By Anne Welsh at Painless Universal
May 4th, 2020
The question that everyone is asking themselves is how much freedom and for how long are we able to forgo the individual freedoms we take for granted in a democratic society for the benefit of the common good?
I have analysed this question from many viewpoints. The first viewpoint is the health of everyone around a person. Everyone I have discussed this with want to ensure the safety of family, loved ones and the wider civil society. These are survival pressures and mental health will surely suffer just out of the fear of contracting the disease.
The second view is from the economic health of people and this is where tension arises with the pure health viewpoint. A person must have the ability to create economic security for himself and the people he cares for. For civil society to function properly there must be freedom of movement, of communication. When you take this freedom away, it cannot possibly be tolerated for a long time or the consequence will be civil unrest on an epic scale.
Mental health triggers are therefore time and circumstance related and will be different for everybody. How can governments possibly solve everyone’s predicament? The truth is they can’t.
The first effort one needs to make is to be focused on staying healthy yourself. If a person gets sick then they can not help others. Stay in touch with people so if something happens then you can contact them and alert them to your health situation. Freedom and mental health go hand in hand. Talk about it.