With each lockdown it seems to get harder, the light at the end of the tunnel seems further away and a lot of us are struggling even more so with mental health.
Megan Knight, aged 21, has struggled with mental health throughout most of her life but said the third lockdown has “definitely been the hardest”.
She said: “Almost everyone I’m speaking to at the moment has something to say about this lockdown and how bad it has been”.
“I thought there would be more efforts put in place to look after people”
Megan Knight, creator of the courage concept
Megan runs an Instagram page called @thecourageconcept where she posts about her mental health journey and spreads awareness about mental health issues through her art.
The artist said she thinks this one has been hardest as we’ve now been doing it for so long, she said: “The first one was kind of new and it wasn’t great but it gave people time to sit back and do some things they haven’t had time for and as it was new territory, we were making the best of it.
“As it goes along it is just more uncertainty, we thought it would be over by the first one.”
She said she has reached out for help but hasn’t had the best experience, the 21-year-old added: “I feel like anything I’ve done [to gain help] has been done myself, I thought there would be more efforts put in place to look after people.”
Statistics from the Mental Health Foundation show the proportion who say they are “coping well with the stress of the pandemic” has fallen, from almost three quarters (73 per cent) in April to 62 per cent in November.
There are a lot of us struggling and it is getting worse but there seems to be little help in place to support people.
Megan said: “I think so much more time, energy, money should have been put into loads of different mental health resources; I don’t understand the thought process of people who think this isn’t going to really seriously affect basically everyone’s mental health”.
She added: “Being with yourself can sometimes cause problems as a lot of people don’t realise what issues they’ve got until they’re actually with themselves.”
One thing Megan feels has grown through lockdown is her friendships: “I think my friendships have strengthened, everyone was really quick to put in more effort, even if that’s not seeing them just being there, I’m always messaging everyone.”
“I’ve been communicating with loads of older friends more because it made me think everyone is going through it”.
Megan said she doesn’t feel hopeful for the future as she said: “I feel like it’s really hard at the moment”. She is not alone, over half of UK adults think that their future is going to be worse as a result of the pandemic (Mental health foundation).
However, something that has helped during this uncertain time is art, Megan said: “Before the pandemic, I didn’t really do that much arty stuff and now I’m doing it all the time and I love it. It is really calming and peaceful”.
“I thought I was someone who didn’t like that kind of stuff but I think you’ve got to get out of your brain that you’re not good at it. It’s really important to find something that makes you happy and forget about it being perfect.”
If you are struggling with your mental health it is important to reach out for help:
For immediate help call the Samaritans on 116 123
Contacts for young people
Mind- mental health charity
