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Ever heard of agoraphobia? It's a condition which leaves people unable to get out of their home or face others.
Every eye on you is a threat, every unfamiliar noise a source of stress, every new situation a reason to panic.
It can ruin the lives of those afflicted with it...
Every eye on you is a threat, every unfamiliar noise a source of stress, every new situation a reason to panic.
It can ruin the lives of those afflicted with it...
...it's an invisible condition. You can't tell if someone is agoraphobic just by looking. But they know they are, and their suffering is sharp and real. Unless you're a Tory looking to save money of course, then their suffering is just fake... https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/welfare-funds-must-serve-really-disabled
...even if it eventually turns out to be fatal.
Of course, the DWP didn't consult the people who actually knew those who too their lives. They just looked and saw an able-bodied person not following the rules that everyone else had to abide by. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/07/three-cases-of-suicides-linked-to-dwps-handling-of-benefits
Of course, the DWP didn't consult the people who actually knew those who too their lives. They just looked and saw an able-bodied person not following the rules that everyone else had to abide by. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/07/three-cases-of-suicides-linked-to-dwps-handling-of-benefits
Terrible, awful, bad, cruel, and monstrous behaviour towards those who need our help the most, right?
Very callous for the DWP to completely ignore real suffering and jump to a conclusion, condemning the complex individual as feckless based on just looking at them..
..right?
Very callous for the DWP to completely ignore real suffering and jump to a conclusion, condemning the complex individual as feckless based on just looking at them..
..right?
So let's talk lockdowns, and claustrophobia.
The opposite of agoraphobia, claustrophobia can make you a nervous wreck if you're cooped up too long. If you're left without the sky, with just your walls, feeling trapped, it can trigger quite high levels of anxiety in some.
The opposite of agoraphobia, claustrophobia can make you a nervous wreck if you're cooped up too long. If you're left without the sky, with just your walls, feeling trapped, it can trigger quite high levels of anxiety in some.
Unable to get out and about, the anxiety and panic can occur even in well people. But in someone with severe claustrophobia, said someone could become very sick indeed. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/europe/russia-shooting-lockdown-scli-intl/index.html
This can be even worse if someone is stuck in on their own, without a single voice to listen to beyond the echoes of their own fear and sadness bouncing around their enforced prison. https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-man-commits-suicide-as-he-missed-wife-in-lockdown-823182.html
Yes, I know there is a risk in people going out. But for some, there is a risk in staying in. The lockdown doesn't make it easier, the fact they feel they have to stay in makes the need to go out more urgent, as they truly feel trapped.
Yes, I know experts are saying the lockdown is necessary. The field of those particular experts is in respiratory disease. I challenge you to find me a single expert in psychiatry who thinks this is not doing immense harm.
Yes, I know the lockdown is necessary. But this is a necessary evil, it isn't a glorious opportunity for people to exercise their megalomaniacal need to exert power over their fellow citizens.
If people need to get out, exercise some compassion and common sense.
If people need to get out, exercise some compassion and common sense.
Try to remember where we've been - a "one size fits all" approach to mental illness in our institutions has resulted in untold misery and death for people who desperately needed our compassion and understanding rather than our judgement and fury. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/488530/DWP-plans-axe-benefits-claimants-refuse-treatment-depression
No. It's not "different" - if you've ever called the DWP's treatment of the mentally ill heartless, but you're now saying that people suffering should just suck this up, you're either a hypocrite or a coward.
The fact there is a global pandemic doesn't solve mental illness...
The fact there is a global pandemic doesn't solve mental illness...
...in fact, it makes it much much worse.
I'm not saying that everyone should immediately get out for a great big group hug in a great big hall while handgliders cough over everyone from above. I'm saying we need proper and *comprehensive* judgement. https://twitter.com/michaljadczak/status/1248853337275064321
I'm not saying that everyone should immediately get out for a great big group hug in a great big hall while handgliders cough over everyone from above. I'm saying we need proper and *comprehensive* judgement. https://twitter.com/michaljadczak/status/1248853337275064321
In summation, try to approach this with less hostility. Less of the finger wagging, curtain twitching, yelling, condemnation, and cries of "it's simple", because it really, really, is not.
