In the world right now, something crazy is happening - the whole world is shutting down and, for kids of our generation, it is something never experienced before. Some children will be nervous, anxious, worried and scared, but it isn’t just kids that feel this way. Adults do too.

Some children met up on zoom with a psychologist. The phycologist asked them to describe how they were feeling in one word. One of them said 'responsibility', and I think that is the problem. Too many people are feeling a sense of responsibility in this situation. We have to remember that it’s happening globally. The whole world is going through the same thing, so don’t take on the responsibility of having to fear what’s going to happen in the future. No one can control that.

80% of people calling mental health charities are worried about the coronavirus. When people isolate, it can bring back memories of when that person was once traumatised, depressed or had anxiety, and it can be a real struggle for people currently dealing with mental health problems. Those memories can come true again but, in the end, we are all responding to the same feelings, even though some are feeling it worse than others. Some people take their fear and use it as anger, by blaming people and being racist. I think they only do this because they won’t accept that they are scared, but when they are ready, no matter how hard it is, those people can always choose to use their fear for good. YOU can make that choice.

A lot of people that live alone will feel even more lonely and sad, because they don’t have the outside world to cheer them up anymore. There is a lot of anxiety and we have all heard about people being torn apart by this: whether it is fighting over toilet paper, or having a mental breakdown. Everyone is confused, because no one knows what is going to happen next. A lot of people have the stress of losing their jobs or knowing a relative or close friend that has the coronavirus. A lot of elderly people have the fear of getting sick and not being able to get treated. Some countries are doing that now. Some teenagers are driven crazy by having to be on zoom for 6-8 hours per day. Being on a screen for that long is very tiring and stressful. However, for some people, there is also a positive side to being on lockdown. People who don’t like crowds or loud areas, might actually like being by themselves. Maybe for them it is much more relaxing not to have to witness people fighting over the last can of beans…

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A good way to cope with these feelings is to talk to friends, family, carers, whoever will listen. It doesn't matter who you talk to, as long as you can get out the fear inside, or just be cheered up!

Just because this is happening right now, doesn’t mean it will be like this forever. We are all in this together…