It reads like the plot of a bad novel or an even worse Hollywood disaster movie. Covid-19 (you can choose your variety du jour) is once again in the news. No matter where you look, there’s a story about new varieties, the need to once again mask, social distancing and–I know this surprises you–Biden wanting more money to do more research for yet another round of vaccines. But what is being lost in the panicked murmurings is the impact of Covid (and the government’s policies) on our mental health.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there seems to be an increase in media coverage of Covid-related stories. After all, what better way, at least in their minds, to take our attention off the upcoming elections than to return us to the nightmare that was the Covid lockdowns and business closures? The CDC advises all those who might be “at risk” to start masking up again. After all, there’s a new variant out there. This, despite the fact “[t]here’s not yet enough data to assess the potential of this variant to cause a wave.” In fact, there have been less than five cases of the new variant reported in the US at the time I sat down to write this post. But let’s pull out those masks and hand sanitizer. Uncle Joe says so.

Not to be outdone, NBC News pulls out a piece of yellow journalism, at least when it comes to the following headline:

Covid booster rollout: Are we acting fast enough to fend off the next round?

The CDC could sign off on the new Covid boosters as soon as Sept. 12. Will that be soon enough to ward off a winter surge?

Lots of “Covid bad. We must panic” feel the the headline. Yet the article betrays the truth. We are in a much better position where Covid’s concerned than we were this time last year:

The most recent week-to-week data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 21.6% increase in hospital stays related to Covid. The increase is far below what the nation has previously endured, however. The current level of Covid hospitalizations is a third of what it was a year ago.

To add fuel to the fire, Biden has said he’s going to ask Congress for more money to develop a new vaccine.

I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works.”

I am really glad he wants to fund a vaccine that’s going to work, aren’t you?

All this talk simply exacerbates the mental health issues that have plagued so many American the last few years. According to a Rand study released yesterday, “between March 2020 and August 2022, found that spending increased by 53.7 percent and the utilization of mental health services by adults rose by nearly 39 percent during the pandemic.” The important fact to note is that this is spending by “employer-provided private insurance funds”. How much have government programs paid out for similar treatment during this time period?

According to the study, these payments were for treatment of PTSD, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, among other illnesses.

The changes that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered a significant expansion in the use of mental health services among adults with employer-based health insurance,” Jonathan Cantor, a policy researcher at the RAND corporation. “It remains uncertain whether this trend will continue or return to levels similar to those seen before the pandemic.”

The CDC has also issued new long-Covid guidance aimed at helping doctors identify and treat mental health symptoms.

And now, thanks to the media and certain politicians, we are once again facing the possibility of repeating 2020-2021. There are already reports of schools closing for a day or two due to Covid. Lionsgate, Hollywood studio, has returned to mandating masks. Morris Brown University in Atlanta has done the same.

Deja vu or a return of a nightmare that took a terrible toll on our economy, one we haven’t recovered from yet, and on our children who were not allowed to attend in-person classes for months on end?

Humans, especially our children, are social creatures. Some of us less so than others, but there is a need to be able to come and go as we want, when we want. Take that away from us and we start going stir crazy. You compound the problem when you start telling people to mask or they might catch Covid and who knows how bad this new variant might be. If we go that far, how long will it be before businesses are forced to close or to at least severely limit the number of people allowed in at a time?

Our economy and our mental health can’t take another months long lockdown.

Call me a skeptic, but I have to wonder how hard the Administration is going to work to keep from causing more mental harm due to Covid. It would make such a handy distraction for the upcoming election. If we’re worried about Covid, we might not think about Biden’s troubles regarding his response (or lack thereof) to the fires in Maui. We might not even think about Hunter and his problems. Besides, Biden and Company can continue blaming Trump for everything that went wrong due to Covid, especially if Trump does win the election, all the while touting his “record” for creation of new jobs.

All the while the American public suffers in response to the Administration’s Covid policies.

Please don’t think I’m making light of the mental health issues that have arisen over the last several years. I’m not. If you are suffering as a result of Covid, please contact your PCP or a help line. This is not a fight you have to fight alone.

Featured image created by Amanda S. Green using Midjourney AI.