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Pandemic wearing on mental health

The Brandon Sun - 4/29/2021

Shyanne Wipp’s mental health has suffered during the pandemic.

She lost her job and is unable to travel to Ontario to see her grandmother or travel to Norway House to visit her aunts, uncles and cousins.

“I really miss the winter and summer fairs. I miss the rodeos and going to church in Winkler, “ she told The Sun in a telephone interview.

“I’m on a scale of all right to depressed,” she said.

“There are some days I feel like there’s no hope of the virus being defeated. Every day I feel so sad and depressed ever since the pandemic. It has really affected me. What’s even harder is, I am 34 and single.”

Wipp answered a Facebook question The Sun posted online asking readers to describe their encounter with grief during the pandemic.

Wipp is just one of many who has been affected by the emotional fallout of the pandemic.

She has lived in Brandon for her entire life and identifies as half Cree and holds a status card.

When the pandemic struck, she lost her job as a housekeeper at a hotel in town for which she was working close to full-time hours.

She has just started back to work as a casual employee a couple of weeks ago. In the meantime, she was also able to pick up a few shifts at a local food delivery service and delivering flyers to make ends meet.

The $200 dip in her monthly income has stressed her out.

“I wasn’t sure how my finances would turn out,” she said. “I was stressed out. ... Being alone has affected me a lot. In a way, I’m feeling down. I have no kids, I have nobody. That’s really hard.”

Marion Cooper is the executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association for Winnipeg and Manitoba. She said in an interview with CTV on March 12 that due to the prolonged nature of the pandemic, “we saw early on, an impact on mental health.”

“As things have continued, we see that impacting people’s psychological, emotional and social well-being.”

At first, Wipp wasn’t convinced the COVID-19 virus was cause for concern.

As she educated herself, she realized the urgency in staying safe.

“It’s really upsetting over the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. I almost got into a fistfight with some of them.”

She also recalled a church she visited during the early stages of the pandemic. She said the pastor told parishioners the vaccine was the mark of the beast and contained a microchip.

“I was being driven by fear,” she said.

A friend tried to convince her of the same thing.

“I can’t talk to those people anymore.”

She stopped going to that church and separated herself from people who were conspiracy theorists, she said.

Wipp’s anxiety almost overtook her and she found herself in the hospital with panic attacks.

“The COVID numbers keep climbing up. When is the virus gonna end and when are we going to get back to normal?” she asked.

She reached out to the Brandon Friendship Centre for help and received counselling to control her anger.

Today, she said she’s doing better.

She has learned to control her anger and distance herself from the people who trigger her. The stress isn’t worth it, she said. Combined with taking a proactive role and educating herself on the pandemic, she said it’s helping calm the fear.

“What gets me down the most is when people don’t want to wear a mask and think it’s a conspiracy theory,” she said.

“I’m not freaking out anymore now that I’ve gotten all the facts from the government website, the Sun and talking to people.”

She said she feels sorry for those people not listening.

“I feel like the reason why the restrictions are getting stricter is because they could spread it (the virus) a bit more. ... I tell myself not to get too caught up in people’s lies and beliefs. The vaccine is here. I see no problem with it.”

Once she receives her COVID-19 vaccine, Wipp hopes she’ll be able to visit her 90-year-old grandmother in Cambridge, Ont., or see her extended family at Norway House.

“I sure miss the rodeos and the fairs. Last year, I couldn’t accept it. This year I can. Because we are trying our best to get those numbers down so we can be together again.”

» kkielley@brandonsun.com