Desperate for News

Interestingly, according to the statistics, there hasn't been any significant rise in the suicide rate throughout the UK's various lockdowns.  Not only does this this run contrary to one of the main anti-lockdown narratives, (that lockdown kills more people than Covid), but it also seems to call into question the whole idea that the restrictions on ordinary life necessitated have resulted in increased mental health problems.  Now, I'm not saying that, for some people, the enforced solitude of lockdown life hasn't led to increased stress and/or depression, but I can't help but feel that this a problem exaggerated by the media.  While some media outlets undoubtedly are pursuing an anti-lockdown agenda, into which the mental health angle neatly plays, allowing them to look as if their objections are actually based upon concern for individuals, rather tan the profits of their corporate buddies, for others it is simply a case of filling column inches.  Because that's an actual, observable, side-effect of lockdowns - a reduction in reportable events.  With everybody engaging in less activity and fewer interactions, there is simply less for the news outlets to fill their airtime and pages with, particularly in the area of those human interest-type stories.  So, instead, they seize upon anything that looks vaguely newsworthy and that might be the basis for some sort of long-running story.

Indeed, over the past couple of weeks I've been left suspecting that those stories about sea shanties becoming a 'thing' on social media fall into this category of Covid-induced desperation reporting.  My first reaction to such claims were 'oh no they aren't', with my second being that 'I bet the media are going to try to give this legs'.  Which they have, continually running their dubious stories about this supposed new musical trend, slowly convincing people that perhaps it actually is happening.  Of course, they  are helped in this by the fact that another consequence of a prolonged lockdown is that many people are desperately seeking new experiences and novelty wherever they can find it- even in a made up online sea shanty trend.  Or maybe I'm just being too cynical.  Anyway, I'm thankfully far from being so desperate for new forms of stimulation to start listening to sea shanties.  As I've noted before, I enjoy these lockdowns.  They are ideally suited to anti-social types like me, who like being on our own and have always been happy to make our own entertainment.  Far from stressing me out, I've found it all very relaxing.  The only time I've felt stressed during this crisis was when, last Summer, I was forced back into the office, despite my employers having no actual work for me to do - believe me, sitting in an office with nothing to do for eight hours is stressful and depressing.  My unilateral action to take a 'career break' has been a Godsend and taken me back to paradise!