Your lockdown mental health - how did you cope?
People who struggle with their mental health have been hit the hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to know more about how local Community Mental Health Services have worked for you/loved ones since the start of lockdown.
It's a survey created by people who have sought help themselves. Our area lead Cirlei has run zoom groups with people with existing mental health conditions in order to ensure the questions really get to the heart of mental health. These include - whether you felt alone or anxious, whether the support and therapy you usually have dropped off and whether you had someone on the end of the phone to give you comfort if you had any kind of crisis.
Telling us your views (or helping someone else do so) means services can adapt and change in the future.
Click here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N5DPLM3
Charlie, 31, from Weston, helped us on the survey as he himself has needed support to get through Covid-19 after his business and relationship collapsed leaving him burnt out and very fragile.
Not being a people person after serving in Afghanistan he said he found dodging people very difficult as he was fearful of catching the virus. He said: "It was like guerrilla warfare from an unknown enemy. I basically had a meltdown and was very frightened. I needed help to cope but I found mindfulness sessions with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership very helpful and also had phonecalls twice a week from my care-coordinator to stop me having a major crisis."
Those with pre-existing mental illnesses have been hardest hit by both the restrictions due to lockdown and the changes to their formal mental health support services. That's why Healthwatch would like to hear from residents in North Somerset with existing mental health problems about the challenges they have faced since lockdown in March 2020. We are especially interested in people’s experiences when they seek to support and help from the Community Mental Health Services.
