COVID-19 and mental health: five questions to our psychiatry specialist

As essential as public health measures are to reduce the spread of COVID-19, they have unfortunately taken their toll on the mental health of many Australians.

For example, there has been an uptake in the number of calls to helplines such as Lifeline, which has received 25% more calls in March this year than in March last year.

While restrictions are starting to ease across the country, it will be a long road back to normal life, and until then, it is particularly important to look after your mental health through this crisis.

Dr Deepinder Miller, psychiatrist at St Vincent’s Clinic, tells us more about how the pandemic crisis has affected people’s health and how to cope with anxiety.