Honking, fumes and anger: Mental toll from trucker protest lingers for Ottawa residents

CTVNews.ca spoke with more than half a dozen Ottawa residents who live at the centre of where the trucker protests took place, and they shared very similar experiences on the lingering mental-health effects from the Freedom Convoy’s occupation of their streets and neighbourhood.

“Even though there's nothing going on, it’s kind of like a constant state of panic,” Ramphos told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. She has had generalized anxiety and depression for years and has had plenty of experience with coping mechanisms, but this, she said, was “like a whole new ballgame.”

It is waking up in the middle of the night in a panic, zoning out at the sound of sirens and honking, rage at the sight of a truck with a flag, and fear that it will happen again. And she is far from alone.

CTVNews.ca spoke with more than half a dozen residents who live at the centre of where the protests took place and shared very similar experiences on the lingering mental health effects from the Freedom Convoy’s occupation of their streets and neighbourhood.

Many are longtime residents used to seeing protests in a busy part of the nation’s capital. They expressed their support for the right to peaceful demonstration, but said there was nothing peaceful about seeing the symbols of hate, the constant deafening noise of horns, or being yelled or lunged at just for walking down the street wearing a face mask, and they expressed frustration at those dismissive of their experience and the after-effects.