and I hope that the unity that has been shown during this period, not just locally or nationally but globally, continues long into the future and becomes part of the new norm."
