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

Paulina Ramphos was having an especially difficult day. The trucks may be gone from Ottawa, the noises subsided, and the fumes dissipated, but the anxiety and fear built up from the three weeks of protests persists.

“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.”

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. Read the full story here.