The Hallowian - Volume I 2021 - Flipbook - Page 24
We’ve been learning
on the fly, along with
our clients, how to
effectively use telehealth
platforms to maintain
service delivery to our
communities, especially
the most vulnerable.
Lisa Atkinson
Registered Psychologist
(Class of 1994)
Recently, I saw a t-shirt featuring the
DeLorean from the Back to the Future
movies with the words ‘Marty, whatever
happens don’t ever go to 2020!’. For
almost 18 months, we’ve endured
lockdowns, cancelled plans, social
distancing, mask wearing, quarantining,
family separations, isolation, working
remotely, home schooling, job insecurity,
financial hardship, health complications
and even death. We’ve been living in very
uncertain times and many of us have
struggled to deal with the uncertainty and
those situations beyond our control. It’s
been heavy!
Since the pandemic started, many
psychologists have experienced increased
demand for mental health services with
waiting periods regularly extending
to several weeks and beyond. We’ve
been learning on the fly, along with our
clients, how to effectively use telehealth
platforms to maintain service delivery
to our communities, especially the most
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The Hallowian | 2021
vulnerable. Early on, adults and children
alike reported feelings of worry, panic,
being overwhelmed, depression, anger,
confusion and loneliness as the pandemic
disrupted our established routines and
affected our sense of safety and stability.
Clients who’d previously experienced
painful situations such as domestic abuse or
traumatic events, or who had pre-existing
mental health problems, were particularly
vulnerable and required additional support.
As the pandemic lingers, the prolonged
exposure to stress continues to take a toll
on our mental health and wellbeing. Clients
are currently reporting a broad range of
situational stressors and adjustment issues
including unemployment, returning to
face-to-face work, relationship difficulties,
chronic loneliness, separation from loved
ones, loss of freedom, lack of meaning and
purpose in life, and feelings of helplessness.
Yet despite the mental health challenges,
the pandemic has also been associated with
‘post-traumatic growth’ for some people.
Clients have developed resilience, identified
or rediscovered their own resources (both
internal and external) and employed
effective coping strategies to deal with
mental health challenges.
Sophie Zammit
Psychology Honours Graduate
(Class of 2014)
Working in mental health services
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has
proven to be an interesting challenge.
I have worked in administration at a
psychology practice that primarily sees
children and teenagers. Consequently,
my view of the pandemic’s psychological
impacts has been multi-layered; I have
seen how young people’s mental health
and need for services have changed, and
how caregivers’ lives have been affected.
In the weeks and months following
the implementation of restrictions,
many caregivers and parents cancelled
services as a result of job loss, financial
stress, or simply feeling there was too
much occurring in their family’s life to
have the mental resources available for
psychological services. Whilst telehealth
was offered, it was inaccessible to some
families who required in-person services
due to the nature of their child’s diagnosis
or disability, or who felt telehealth would
not be a good fit for them.
With the change to online learning, some
parents and young people reported feeling
significantly better, as either the social or
academic stressors associated with school
had eased. Predictably, others for whom
school presented an opportunity to have
Currently, I work in a clinical role for
a government-funded mental health
service, conducting initial assessments
of individuals presenting for these
services. I have discussions with these
people about their social stressors and/
or psychological symptoms and speak to
them about when these started. Whilst
the scientist within me is cautious about
conflating correlation with causation, it
would be remiss of me to not observe
some clear patterns that speak to the
effect of COVID-19 on individuals’ and
society’s mental health. It is commonly
reported that in early to mid-2020,
people experienced a sense of isolation
and increased stress at home, and felt less
supported by others. Some felt anxious
about the virus itself, whilst others felt
grief at the permanency of the changes to
the world. The secondary consequences
of the stress of this pandemic continue
to play a role in young people’s mental
health, including relationship breakups,
relocations, separation of family in other
countries, job loss and financial stress.
The short-term and long-term effects
of COVID-19 truly speak to the need for
mental health services to continue to be
well-funded and individuals’ access to
them to be destigmatised.
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respite from domestic or familial stress,
or for whom school played an important
role in maintaining their wellbeing,
experienced a decline in mental wellbeing
and demonstrated a clear need for
increased support.
The short-term and longterm effects of COVID-19
truly speak to the need for
mental health services to
continue to be well-funded
and individuals’ access to
them to be destigmatised.
2021 | The Hallowian
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