Lib Dem scientists publish briefing on Covid-19 and mental health

Three prominent psychologists have written a briefing on public mental health and Covid-19 for the Association of Liberal Democrat Engineers and Scientists.

Paul Gilbert, Felicia Huppert and Kate Brierton advocate a compassion-based approach to aid people's recovery and resilience.

They say people in the public eye should avoid suggesting that everyone ‘ought’ to be damaged or traumatised by their experiences. Instead they should point to people’s courage and acknowledge the opportunities for transformation and growth.

The psychologists emphasise that even when people experience unusual symptoms, such as flashbacks or sleep difficulties, these may not represent a mental disorder but be normal responses to an abnormal, high-stress situation.

They say:

By focusing on people’s natural caring and soothing emotions, and developing a compassionate self to intermediate between perceived threats and responses, compassion focused approaches to public mental health show significant promise as interventions to tackle mental health disorders and enhance mental health and wellbeing during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Felicia Huppert is the mother of Julian Huppert, the former Lib Dem MP for Cambridge.