Former Miss Ireland Holly Carpenter believes the Irish Government is not doing enough to support the public to keep going with the current COVID-19 restrictions.
The model believes the current third lockdown is the worst one yet, and that lockdown fatigue has set in.
It comes as details of a re-opening strategy are set to be announced by the Taoiseach on Tuesday following a NPHET meeting tomorrow.
Minimal changes to level five measures are expected in April, such as resuming home-building, restarting outdoor sports for children and widening the 5km limit.
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show this week, Holly said "everyone is exhausted right now".
"I think it was Ciara Kelly that was saying that the messaging from NPHET and the Government isn't designed to support or encourage people to keep going right now," she said.
"That's what I think the biggest problem is, that we're not getting enough encouragement and people have lost that 'we're in this together feeling and 'we're nearly there', I think people are just feeling like it's going on and on and there's no end in sight."
Holly believes the fact that Irish society is still in the same position 12 months on and that countries like the UK and Australia seem to have more "guidance and clarity" is "leaving people in the lurch".
She has struggled with depression and anxiety for the past few years, and this worsened at the start of lockdown when she was living alone and her parents were outside her 5km.
"Like everyone, I was worried every day, worried about my family, worried about my friends, I was getting constant messages from young girls on Instagram saying they were suffering and they wanted to know from me how I was staying so positive," she said.
"They always saw on my Instagram stories I was out for walks, I was cooking healthy meals, I was trying to do home workouts but behind all that, I was really struggling.
Holly felt it would help if she spoke out about what she was going through, such as being back on medication for a while and not feeling great.
"It kind of helped me stop comparing myself to other people online because I realised you can put whatever you want on your Instagram, you could be in bed crying but you could post a picture of the beach on your story and say it's a gorgeous day," she explained.
"It's all smoke and mirrors and you never really know."
Last April, Holly adopted a rescue dog called Max who improved everything for her, she said.
The sense of responsibility and companionship has helped her get out of the house every day and boosted her mood.
She added that she is sick of "toxic positivity" during lockdown, which she cites as people posting messages online saying 'we've got this', 'keep going' and 'we're all in the same boat'.
"I don't think we're all in the same boat, I think everyone is in a completely different boat at the moment given what their occupation is, whether they have kids, where they're living, if they have a high-risk family member, or anything like that," she stated.
"I also think it can come across as quite entitled for someone in a privileged position to be going, 'Why don't you just wake up every morning and do a 10km run, make this smoothie, write down your affirmations'.
"I prefer a little bit of realism and I prefer to say people saying this is crap and it's OK to admit that you're not happy right now.
"I don't think it's good to be consistently negative but to be honest and recognise this is really tough and it's OK if you're angry, it's OK if you're frustrated and fed up because so am I."
Holly added that with regard to the current restrictions, she doesn't know anyone that has 100% stayed within their bubble or their 5km limit.
She then conducted a poll on her Instagram account to see whether others like her were also feeling fatigued with the restrictions.
"I think people have that lockdown fatigue where they feel like at this stage what's the point," she said.
"It is harder at this point to stick to things but I didn't want to put words into people's mouths and I wanted to see from my Instagram followers, and the majority of them are aged between 25 and 34."
She asked her almost 100,000 followers whether they were feeling lockdown fatigue and 95% of people said yes.
"It's just that catch 22, I feel for me to go for a sea swim that might be 6km or 7km away but I'm going on my own in my car and it's making me feel ten times better, then I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong," Holly added.
"So I think there are a few cases like that when you have to slightly bend your rules for your mental health.
"That's not to say have house parties or anything like that but I think at this stage people are just doing what they need to to get through ."
