Intermittent lockdown restrictions like the current ones in Ontario can have a lasting impact on the mental health of people and could make them feel helpless, a mental health researcher told Humber News.
“Every time this is happening, it is making people feel helpless,” Dr. Roger McIntyre, Professor at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, said Monday.
“The chronic unpredictability as well as the helplessness, each of those aspects contribute to negative health outcomes like the onset of depression and anxiety,” said McIntyre.
With the sudden increase in cases due to Omicron, the government had reverted to a modified Step 2 on Jan. 5, which resulted in the closing of indoor dining, gyms, and movie theatres.
Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that the province will be taking a phased approach to ease out of the restrictions, with 21 days between each step. The aim is to make sure the province is not moving too fast.
The government’s approach has been getting support.
“Given the Delta and Omicron case count, it does seem that we are moving towards a safer environment and it is good to be cautious,” Michael Widener, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at U of T said Monday.
The reopening will see restaurants and bars being able to serve liquor after 10 p.m. and spectator areas of concerts and sports games will also be allowed to operate at a capacity of 500 people.
Social gatherings will also see an increase to 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors.
“It is the right thing to do. The public health indicators allowed this to happen and I think in addition to providing people a return back to their lives, I think it is also good to their mental health,” said McIntyre.
During this time, it may be helpful for people to take up different activities to keep a check on their mental health, he said.
“People need to get some good sleep, get exercise and portion control on their alcohol and food, and portion control on social media as well,” said McIntyre.
“The other thing is people need to be prescribing for themselves: structure to their days, doing things that they enjoy and should find pleasure and a sense of well-being,” said McIntyre.
With the ease of restrictions starting next Tuesday, there are hopes that Ontario could be moving towards the final or later stages of the pandemic.
“The evidence gives us a lot of reason [to consider] that the pandemic is in its later stages, its final stages and when we look at other pandemics it is, in many ways, similar to what has happened,” he said.
“Omicron is less severe and more infectious and it looks as though we are in the final chapters of this pandemic,” said McIntyre.
The government of Ontario plans to lift all remaining restrictions on indoor settings and also increase the limits on social gatherings from March 14.