Does anyone NOT feel like it's the end of times and everything is going to be shit forever right now?

[norunningwithscizzuhz]

I mean according to MN I might as well drive off a bridge right now because a) i live in a London flat so no one will ever want to buy it and I will be in negative equity this time next year b) I work in the arts so I'll never be able to work again and I should retrain as a plumber instead c) there will never be a covid 19 vaccine and even if there is one it won't work properly d) brexit means that everything will basically be shit in the UK forever

Don't get me wrong, everything is pretty rubbish right now but could we maybe dispense with the relentless doom and gloom? Otherwise what's to live for, seriously?

[GoldenOmber]

@PercyKirke

FFS don't read the Guardian OP!

The Guardian is full-on The End Is Nigh at the moment. This morning, a fairly sensible opinion article on vaccinationstartegies , saying that to have real effects on transmission a vaccination programme would need to target the whole population not just high-risk groups, and it would be worrying if the govt strategy was just to target the flu vaccine groups.

So do the Guardian go with a headline saying "we need a real mass vaccination programme for all of us"? Nope, they go with "If you're pinning your hopes on a Covid vaccine, here's a dose of realism." I mean FFS.

[Harleyflynn]

The guardian is just appalling right now, I agree

[Harleyflynn]

I’m not sure coming on here and saying “I feel crap” to then be told “it’s going to get worse” is actually helpful to anyone.

yy to this. An OP will come in and say "I'm feeling really down about this whole virus situation" and then people will be queuing up to say "well wait until no deal brexit happens, you'll look on this as a golden time"

How is that fucking helpful or kind? What purpose does it serve?

[MarshaBradyo]

@Harleyflynn

The guardian is just appalling right now, I agree

Yep it is dire best avoided

[MarshaBradyo]

Many search around for the most negative information then post that

It can get too much and agree that people start going on if you don’t post doom and goon

[MarshaBradyo]

Gloom pfft

[VettiyaIruken]

These are crappy times and it's going to be bloody hellish recovering economically but it will be nothing but a history lesson in the end, like everything else.

Historically, people have gone through far far worse and the world didn't end.

No comfort for those suffering now though, (or then!) but it is what it is and we just have to do our best.

[Aposterhasnoname]

@LaurieFairyCake

There's always climate death to look forward to...

Our children likely won't live to old age

Bet you’re a riot at parties.

[BogRollBOGOF]

Something to bear in mind is that people struggling may not have their usual coping mechanisms in place. Many people find comfort in company or some kind of event to anticipate and a lot of that is stripped away and it's very easy to feel adrift with that. The number of people feeling happy and balanced with the situation is low, many people are struggling with opposing sides of the same problem e.g. over-worked or under-structured, lonely or never getting time alone and again, that makes support harder to find from.

Sometimes, especially if things are just chronically pants (rather than the big life shit) you just want that acknowledging and neither extreme of the end of days or beng told that it's ok if you bake banana bread/ paint rainbows/ go walking in sludgy leaves.

I'm also finding that I'm very much at the mercy of my hormones at present because there is less dstraction from them and no space on my own to work through them. Yesterday I was so angry and irritable. Today I'm more on my normal level with a bit more balance.

Escapism is much harder to find... even Harry Potter feels less like fantasy fiction and more of a satirical contemporary social commentary. Especially educational decree number 24

[norunningwithscizzuhz]

To be clear, because I think some people have kind of misunderstood this thread.

I have got no issue whatsoever with people struggling. I completely understand why. It's a shit time. I would never tell them to stop whinging because others have it worse.

What I am objecting to, specifically, is in response to posters who say they are struggling, other posters feel the need to jump on and say nothing comforting whatsoever but simply spout out gems such as "well wait til brexit/climate change/the next pandemic".

That's what I have a problem with.

[CeibaTree]

I can understand why people are feeling hopeless and like it's the end of the world. I am very aware that I am one of the lucky ones with a secure job (and my DH's job is as well), a comfortable home in which to lockdown in and no current health concerns (and on a more unlucky note but what is a somewhat comfort is that I don't have elderly parents to worry about anymore). But I am very mindful that millions of people up and down the country do not have the same security or peace of mind that I do, so I can imagine how these people are looking at the future with feelings of dread.

[peachgreen]

Me. There will be a vaccine and things will get back to a new sort of normal - Covid will be with us for a long time but it won't have the same devestating impact as less people will get it and treatments will improve. Things will change (more home working, busier town and village centres, quieter cities) and it will have a negative impact in some areas but a positive one in others. I am worried about the arts, I have to say, but hopeful they'll bounce back as they have done for time immemorial. DH has recently been diagnosed with a serious and chronic heart condition and it has definitely helped me find the joy in the small things which has helped.

