The pandemic has been tough on everyone. From work worries to money troubles, we’ve all had to face new challenges – and that can really take a toll on your mental wellbeing. Here, Zeb shares his experience of becoming unemployed and homeless during the pandemic, and shares his tips for moving forward when things really feel too much.
I’m a pretty resilient person. I’ve been through a lot in my life, and have learned to cope and manage on my own. But faced with a global pandemic and becoming homeless, my resilience was really pushed to the limits, and I realised how important it is to ask for help from the people around you.
Back at the start of the pandemic, I was living in Kent. I’d moved there after a marriage breakdown as a chance to reset and come to terms with abuse I went through as a child – stuff I hadn’t really dealt with before that was really impacting my mental wellbeing.
And things were going alright. I was self employed and felt like I was getting myself back together. But as the pandemic struck, the business and life I had built were hit hard. I began working all of the time to try to figure things out. On top of that, I have an underlying health condition, so I was suddenly vulnerable overnight, unable to visit my children in London. It was really tough.