Luke Grant is joined by Pete Shmigel, former senior state & federal political advisor and CEO of Lifeline Australia, to discuss the growing mental health impacts of COVID-19 policies & the need for smarter approaches.

 

“Yes, lockdowns are an unfortunate inevitability in the absence of other strategies. I hope they contain numbers. But, the picture that’s emerging from the experiment is that, the less discriminating a lockdown, the bigger its ancillary impacts appear to be”, says Mr Shmigel.

 

“In Sydney’s sixth week of harder lockdown, we saw Lifeline record its highest number of calls on a single day with 3345 on Monday. The figure had been climbing throughout July during which Sydney was locked down.” 

 

“During my own time as Lifeline’s CEO, I watched our national call numbers on a daily basis and never saw them climb over 2500 or so. So, the “growth” (for lack of a more empathetic term) is profound and profoundly frightening.”

Luke Grant is joined by Pete Shmigel, former senior state &amp; federal political advisor and CEO of Lifeline Australia, to discuss the growing mental health impacts of COVID-19 policies &amp; the need for smarter approaches.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Yes, lockdowns are an unfortunate inevitability in the absence of other strategies. I hope they contain numbers. But, the picture that&rsquo;s emerging from the experiment is that, the less discriminating a lockdown, the bigger its ancillary impacts appear to be&rdquo;, says Mr Shmigel.
&nbsp;
&ldquo;In Sydney&rsquo;s sixth week of harder lockdown, we&nbsp;saw Lifeline record its highest number of calls on a single day with 3345&nbsp;on Monday.&nbsp;The figure had been climbing throughout July&nbsp;during which Sydney was locked down.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&ldquo;During my&nbsp;own&nbsp;time as Lifeline&rsquo;s CEO, I watched our&nbsp;national call&nbsp;numbers on a daily basis and never saw them climb over 2500 or so. So, the &ldquo;growth&rdquo; (for lack of a&nbsp;more empathetic term) is profound and profoundly frightening.&rdquo;

Australia Overnight with Mike Jeffreys, 12am – 4am weekdays.

Wake Up Australia, 4am - 9:30am weekdays.

Australia Overnight with Mike Jeffreys, 12am – 4am weekdays.
Wake Up Australia, 4am - 9:30am weekdays.

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