BBC article that I regret reading

[PurpleRainGirl]

I just read this article on the BBC website (if you are feeling anxious please DO NOT read further):

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51963486

and I am absolutely panicked, sobbing my heart out for the first time since this thing has started.

I tried my best to keep calm and carry on and to cheer up everyone around me in RL.

But I feel so, so scared and upset now.

No one knows what's going to happen, where we're going with this. Are we going to see horror scenes on our streets? Are we going to just let go at some point and let people die? The kind of measures that have been introduced are not sustainable long term. According to the article, there are only three ways out of this, two are a long way away and one is not a long term option. Is this the end of life as we know it? The actual apocalypse?

I'm so depressed having read this article and I don't think I can comprehend that it's come to this. It's finally got to me.

Don't expect anything, I know no one has any answers. Just needed to write this down.

[LadyTiredWinterBottom2]

That article should not be up on the website. Disgraceful.

Just take it one day at a time for now. That's all we can do.

[PurpleRainGirl]

Thank you 💐 I thought it was so awful but it was on the main page and I clicked on it in hope of some good news.

I feel absolutely knocked down now.

[pocketem]

Honestly, I don't know why people read articles and then complain that it's upset them or that it shouldn't be on the website

Your choice to read it. If you want to bury your head in the sand, don't read an article with "coronavirus" right in the headline.

[Gibbonsgibbonsgibbons]

There is another option - effective treatment & that’s being worked on as we type.

Hold tight

[MitziK]

It's realistic. It's not sensationalist, it's not emotive pictures of old people or doctors crying. It's just factual.

It's not going to all be over in a couple of weeks.

And by putting something truthful up, perhaps some of the morons who are currently cluttering up the A303, will stop thinking it doesn't apply to them.

[defthand]

There’s nothing wrong with that article, it’s entirely factual and consistent with the science.

We may never get our old normal back.

[PurpleRainGirl]

I understand it is realistic.

I also understand I chose to read it, although in my naive belief that it may contain some good news. This is why I regret reading it now.

It's just very, very hard to take in.

Gibbons - thank you, your words are very calming and reassuring, you are right. 💐

[LadyTiredWinterBottom2]

A vaccine is being worked on as we type. There will be an end to it and life might not be exactly the same, but it will have a semblance of normality.

It's fine to feel worried about things, we are all glued to our phones for updates and some of them are better worded than others.

[RosesandIris]

Just facts.

[blueshoes]

What is wrong with that article. I have read far worse (facts). The math behind this is terrifying.

[AbsentmindedWoman]

That article isn't saying anything new. It's also not whipping up panic. I don't mean to be blunt but what magic solution did you expect that could make this all be over very quickly?

Hope is far from lost though. Our best shot is drugs currently available.

[LadyTiredWinterBottom2]

Maybe because people have been clinging on to the thought this will all be over in a couple of months? You are all very matter of fact. Marvellous. Not everyone thinks like that.

[BeetrootRocks]

A man on the BBC the other day said 6-12 months and I thought shit.

2 years of this is unimaginable tbh. The charges to, well, everything, of so many people out of work, children but being allowed out or to school... The transport systems would degrade in that time. Buildings would start to get run down and derelict etc etc. It's too much to get your head round really.

[PurpleRainGirl]

I didn't expect a magic solution and I'm not criticising the merits of this article, but it's still a scary realisation to see right in front of me in black and white that this is my future, and that of my family and all of us. It is scary to see the potential timeframes and consequences so clearly.

Maybe I'm oversensitive looking at most of the responses, everyone seems to be a lot better prepared and less scared for the future than me.

[BeetrootRocks]

OP all you can do is take it 1 day at a time.

I'm sorry.

[merryhouse]

Lots of things have been the end of the world as we know it (1385 Black Death, various wars, powered flight, atomic weapons, glasnost & perestroika, WTC...).

You have always been at risk of dying, quite possibly very painfully.

