Video transcript

Dr Matthew Cullen, Psychiatrist, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney

How can we stay positive and get through all this?

Australia has had a tough year. Certainly on the East Coast of Australia we’ve had drought, bushfires, and now of course, globally, nationally, we have COVID-19.

How do we stay positive? How do we get through all of this? I’m sure every one of us has moments where they think, what next? Well, the good news is that I’m sure that we will come through this. If you look at the bushfires, they are no longer burning on the East Coast of Australia.

If you look at our rural coastal areas on the East Coast, as a general rule they’ve had a lot of rain. The drought has mostly broken. So those things that have been around for years has actually come to pass. And indeed, I’ve spoken to farmers that I know who are now having an amazing period where from an agriculture perspective things are good, and in fact better than they’ve been for many years.

So if we come more locally to COVID-19, this will come to an end. It will finish. And yes, it will have been a very stressful time for us all. But I have no doubt when COVID-19 ends or gradually comes to an end there’ll be a sense of relief and positivity and that life will progressively get back to normal.