To think that life just hasn’t been the same ever since covid

I’m just as happy as pre Covid and life is completely back to normal for us. Covid is a distant memory now. We were fortunate not to lose any loved ones, we worked at home throughout so not impacted financially and our kids came out of it fine. I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in friends, we’re all happy and just getting on with life.

I agree customer service is much worse.
I think the biggest impact though is of Brexit and covid and cost of living. Some councils have gone bankrupt, they all have a lot less money to spend in their areas, and it shows. People are poorer. Shops have closed and people are going out less.

There was so much navel gazing as people were in lockdown it changed the world. It’s always been a bit of a cess pit but many people lost the plot with weird ideologies and conspiracy theories, politics polarised further, it was a further nail in the coffin for The High Street. Then there were the lives, lost, long covid and the further rise of MH issues, plus the babies born in covid who are apparently way behind developmentally overall as a group.

Sure life is better or much the same for many. On the whole, though, I think we're collectively traumatised and not dealing with it.

A lot of people were bereaved unexpectedly. The social norms around grieving couldn't be observed. I know this was made even harder by the constant noise of denial that the bloody disease could be fatal; people were even denying that mortality rates had risen.

Most health and care workers lived through a time of incredible stress, non-stop emergencies, risking their own lives and many losing theirs, while being lied to about the support and even the PPE they needed. They were horribly exploited.

Nearly 2 million people in the UK are disabled by Long Covid. The worst-off people are the most heavily affected. They are the same people who suffered the highest mortality rates during the pandemic. They're also the worst affected by the rise in cost of living, pay stagnation and worsening job security.

It's hardly surprising there's an undercurrent of anger and depression.

Customer service is far, far worse than before. Customer behaviour is also worse, in a self-feeding cycle. I believe we have become less sociable, partly due to cost of living but we also trust each other less.

The impacts of Brexit are hitting home now, alongside the last government's absurd mismanagement, so I think this would have been a difficult time anyway. But we are collectively traumatised and, therefore, less resilient than we might have been.

I think this should be acknowledged and, somehow, addressed.

There was less than a week, between Covid restrictions being lifted, and most people heaving a sigh of relief, and the war with Russia starting. I remember it being like some sort of weird stress dream. So we ricocheted from lockdown, to the fuel shortage and COL crisis without a breather in between (not to mention how emotionally upsetting it all was / is). Such a wild (and bad) period, historically.

Personally it's definitely changed for me. I love working from home now but it has totally dented my 'going out' confidence. I've lost my confidence driving, especially in the dark, hardly make the effort to go out now because i dont actually want to.

Super fit gym going me is now frumpy unfit me. I don't need to buy work clothes anymore so my wardrobe has no nice clothes, next time I go to a funeral I will have to buy a new outfit.

Positives though, much more life admin time, no commute, less expenses so more money left at the end of the month, more time for crafting hobbies. Planning to give up my car and just share with DH etc.

I think that's a huge part of it definitely

Also, no one dresses up/wears make up anymore? At least where I live (Surrey).
I haven't used handbag for years, shops are closing everywhere. Sold all my designer clothes as there aren't occasions to wear them, i.e even going out in nice places is dressed down thing?

@LoveItaly I don't want to give up on them but sometimes it's just so hard. I don't want to be there one always asking for the meet ups, usually getting a no, on the rare occasion they agree to meet up, 9 times out of 10 one of them will flake and cancel at the last minute.

@Iheartmysmart "The area I live in used to be clean and tidy and people took pride in it. It’s now dirty and getting run down. The road outside is used as a race track by boy racers at all hours."

I noticed this and went through google maps of various places I'd been/lived and used the function to see photos taken further back in time, and in those areas atleast the tidying of verges and the state of roads looks much worse, everything just looks a bit shit

People on my circles are a bit more insular. We used to visit friends very regularly before COVID and all that stopped for lockdown and never really resumed in the same way.

Hard to separate things though as DD was born at the end of 2019 so some things might just be due to Parenthood.

DH has a severe health issue that was triggered by COVID though, so that's something that will never be the same.

I think I was happier (more relaxed) before experiencing lockdowns ect knowing that could happen again does put me on edge a little for sure x

Not school but going into work is often optional. Many still work from home.

People are treating it as if it was, which is the point. School absences in many places are through the roof.

I see this with my own kids, even though I make them go. But they really believe they should stay home for even a mild cold, and they have learned that actually, the authorities don't really believe that school attendance is that important.

It was in lockdown..and now people are not willing to go back to what was expected before. Just see all the school refusals and people not wanting to go back to the office

I think I feel much as I did before, however, I do think there have been some social changes that aren't that positive. COVID exacerbated or revealed some unfortunate undercurrents in society. I don't think those will resolve easily.

I also know people who are still very affected. I don't really mean health wise - of course there are people like that or ones who died - but that isn't so unusual in itself, it's always been the case that people fall to illnesses, so that isn't new.

But there are still some people who seem never to have recovered from the effects of the lockdowns and other measures. People like my MIL, who still will not go out and became extremely frail at home, a young cousin who was sucked into gender ideology on the internet, or another woman I know who seemed to fully succumb to her alcohol addiction.

Rubbish. Neither going to work or school is optional.

Covid has undermined a lot of social norms. Going to work/school being optional now. That's where its hardest hit. Sure some people won't have felt these effects....yet.

Totally agree, I'm often saying this. Feeling tired, socialising doesn't feel the same, people not so keen to be out. City centre where I live is generally like a ghost town at night in comparison to pre Covid. Also life seems that much more busier, customer service crap

I feel apprehensive/uneasy, like anything could happen, at any time, anywhere. Especially with the rise of right wing ideology. Another pandemic, more wars, even nuclear war, civil war in the US, climate change caused disasters, sometimes it feels as though we are on an unstoppable runaway train and there is no telling where and how we’ll end up.

I thought it was just me! Agree entirely. There's a level of entitlement that is more prevalent.

I haven't notice anything different.

Some positives from the lockdown still exist, as they should, but mainly it's long gone.

More screen time, Ukraine war, cost of living allowance happened since lockdown.

Maybe the going out / meeting people less is the result of everyone being made to stay indoors for such prolonged periods of time?
People got used to doing nothing, and now everything feels like a bit of a chore.
We turned online for entertainment and then got addicted.

It feels to me that pre Covid there was alot of apathy whereas now people seem quicker to rise to perceived injustices. Feels like more people are angry and no longer willing to contain it.