It will soon be a year since the pandemic began, and, hopefully, we are at the beginning of the end. The news seems to be increasingly positive.
It almost feels like emerging from a bunker after a storm and looking at the damage. How has the whole thing affected you and the people around you? And do you think any of those effects will be long-lasting? For me:
-- Huge strain on my relationship. Partner been working from home, and it's reminded me how miserable and selfish he can be. Several times I've looked at him and thought "I just don't like you."
-- A friend told me the lockdown has made her seriously question her marriage and whether she wants to go on with it.
-- I've gone back on medication for anxiety and depression, which I'd quit three years ago.
-- A young man two streets away killed himself, which those who knew him blame on the lockdown (he was cut off from therapy, etc)
-- My friend's son (30) hasn't left the house since last March. He has asthma, and is generally quite anxious and paranoid. He's ballooned to 20 stone, and my friend believes he has developed agoraphobia. It's going to be very hard to get him back into society.
-- The man who lives two doors away has lost his business. I'm so sorry for him - he's a lovely man.
-- My son (15) has barely socialised for a year. At his age I had bad social anxiety, which he's inherited. The lockdown has given him an excuse not to go out.