If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it would be that people are really good at panic. Get enough of us worried about the same thing, we lose our peripheral vision. And we are conformists. As fear spreads, we charge mindlessly in a single direction, trampling considerations, like spooked cattle.
This is how the response to the coronavirus pandemic played out. Faced with an unfamiliar virus that might, rumours suggested, have originated as a bioweapon, we panicked. As images of death arrived from Italy and residents of Wuhan were boarded into their houses, governments threw everything at suppressing a poorly understood threat. They underestimated and in many cases ignored the consequences of the actions they were taking to protect citizens from the virus.
Professor of Youth Mental Health and former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry has coined the phrase “shadow pandemic” to describe the plague of mental ill health which accompanied lockdowns in Australia. In November last year, McGorry published an article in thewarning that “the initial mental health impact has been severe, and worse may be coming”.
McGorry was not the only one to warn that Wuhan-style suppression was a cure as devastating as the disease. At the beginning of April last year an economist friend of mine contacted me in distress: she had quantified the potential harms of lockdown but the outfit she worked for was not prepared to publish her paper.
parnellpalme I wrote a considered response to this piece in the Comments section at the end of the article last night online & not published.Not wasting any more time.Just to tell Parnell many in Melb are exhausted by surreal 18 months.Your coddling reference offensive.
parnellpalme Police could be scapegoat at certain stage, whose order? Politicians are not dumb, they buy police with money from people! They can turn against police and seek people’s support anytime! Politicians are always right, isn’t it? Wake up now! OZ need a director, not a dictator!
parnellpalme The COVID19 pandemic is teaching us what will happen in the next oil crisis when movements will also be restricted. Covid covers up oil production peak 2018-19 Neither governments nor the media have this on their radar
parnellpalme 'poor mental health' has become a meaningless term. As usually happens it has been co-opted by the rich and famous to describe their lack of inner satisfaction at not being richer or more famous.
parnellpalme In the 20 months of the pandemic in Australia fewer than three people a day on average have died. 430 people in Oz die a day of something else, including at least 100+ of cancer. It’s mass hysteria! Even in USA only one third of 1% have died of Covid.
parnellpalme
parnellpalme My generations resilience is something thatll be championed and not derided when we get out of this
parnellpalme How ironic that the media tell us we are good at panic when they profit off sensationalism and hysteria
parnellpalme This ‘opinion’ is right up there among the most ignorant and callous things I have ever read. (Note that I’m an academic. I’ve read a lot.)
parnellpalme The best thing we can ALL do for our mental health is to vote conservative thieves and criminals like the LNPCorruptionParty the fuck out of government. Look around, ALL of this drama.. we’ve had 8 years of LNP government. Who’s to blame? It’s not us Aussies. It’s them! 🥰🥰🇦🇺🇦🇺
parnellpalme The people are good at panic? After 18 months of alarmist politicians driven by the media over seasonal viruses? Oh please....
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