Dear Editor,

“A GREAT deal is rightly made about the physical symptoms of coronavirus but there is another hidden condition that’s little talked about. That of mental health.

My fiancee and I are classed as essential workers and so still have the routine of work and seeing people face to face. Fewer people these days of course but there is still that contact.

Even with that I have felt within myself the strangeness of near isolation and there are many many others that will struggle without that kind of human contact.

Nods, winks, expression, even the actions of inhaling and exhaling in conversation are vital parts of the human experience and to have that suddenly, drastically, curtailed has come as a shock to us all.

While we’re looking out for the outlying symptoms of this terrible affliction, there may be some that are missed. There are people fighting battles we have little comprehension of. We must look out for our fellow citizens in this time of emergency in every way that we can.

A text, video message or phone call may seem like an effortless thing to do but for some it will mean all the difference in the world and more.

Time is something we can have a lot of lately. Let’s use it wisely and constructively.

Regards

Jodi Dunne