Mental health in a pandemic- some thoughts in a thread:
1. I'm exhausted. It's impossible to switch off, and if you do, it’s very likely you would have missed an important Twitter announcement coming in at 22.30, because the government can't be bothered with press conferences.

2. We’re berated for not “staying alert” enough, "mingling" by bumping into a family on the street, but our government willingly breaks international law. Read that again. And again.
3. For a lot of people who were already at a low point, we have sunk lower.

Say goodbye to the banana bread days in March and hello to Brexit, chaos and frustration in December.
4. Hospital admissions and cases are on the up and all this is dismissed as "scaremongering" and "negativity" when it's reality. Positivity isn't pretending things don't exist.

5. I'm lost,I have a permanent headache, my chest fills with dread every time I think of Winter, and everything seems to be a deflection from something else. Don't talk about Brexit talk about testing, don't talk about tests talk about dinghies, is anybody talking about schools??

6. There are designated days where we talk about Suicide Prevention and mental health, and that's it. World Suicide Prevention Day passed and was barely covered. The suicide rate for men is rocketing. Light at the end of the tunnel, you say? There better be.

7. We choose our Prime Ministers on their ability to eat a bacon sandwich, all the politicians talk about the "will of the people", what "the British people" want. How do they know that? Stop the boat, I want to get off. On a side-note, how do people get offended by....a dance??

8. Social distancing? Masks? It's gone out the window, with the only place it is properly observed being TV interviews. Sorry, let me just step back from somebody who has no concept of it. I just want to...protect you?? Noel Gallagher, are you listening? https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-noel-gallagher-refuses-to-wear-face-mask-despite-uk-laws-12072712

9. Very few are talking about the strain on schools, the #CovidTesting shambles, and I want to scream and shout and help schools, help #ExcludedUK but what can I do when the people at the top don't listen? When every email I send either doesn't get a response or is rejected?

10. Guilt. I'm part of *that* generation, you know the young, the generation blamed for just about everything under the sun. I wear a mask, maintain a distance, I don't want to harm others- what a shock, young people don't care, right? I do care, promise.

11. Even writing this is difficult. Basic functions. How I'm going to university in a pandemic is beyond me.
Just, for anyone reading- a day at a time. I will try and keep going, just hour by hour, second by second, and it will pass.
Be kind. Always. @matthaig1

12. And also, loneliness. I haven't seen anybody in months. Twitter just does have a way of making one feel invisible at times. Anyone reading, feel free to simply say hello.