Deputy Chief Medical Officer for mental health, Ruth Vines has stated that pandemic fatigue is contributing to the stress Australians are experiencing during the pandemic. “We have seen significant levels of distress and I’m sure people are now enduring what we call pandemic fatigue and feeling at times increasingly irritable and frustrated,” Vines said on ABC News Breakfast on Jan. 25. She said that the last two years of the pandemic have been very difficult with elevated levels of psychological distress and demand on mental health services. Lifeline, one of Australia’s leading suicide prevention services, recorded the highest volume of daily calls in the organisation’s 58-year history in Aug. 2021 during the peak of the Delta lockdowns. However, she noted that the demand for mental health helplines have decreased compared to 2021 but demands are still higher than it was in 2019, prior to the pandemic. Vines said besides maintaining mask-wearing …