Did covid screw anyone else's life up?

[girlmeetsboy]

Interested to hear on this as I have been reading a thread where people loved the solidarity of it all. For me it was redundancy, house lost, business lost and savings...

Yes it fucked us financially and I'm poorer than I've ever been and embarrassingly sometimes rely on help from DP's parents whereas before were very well off, guess the industry! It nearly broke us up and my MH nosedived, if it hadn't been for my brilliant doctor not sure if I'd still be here. So yeah, anyone who wants to tell me how 'relaxing' lockdown was can fuck off.

Oh and my oldest "started Uni" in Scotland in September 2021.

Except he didn't, he sat in his bedroom watching videos and going into Uni once a month for 2 hours. For ALL of the 2021-22 academic year. He struggled enormously.

Also sorry you lost your house OP that must have been hard.

I don’t understand why, when the legislation was enacted for two years, people thought it was temporary.

but…onwards. I am going to have a big drink - yes, with my antibiotics- because I can’t find it in me to care much.

then bed. If I can stop raging. They should at least give free diazepam to those of us who didn’t have a lovely lockdown! And everyone who is nasty enough to say it should be muzzled.

Financially we gained massively
However, I ‘lost’ my DC’s for a couple of years and DM died as a direct result

Compared with others on this thread , we had it really easy .

dh still worked full time plus (supermarket)

I had a few months off (work in a school and was vulnerable so they wouldn’t let me in)

youngest struggles with school, and the time out didn’t do him any favours at all .

we did go on lots of walks where I happened to bump into my bestie (absolute coincidence of course)

it changed our eating habits for the worst . I think as a family we are lazier

it wasn’t a good thing

even down to the little things like no dentist when my youngest had toothache , and still waiting for referrals

and of course we have the same doctor problems as lots of others , they went into hiding before covid and three years later they still won’t make appointments. Fiercely guarded by the receptionists , ready to taser anyone who suggests that they might need a face to face appointment

Covid itself did not have an impact on me.. it was the measures that did.
I spent early 2020 trying to crawl out of dark pit, with MH professionals telling me to get out and see people. Then all of a sudden, doing just that was illegal.

It seemed every other person was the Covid police. I was "killing the CEV" by walking my dog. I had someone yell obscenities out of their window at me. I had a security guard in a a shop tell me that my shopping was not essential.

AAAARRGGGHHH

I wish this fucking thread wasn’t fucking here

Shall I go out? I know it’s midnight in a tough area and I’ve got fucking pneumonia- but what do I do with all rage now?

I am talking about lockdown before vaccines, a short lockdown sooner might have kept the virus levels lower and then some of the lockdown measures could have been lifted sooner. China are still following a zero covid strategy which is a v different situation now covid is here sadly to stay. Covid of cause is still causing problems but I know it is not going anywhere and an attempt for zero covid is futile now. Research for better vaccines, some say nasal ones could bring transmission rates down, is needed plus time.

I am not going to respond further to you as can’t be bothered with such a poor level of dialogue.

Had my 3rd baby via c-section on my own in May 2020, which was seriously scary but I was extremely well looked after in spite of it being pretty hard.

On the negative side, my mental and physical health post natally was utterly horrendous and I was very unwell with hormonal fluctuations and low iron, with worsening symptoms of my neurological involuntary movement disorder. I felt very vulnerable and the health visitor and Home Start charity who took care of me were amazing but it didn't stop my marriage from suffering dreadfully. I hated it more than anything and i felt very isolated at a time when I should have been cherishing my daughter's precious newborn days.

Awful, business, Health, money the works 😞

It wasn't necessarily caused by covid but definitely didn't help. My mother was diagnosed with cancer the day after we went into lockdown and died six weeks later. Funerals during covid were horrific cold, sterile, social distancing, no flowers or pictures allowed in the church. My son had a huge regression the day after mams funeral and lost all his speech he was diagnosed with autism shortly afterwards. I coped fairly well considering but it was hard. It was very strange when life went back to "normal" because the normal I knew was gone.

My profoundly deaf 2-year-old DD was due life-changing cochlear implant surgery. Due to the pandemic, her surgery was delayed for over a year. She's now in Reception with a colossal speech and language delay meaning she struggles to interact verbally with her peers. It's causing behavioural issues as she exercises her frustration at not being able to make herself understood and it's a very real possibility that we may have to pull her out of mainstream education.

I used to see my mum at least once a week, but during the pandemic I couldn't see her for months. During that time, her aphasia progressed rapidly and the contrast was even starker for me by the time I was able to see her again. Now she can't join in with or follow conversations, she won't leave the house, even to see loved ones, all her memories of family life are erased and she can't even remember my daughter's name.

