“This has been a mental health crisis as well as a physical health crisis” says Ynys Môn MS Rhun ap Iorwerth

Responding to the health committee’s report on the inquiry into Covid-19 and its impact on mental health and well-being, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said that “The pandemic has caused wider damage than simply the direct physical damage caused by COVID-19 itself”

He added “there’s been an impact on people’s access to mental health services, sometimes because of restrictions and additional pressures on the health service and, at other times, people were not sure where to turn during the pandemic—they weren’t comfortable, perhaps, talking to people on these new digital platforms about things that may be causing them anxiety.”

The Plaid Cymru’s Health Shadow Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS also added “We did discuss during this inquiry the fact that we don’t need to overmedicalise things on all occasions, that we need to take account of our natural, emotional responses—bereavement, sadness, anxiety about the current situation, and so on and so forth—and we need to think of other ways of looking at the well-being of people. I’ve been pushing the Government to do everything possible to allow outdoor exercise and to ensure that people can get out in the outdoors. These are soft approaches but equally important.