Looking back at 2020 | The fear of loneliness and isolation

If any statistic is a sign of the times for the pandemic, it might be this – Richmond Foundation received 2,900 calls for help this year through their designated helpline, with anxiety and depressive symptoms the most frequently brought up topics. On top of this, the foundation offered 4,220 hours of therapy, and 143 sessions of brief intervention over the past months.

Richmond Foundation revealed this information in a press conference earlier this month. People were reaching out for a variety of reasons – the pandemic may have triggered or worsened a previous condition, and many were overwhelmingly fearful of contracting the virus and in turn infecting vulnerable loved ones.

Others faced difficulties with social isolation and loneliness during quarantine periods. People were forced to spend longer contact time with abusive and aggressive persons, while others had to go through long stretches without seeing their children or loved ones – an issue most pertinent among the elderly.

At the start of the pandemic people were generally calling over concerns for others, but Richmond CEO Stephania Dimech Sant noted that there has been a shift over the past few months towards people calling for information about their own mental health issues in the hopes of understanding where and how they can access help.

“Initially, when the pandemic first broke out in Malta, and the first deaths occurred, people registered a lot of anxiety, fear of becoming infected. As the social measure were put in place and the numbers started to decrease the anxiety settled down. However, at the same time, partial lockdown caused people to experience isolation and there was a marked increase in the onset of depressive symptoms.”

Youths suffered a significant impact at the start of the outbreak, having reported feeling particularly hopeless and isolated during the early phases of the pandemic. “They are at that age when their life revolves around their friends and socializing, particularly at school,” she explained.

The digital element of the pandemic took its toll on younger people too. “They got to spend more time online, replacing real-life interactions, and this may have contributed to the unavoidable tolerance of more time being allocated to online activity.”

In recent months young people have been given an indication that they are feeling better, possibly associated with the return to school and more chances of socialising. The schools’ reopening further alleviated stress among parents, especially those who work and in particular those who could not work from home.

This isn’t to say that the return to school didn’t come with its hardships. “We have also seen some anxiety related to the return to school, in the form of fear of infection, particularly among families with vulnerable members. In fact, a number of families are still not sending their children to school in view of this fact,” Dimech Sant pointed out.

The elderly in particular have become more isolated as the pandemic continues. Most have been separated from their relatives for a long time now, especially those residing in elderly homes. They have been confined to their rooms for weeks on end, with little if any interaction with their family. They face an added fear of infection once the virus permeates into elderly homes. “Even the relatives of the elderly have been impacted by the difficult situation,” she said.

Richmond Foundation had to take on a lot of first-level assistance throughout the pandemic. Malta’s mental health facilities offer services to people with more serious mental health problems, or those in serious crises, but the onset of the pandemic meant that people with no pre-existing mental health conditions whatsoever felt the need to reach out for help in dealing with the emotional changes brought about by the situation.

“Such a service was only available at Richmond through the 1770 helpline and our drop-in service where people walk into our offices to ask to meet a professional. Next level services, such as seeing a therapist, is mostly available through professionals in private practice and even at Richmond. The National Mental Health Services cater for those people whose mental health problem would be more advanced,” she explained.

COVID-19 preventive measures, including the overall handling of the pandemic, had their drawbacks. “Social distancing has definitely had an impact on people’s health,” she said. “This was evident in the early weeks when a partial lockdown was imposed and people were being urged to rigorously refrain from socializing.”

Throughout the virus outbreak locally, confidence has come and gone. People were initially confident with the measures taken by government, but according to Stephania this confidence has fallen significantly. “People are no longer reassured by the measures being taken or proposed by government,” she said.