You would think by now we’d be used to the emotional turmoil that comes before, during and after government announcements about coronavirus, but like any toxic relationship where you’ve been routinely let down, they seem to have a way of making your insides feel like chaos every time ‘press conference at 8pm’ appears on our screens.
We wrote about announcement anxiety back in June, when one of Boris Johnson’s consort would appear on our screens once a month to haphazardly deliver some new easing of lockdown that felt far too soon. Scientists would confirm our fears soon after, and the reminder of how little control we had over our lives seemed to almost always end in monthly mental health spiral – at least, it did for me. Now, as the second wave returns us back to stricter lockdown rules, those feelings are returning with a vengeance.
For one reason or another, our announcement anxiety seems to be getting worse. ‘I feel absolutely drained today,’ one colleague will admit during a morning meeting – to pretty much everyone else’s agreement. It’s always around the time new lockdown measures are set to be announced, or just have been, and the public mood is – for the 190204th time in the last 12 months – beyond despondent.
We might’ve reconciled with our lack of control over our lives late last year when lockdown was easing month by month, but the chaos around Christmas, the hope of the vaccine and the subsequent disappointment of the new variant has put all that into disarray. The announcements seem to have become even more chaotic too, if you could’ve thought that possible last summer.
It’s always the same cycle of events: there’s rumours of an announcement pending and the tabloids start circulating worst case scenarios (‘TIER 10 IS ON THE WAY, BORIS WILL APPEAR AT YOUR BEDSIDE WITH HANDCUFFS IF YOU DARE TO OPEN YOUR EYES WITHOUT EATING A SUBSTANTIAL MEAL…apologies for that graphic image, ladies). Then comes the leak to the press. Someone, somewhere, tweets what’s coming in a matter of hours and social media spirals into chaos. The announcement time comes, no prime minister appears – it’s delayed by an hour, two, three. Then Boris finally pops up on our screens, dishevelled as always and speaking in riddles while Jonathan Van Tam attempts to calm the chaos with some actual science.
After the announcement, the reaction is always a source of both calamity and calm. The memes make us feel united, but remind us that, quite terrifyingly, no one has a clue what’s going on and even worse, no faith that the government does either. It really doesn’t even matter what has been announced nor how you feel about it, almost everyone is in agreement that it’s yet another government mishandling in one way or another.
After the Christmas announcement, I felt so panicked and couldn't stop crying.
And while we might be getting used to that feeling of sheer hopelessness, it doesn’t change the mental health implications of feeling that way time and time again – particularly, when you are longing for strong, reassuring leadership to get us through this painfully scary time. For me, for example, the stress that comes with announcement anxiety means my usual panic disorder symptoms worsen, my sleep becomes more intermittent and I spend hours reassuring myself that no matter what comes, I’ll find a way to handle it.
I’m not the only one. ‘In the run up to an announcement, I always feel so anxious. There are WhatsApp’s flying around, memes, Twitter is rumbling, it's just awful,’ says Rhiannon, 33. ‘Then during the announcements it's the same, but even more so because we've got a young child so we're often trying to also discuss what the hell this means for us and what we're going to do.
‘Afterwards I always find it really hard,’ she continues. ‘Around the Christmas announcement I really struggled and couldn't stop crying, I felt so panicked and sad and couldn't make a decision, I just kept welling up. The next day I'm always ok, deal with it and don't understand how I got so out of control, but at the time it all just feels such a mess and you inevitably have to wait ages for clear guidelines to actually emerge.’
For Rebecca, 37, the anxiety goes straight to her stomach first. ‘Whenever I read about a government announcement, I get really bad indigestion instantly. I literally end up swigging Gaviscon all night waiting for the dread to clear.’
It seems then, all of us are feeling the stress of announcement anxiety one way or another – even if you don’t notice it at first. It might not be something we can stop necessarily, but it is worth bearing in mind when new announcements loom. Because it was only when my colleagues confirmed they were feeling as drained and overwhelmed as I was, that I realised we were always having these conversations around the same time of the month: announcement day.
So if you’ve felt yourself spiralling in the week of a big government announcement, take stock and take care of yourself. It’s okay to turn off your social media if it all gets too much, to take a step back from the group chat or allocate some time in your life for frivolous distraction. Just because we’ve been in this ‘new normal’ for months now, it doesn’t mean there aren’t silent stress-inducers like announcement anxiety that can impact your wellbeing. By all means stay informed, but more importantly, stay healthy.
Read More:
Six Women On Their Experience Of Anxiety And Depression During Lockdown
Lockdown Limbo: Now It’s Come To It, Are You Actually Excited About Restrictions Being Eased?