ROTHENBURGER – Who’s most bummed by COVID? It’s not who you might think

WE ALL KNOW by now that COVID-19 is a bummer.

It stresses out even the best of us but if you’re a business owner, teacher, healthcare provider or senior, it’s even tougher. Nothing like losing your livelihood, spending all day in a crowded classroom, working directly with COVID-infected patients or not seeing loved ones for months on end to give you a case of the blues.

Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent mental health problems in this country. They are a pandemic all on their own.

And while much of what’s going on right now is related to our jobs, for the average person the cause is the very measures we’ve put in place to fight the virus — isolation and social distancing.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be experienced in many different ways, including feelings of depression, grief, fear, panic, and anxiety which can be normal responses to situations where day-to-day routines are disrupted and circumstances are uncertain and perceived as potentially risky,” a StatsCan bulletin said last May.

Obviously, the problem has gotten much worse since then.  A report a few weeks ago said the increase in symptoms of depression among Canadians was “alarming.”

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.