Dr. Steven Taylor, a psychiatry professor at the University of British Columbia and the author of The Psychology of Pandemics says lockdown restrictions are harmful to people’s mental health. According to Igor Grossman, a associate professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo, people who are more optimistic, empathetic, and trusting may be less affected by pandemic fatigue. Those who focus on the negatives or who distrust officials and experts may be more affected.
People are going to be irritated, he predicts. “What’s happened to many people is a kind of burnout from being under lockdown for so long, for so many months,” Dr. Taylor explained. Experts believe that the inability to connect with people in person is contributing to the fatigue.
“The consequences are obvious if you tell someone who is currently experiencing low mood and irritability that they should do better,” he says. “Health officials must be creative in their messaging to motivate people without blaming people,” he said in an interview with CTV’s iReport.
Lockdown restrictions and lockdowns related to COVID-19’s third wave are critical for protecting health-care systems. Dr. Barry Pakes believes it is “reasonable” to expect an end to constant lockdowns as vaccines become available. “I’m pretty sure it’ll be the last one, at least with this version of COVID we have,” he says.
Taylor advises those who are feeling depleted by the pandemic to consider how far many of us have come.
Source: CBC
