Let me start by saying that everyone on the front line - from politicians and civil servants, through to NHS staff and business leaders - are making the right call as they see it, under very difficult circumstances. Such decisions are being driven by urgent need, however. Given that we now recognise this situation is not going to go away any time soon, is there a need to start to plan for a more positive future too?

It’s safe to say that the world will never be the same again. We need to start preparing for that new paradigm now – both collectively and individually. But where do we start?

Prior to coronavirus everyone had been talking extensively about mental health and its equal importance to physical health.  Inevitably, the immediate problem of a pandemic and an over-stretched health service has seen mental health take a back seat. But is this wise? 

At the end of this – let’s say 12 weeks, although it will almost certainly be more – the people currently on the front line, will be totally burnt out. The country will need to be brave, mentally strong and resourceful in order to forge into the future successfully – and remember it will be a future totally different to today. Who will lead and support that charge?  

Total lockdown for such a long period of time will have eroded the mental stability of the nation – there will be few able to lead and take up the baton. To illustrate - a horse if it’s been kept in its stable for 12 weeks due to injury will be scared of the outside world and has to be rehabilitated. I would suggest that many humans - far more complex but no less fragile - are no different. Who will help people to take ownership for moving forward once we have made them victims, without purpose or say? Even in the war people had a job to do and had a clear and highly motivating purpose, which kept them going.   

Exercise and fresh air have long been recognised as key contributors to mental health. On Sunday the sun shone and people took themselves out in it – most people viewing it as a positively acceptable activity in these difficult times. The result? Politicians and the media to take a parent-child approach that branded people as naughty children and issued a threat for total lockdown. Would it not have been better to set clearer guidelines for outside exercise? 

People need to keep mentally well to survive – physical exercise helps, and yes, the authorities need to set rules. But if these rules are too stringent they will disempower and disenfranchise a whole nation with who knows what results. As individuals too, we need to recognise that if we don’t want to be treated like children we need to stop acting like them. Social distancing is not a terribly difficult concept – we can surely still go out and exercise but don’t need to do it collectively in close proximity.   

We all need to keep mentally strong for the part we have yet to play in putting this country back on its feet. Should we fail in this I believe the results will be much more frightening than the virus itself.

Everyone is doing their best in finding a way through this but there must be a better, clearer way that keeps us safe now and makes us both willing and able to forge forward into the future. We need to be creative and find that way.

Keely Nugent