Just wondering: is the working hypothesis in the UK that people who are finding themselves feeling more mentally & #39;unwell& #39; will be people developing psychiatric illnesses; people experiencing life stresses; people finding it harder to cope with existing problems or something else?

I ask because I assume that we aren& #39;t blithely assuming that the pandemic will lead to what is just a simple increase in demand for services arranged as they have been. I don& #39;t think it& #39;s useful to talk about meblntal distress as if it were traffic on congested roads

My guess (based on nowt as I& #39;m not a researcher) is that we& #39;ll see people having a resurgence of existing problems they were getting by with previously, people who are extremely tired and stressed, people with & #39;new& #39; challenges and people grieving, lonely and desperate

I have no idea who is and isn& #39;t doing what help seeking for which challenges and where they are seeking it for a feeling of & #39;not feeling ok& #39; and distressed. Service use doesn& #39;t equal level of distress present on a population, but neither does a & #39;do you feel better/worse& #39; survey

I& #39;m always a bit wary of & #39;just so& #39; stories around mental heath. It feels like & #39;of course people will be experience more mental heath difficulties due to the pandemic& #39; but that doesn& #39;t really tell us much beyond & #39;we think pandemics are stressful& #39;.

The one gap in so much discussion around responses to the pandemic is anything that could be regarded as & #39;pre-existing& #39;. Pre-existing conditions, pre-existing stresses, pre-existing poverty, pre-existing inequality. Discussion like to talk about category change, not severity