We have all been reading about businesses winding up as a result of the corona restrictions, but that isn’t the only form of bankruptcy doing the rounds.

I have read two stories today in the Dutch press about the increased anxiety and depression among young people as a result of the same restrictions.

It isn’t that I particularly dispute the conclusions drawn, but I seriously question the circumstances. It is all too easy to blame the corona measures for reducing social contact with others, both at school and at parties and the like. Of course this is a serious situation – but not in itself one which we cannot get through if we approach it positively.

I would normally have gone to a birthday today. An old friend of mine turned 73 today and it is always open-house on their birthdays. I decided against it and sent flowers by Interflora instead. It saved me a phone call too! He called me when they were delivered and so we had a chat then instead of in their living room this afternoon. We simply made the best of a bad job.

Both the articles I read did refer to one crucial point: the situation at home is a key point. When parents create a happy home and teach their children vital truths like being patient and how to cope with setbacks, then the children will mostly respond in a positive way.

Not only did I grow up in a reasonably harmonious family, but I was introduced to religion too. Having some kind of religious belief, a faith which focusses on something outside of yourself and brings meaning to living in a society where we have to make room for others, also helps to cushion the effect of adversities.

I would be the last one to rationalise all mental health issues, but some of them can be exaggerated and exacerbated by the lack of a positive atmosphere in the home. That is the bankruptcy I am thinking of here.

I remember when the high school system was changed in the UK many years back. A test at age 11 determined if you could go to a grammar school (top 10%) or not. One of the arguments against that test was that children couldn’t cope with the disappointment of failing it. Grammar schools were slowly abolished; the more correct explanation of the test trying to match the right school with the right child was ignored.

We live in a land of plenty, the majority of us in reasonable comfort. Unfortunately that luxury brings with it a self-centredness which prevents some people from looking outward towards others. I was taught this by my parents, but I have the feeling fewer and fewer families manage to instil these values in the next generation.

Christmas is on the horizon, and it will be very different to past Christmases! No large family gatherings at the dinner table this year. No travelling long distances just to visit for the holidays. Instead of focussing on what we cannot do, or suddenly don’t have because of the impinging corona measures, ‘count your blessings’ instead. Church prayers in many denominational traditions put thanksgiving ahead of supplication in the liturgy, and for good reason.

I am reminded of a next door neighbour I had back in 1979. She must have been in her 80s and couldn’t walk without a stick. It didn’t help that her kitchen at the back had a step down from the dining room. Her daughter, as I recall, did not live close by and only visited from time to time. When Christmas was approaching, I wanted to invite her to our Christmas dinner, but she was a little intimidated even by the short trip between two houses, with several steps to negotiate as well.

In the end I came up with a solution. I cooked enough for her also and took each course into her on a tray as we got to it. She was delighted! She had her Christmas dinner, which she couldn’t have made for herself, but in the comfort of her own home. Even her daughter commented on it later.

A positive outlook on life does help to combat the feeling of being hard done by, and helps to build our defences against anxiety and depression. It may not ‘cure’ everybody, but it could stop corona and the resultant measures being used as a whipping-boy for everything which is seemingly being denied us at the present.