This is just one more thing in the huge list of things we need to work on. It seems overwhelming right now because it's come upon you very suddenly and you're not used to it.

Yes, it's horrible. Yes, lots of people will die and other people will tip over into poverty. Quite possibly me, or you, or someone we love. Almost certainly someone we've spoken to.

All that, fucking annoying as it is, is part of life. We get on with it because, well, what else can we do?

In the meantime: compartmentalise. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof: cross that bridge when you come to it. There are still kittens and mountains and rainbows and coffee, just like there were in 1665 or 1918 or 2001, and just like there were this time last year when people were fleeing civil war or being drowned in the Mediterranean or kidnapped by religious zealots or driving into tourists or beating up their partners or losing their jobs or getting cancer or any of the other shitty things that we do or have happen to us.

You can't change the whole world. But you can change your little bit of it, and you can be a part of attempts by everyone to change bigger things.

[YeahYou]

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that article. It’s entirely factual and presents the options reasonably and with balance.

[PurpleRainGirl]

Thank you @BeetrootRocks 💐 I agree with your pp too.

I'm sorry too. It's far bigger than my little head can understand.

[Wingedharpy]

I think that's a factual, measured article too.
There is no "good news " just now op, other than the small pockets of kindness by neighbours and communities being reported.
This is serious.
Assuming you are in the UK, we do have a small "advantage" in that we are a few weeks behind other countries with this, and we can learn from their experience of dealing with this - or we could have, if our leaders had paid attention a bit sooner.
But, we are where we are and most of us, hopefully, will come out the other side.
I don't think life will ever be quite the same again, sadly.
And all because someone, somewhere wanted pangolin and chips for his supper, with a side order of sauteed bat leg.
Madness.

[MrsNettle]

I've been asking the same questions since various measures were being introduced. What is the long term strategy? China had (reportedly) no new cases for a few days last week but in the last couple of days there were around 100 per day (WHO website experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd )

Even if we manage to bring the number of new cases to 0, someone will still have CV but might be asymptomatic. Then what? We go through all of this all over again.
The BBC article is very much needed. Lockdown is a great short term measure to help the NHS but it cant last forever. What's next?

[user1353245678533567]

I can't tell which article that is from the link and won't be clicking on it to find out, but I read the one on reasons to be hopeful and just felt even more depressed and desperate.

Everybody is different, has had different life experiences, and is living different lives so we all feel and respond differently. That doesn't necessarily make you "oversensitive" for being distressed. There are lots of scared people on here, you're not alone in that (even if it perhaps feels like it from some of the responses on this thread).

[user1353245678533567]

Lots of things have been the end of the world as we know it (1385 Black Death

How old are you?!

[Legoandloldolls]

Agree it's not saying anything new really. As long as we can keep infection below nhs capacity ( doubtful right now but that wont always be theccase) then there is hope.

Remember not everyone needs hospital treatment. But those who do are in for a long time. We need to think of those people.

It's not a apocalypse. Not at all. But it's bad and we need a degree of fear.

Fight or flight is a basic response to survive so feel the fear and and listen to it. Once you have felt the fear then obey it and park it.

Dont leave your house unless you have to but dont follow the news 24/7 as you are already armed with your facts. Drip feed yourself. Good mental health is key

Plus you are not alone here. Every single person in the world is scared right now. I feel that comforts me. We all get how you feel. Everyone

[fromlittleacorns]

Isn't there also the possibility of a successful or partially successful treatment - which scientists are working on now I thought? - or the serological test which will show who has had it and therefore has immunity (if it confers immunity, that is)?

It's also not clear to me why track and trace didn't work here as initially it was done - maybe the South Korean example can help here?

[Kingcole]

I cannot understand why borders weren't closed down with the Wuhan outbreak and when cases spread. Quarantine measures should have been put in place immediately. I was shouting this from my armchair in Janauary when everyone was saying shut up it's just the flu!