Longview Times

The Texas economy has been battered as a result of the COVID-19 shutdowns but the financial impact is only one component. Pain, suffering and mental health impacts are another tragic consequence.

One small business owner, Tee Allen, told her story to the Texas Scorecard, and said thousands of small business owners’ lives and livelihoods have been decimated by Gov. Greg Abbott’s shutdown orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Allen, who opened the Machine Shed Bar and Grill in Kilgore in early March, also owns the Roughneck Café in White Oak. She had to close for the initial 15 days, but then those days led into weeks and months.

The financial devastation has been crushing, but Allen told Texas Scorecard the personal toll is equally devastating.

“It’s happening to everybody,” Allen told Texas Scorecard, referring to the pain, depression and even suicidal thoughts. She and countless others are suffering, many times without any support.

"Nobody will talk about the deep dark. You keep that in the closet. People are dying because they won’t talk," Allen said. 

Her past of growing up in foster care, being jailed, collecting welfare for years when raising her own children and her sister's children as she died from cancer were detailed in the story. She was able to become successful despite her past challenges and now, it "all being taken away and watching your savings account deplete" has caused her to become depressed.

"It made me very depressed, very sad. I felt helpless, and I don’t like to feel helpless," Allen told Texas Scorecard. "I don’t like to feel out of control. And I stopped sleeping, and then I would sleep for two days, and then I wouldn’t sleep at all. My brain would race all night long, and I would feel manic." 

She turned to alcohol after struggling with sobriety and also attempted suicide.

With no treatment programs available at the moment and no health insurance, Allen has to choose between seeing a doctor or paying her employees and bills.

Bars in Texas and other businesses that get 51% of their revenue from alcohol have been completely shuttered since the end of June by Abbott's executive order.

Aside from the mental toll it is taking on businesses, the financial impact is devastating. The Texas Business Daily, quoting a report by the Texas Recovery Alliance, indicated that the shutdowns have wrecked the state's economy, and some businesses have closed permanently. The state may suffer long-term economic damage as a result of the continued shutdowns.