Last week I wrote about New Zealand. Today I will write about something closer to home: ‘The Archers’.
Please don’t stop reading if you are not a fan of BBC Radio 4’s venerable soap opera. For lockdown it has been reinvented. We now hear one character per episode having an Internal Dialogue with Themselves. Is this not what those of us, who lived alone in lockdown, have been doing daily?
How do those living alone make now the rapid transition to the unfamiliar New Normal? As the rest of society is nervously rejoicing, those coming out of Total Isolation Lockdown may quickly fall mentally once the pressure of lockdown alleviates and space for anxiety and ongoing distresses opens up. And others enjoying their newly recovered freedoms may be too busy to notice.
It is key that new funding is directed towards existing helplines as well as NHS mental health services. As this will not happen overnight, it is important that we put ‘Be Kind’ into action. For those of us, who are feeling ‘wobbly’ coming out of Total Isolation Lockdown, it is time to consider replacing Archers-style Internal Dialoguing with a supportive real dialogue with a counsellor or therapist to help us in a few sessions move through this tricky transition phase.
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