On the other hand, none of my friends nor family died or were seriously ill due to Covid. Career-wise, I thrived. Remote working was a good fit with my freelance work meaning I was able to take on more jobs and be financially better off than I had been in years. My DH was also able to work from home, which eased my burden significantly because this flexibility meant he could be much more hands-on with DD.

I lost both my grandparents to Covid in horrible circumstances and it's had a profound effect on my family. I cry about what happened to them, and that they died sad, frightened and alone, almost every day. I don't sleep, and I've lost most of my motivation and drive. My mother has also been deeply affected, plus developed long Covid and agoraphobia. As a result, my dad wants a divorce as he wants to travel and enjoy his retirement. So my mother will be coming to live with me and my partner when their house is sold and I know I will essentially end up being her carer. Me and DP are mid-late 30s and doubt we'll have time and space to have kids now.

Covid also forced me to give up my dream career that I'd worked so hard on for 15+ years. I was progressing well before the pandemic. I now work in a pretty standard 9-5 job with a salary that just about covers the essentials. A few years ago, I never could have imagined this would be my life.

Maybe a new thread where you can just talk with people about how you feel about lockdown and how awful other people on MN were would be less aggravating? This thread has been good because it includes so many different stories from different people with different experiences and perspectives, without descending too much into a huge debate about what should or shouldn't have been done. I don't think anyone's experiences are wrong are they? Just different, and it doesn't seem the right place to pull them apart and criticise them.

Lockdown was hell trying to juggle a toddler and working. My work refused furlough and DH was a essential worker so zero choice but to work all hours of the day to get my job done.
My toddler also suffered badly became fearful of people and its taken most of this year to rebuild that. He also became scared of people wearing masks.

The blame culture was insane.
Scotland has much longer control measures and it has negatively impacted children.
I will never go back to following any sort of lockdown or rules which ban my family. Its personal choice what people do.

This exactly. It feels like the kids were 9 and 2 one minute, and the next are 12 and 5, and I can't remember the in between part!

And I can't shift the lockdown wfh weight gain and have still not got back to exercising. I used to love swimming but the booking business has ruined it for me. I can't plan ahead that way.

My parents' health has taken a bit of a nose dive too, which I think stems from the months of fear and isolation.

Yes. It killed my husband, whom I adored and had spent 30 years with. He caught it while in hospital at the beginning of the pandemic and died on 13th May 2020.

@Scottishskifun "I will never go back to following any sort of lockdown or rules which ban my family. Its personal choice what people do."

So you genuinely feel that it's your right to swan about as you like, merrily spreading a horrendous disease, because you - along with millions upon millions of others in the UK - had a tough time during the lockdown which prevented many, many more deaths than if we had all been allowed to mingle?

I'm genuinely lost for words to describe my feelings about that.

Our outgoing quietly confident smiley DD had 7 weeks at secondary school then lockdown. She now has very poor attendance, is being seen regularly in school for support, can not verbalise how she feels and it breaks our heart for her. She has left the house twice in 2 weeks this half term.
Life is literally passing her by. It is only in the last 3 months she has been able to not wear a face mask when she left the house. Not health anxiety, so painfully self conscious and low self esteem. Conversations are blunt. She is 14, very nearly 15 and I feel Covid robbed her of 2 years social and emotional growth with her peers I feel utterly helpless everyday.

I long to be back to 2019, life seemed normal and carefree! ( I know it wasn’t)

We were better off as I’d been in a job for the previous five years, then came Covid, I had no choice but to leave, the service I worked in had closed, never to return, I wasn’t going to be made redundant as the other branch of my department was still working and I was expected to just move across.

There was no way I could work in the other part and manager was getting shirty about paying me , no furlough as a healthcare charity.

I didn’t realise at the time, June 2020 how everything had affected me mentally, I got another job it lasted 3 weeks, I just couldn’t cope with a new job that I didn’t want, I wanted my 2019 job.

Got yet another job, lasted four months, again couldn’t seem to mentally cope , we are now in lockdown three.

Got another job, lasted six months, left again.

Got another job earlier this year, I now have had Covid for the first time, it’s hit me like train been of for several weeks, I doubt I’ll go back.
I really don’t know what happened to me but I’m not the same person and gained nearly two stone in weight.
If only I could be the happy person I was with the life I had, and find a job I can cope with, but I don’t think it exists.

Maybe I need some sort of therapy 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️
Sorry for the long comment!

Just want to add after reading everyone else’s stories and getting my own wrote down , I’m sat here sobbing at 2 in the morning.

I miss my preccovid life