Ian Harrison says he is quietly being driven crazy in his small hostel room in west London.

The 30-year-old’s life was chaotic before the coronavirus lockdown.

For most of the last 10 years, he has lived either in hostels or on the streets.

He has been sectioned several times, diagnosed as bipolar and spent last Christmas in hospital after taking an overdose.

“Living in lockdown in a hostel in a room, it’s not helping because you’ve got time to think,” he says.

“And you’re thinking a thousand things at the same time and it drives you crazy – it literally drives you crazy.”

There are 19 people living in Ian’s hostel, which has had to close off the main TV room to avoid social contact between the residents, leaving them more trapped in their box-like rooms.

Although Ian points out everyone still uses the same bathroom and kitchen.

He says he doesn’t like watching TV, but he’d like one now, “just for company”.

“Life is pretty much being in a room – a square room – for 24 hours a day,” he says.

“It just affects your mental health. I know everyone is struggling, but I used to go to the gym twice a day to help my mental health and be in a routine, and now that can’t happen.”

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