[sHREDDIES19]

I’m a naturally positive person and my circumstances have meant that I’ve not really been impacted (relatively). For example, I have a ‘safe’ job, two youngish kids who aren’t in vital school years and aren’t yet old enough to want to go out with friends. Them and my DP meant we made lovely memories over the spring and summer months and the beautiful weather was a blessing. Having said that, just because I’m fine and mentally resilient, I don’t doubt that for many this situation is intolerable for many so a vaccine cannot come quick enough.

[norunningwithscizzuhz]

I don’t doubt that for many this situation is intolerable for many so a vaccine cannot come quick enough.

I've never said otherwise.

[Pollynextdoor]

I think there is a difference between people who have genuinely been impacted ie job loss, health and people who are ranting because they have to put on a mask to shop in New Look (just an example). As someone who has been impacted by Covid to some extent and had a crap year, but still try to remain positive and have perspectives, it really irritates me when people blow quite insignificant things out of all proportion and claim their mental health is impacted. Feeling bored, a bit sad or frustrated, even lonely, is not the same as suffering bad mental health.

[BooseysMom]

I'm an introvert so suited for this current world.

I'm not a pessimist but I'm also not an optimist. I'm a realist so feel OK working a bad situation until reality becomes better. Just chug through the days and try to be grateful. It may be a good future, it may be a shit future. What can you do?

IceniWarrior.. I'm with you.

[SunshineCake]

@Oliversmumsarmy

Apparently an astrologer who predicted a virus has also predicted that the UK will be no more in a year. That makes me sadder than other things at the moment

Was their name Nicola by any chance😀

No.

I don't get why Scotland wants independence from us, apart from the obvious reason, but wanted to stay in the EU.

[everythingisginandroses]

Lots of people in Scotland don't want independence, it is a very divisive issue. It would make me sad personally, but as a Scot living in England it's none of my business any more. On the positive side, if it looks like a goer, we could always move back up, be part of the experiment.

[PhilCornwall1]

To be fair OP, it's always been shit.

[Greektome]

The Westminster government has far more power over Scotland than the EU ever had. And the EU is far more benign.

[ReallySpicyCurry]

Me. I've found elements of this hard, it's bloody shit, it really is, but nothing is ever the end of the world, and frankly I don't know when it became ok to actively seek more misery to wallow in. So many seem to be finding the absolute worst slant on everything. Call me old fashioned, but there does come a point where one has to gird one's loins, crack on, and hope for the best.

[goisey]

I'm fine about it all to a certain extent.
Perfectly happy day to day.

However;

I worry for a member of my family who has anxiety issues and that they will get through this ok.
I'm worried I have everything I've worked for taxed/taken away from me to pay for businesses to be propped up, & people to be furloughed for years, when actually I don't want to.
I'm more concerned that Brexit will the death nail in the economic future of the UK.
I haven't got a pension and will need a state pension, so I'm fucked then.

[7Days]

I was watching this utter piece of tack tonight, some comedians looking back over the year 2000.
Just a pop culture talking heads type programme.
They said something really interesting, in the context of Victoria Beckham vs Siphie Ellis Bextor battle for no. 1. "Imagine, this was the sort of thing that was on the News. Wouldn't it be great to have this fluff as a news headline again."

But ten years previous to that people were agnsting about the breakup of the USSR. 10 years after that it was all about Islamic terrorists.

There is always something to fret about, some big cataclysm to engulf everyone and everything. But in reality it's small private tragedies that end your world.

Covid will certainly bring that for many families.

But everyone experiences periods of grief and trauma in their lives and humanity mostly plots through it and comes out the other side.

It gets written up in history books, and the next generation rolls their eyes at the oldies interminable stories.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

7Days

For the most part anything on the news doesn’t affect people outside the affected area or people involved in the news piece.

I doubt that many people were wringing their hands over the break up of the USSR and even less over Victoria Beckham or Sophie Ellis Bextor.

Unless something directly affects someone most people are too busy with their own lives and their own problems to start worrying about other people.

[Onedropbeat]

I’m an optimistic introvert so staying home has suited me and I’ve felt positive about what’s around the corner

I trust that humans as a whole are good and that we are highly adaptable

I’m also looking on the good side that yes we may have a shocker of a year with a pandemic, but thank goodness we don’t on top of that have a war