To think this is torturing single people?

[VirtualHugsAllRound]

Even if it's intermittent lockdown and social distancing... Both mean you're not supposed to meet with family and friends.

If you live alone this is torture. Isolation is used as torture/punishment fgs!
We're always being shown that families are more important, that we've failed by not having a partner and reproducing. Now we are expected to live in isolation for months on end.

And at the end of it, no one is going to say "well done for undergoing months of torture to protect others" or support us with healing from the trauma this will cause. As usual, just expected to suck it up.

I cant do this.

Thanks @madampewter just the worst time of my life added to the fact what's app video calling doesn't give you a cuddle, it's all such a mess and I want to be out with my friends being occupied but instead looking at the walls. I know it could be worse but hard to imagine any worse than this x sorry you know how it feels too x

Op, I'm single and live alone by choice but a massive extrovert who normally saw friends 3/4 times a week. Staying in would be hellish so I've signed up for supermarket work. That way I'm useful and I get out. Would this work for you?

To the poster who talked about us single folk seeing friends for prosecco in a belittling way. Yes, that's exactly what I do when I meet them. It's hugely important to both of us to have a support network and not something to be sneered at. Friendship is just as important as other types of relationships and I'm so glad I'm not holed up with a horrible man right now.

To the people living alone that say it is not torture.

I live with a friend right now.

I lived alone in the past, and I really began to lose my mental health. Depression and anxiety runs in my family.

I wasn't able to live alone at all. My mental health began to slip away.

Living alone is different for different people.

we are not "punished" by the government.

No one has shut the internet, we haven't even got a curfew yet, the postal services are still open and you are free and encourage to volunteer or work in essential areas.

I am not sure people really understand what being isolated means.

It’s very hard at the moment for everyone and I sympathise with those who feel isolated or are suffering mentally but to call our current predicament torture Is excessive. We have access to food, phones, Skype and television. We can go for a walk and smile at people from 6 feet away and most of all - we know this won’t last forever.

Nelson `Mandela was locked up for 27 years, blinded by hard labour and frequently in long term solitary confinement allowed one letter every six months. Anne Frank and her family were hidden in an attic for 25 months before being captured by the Nazis. She died of typhus in a concentration camp 6 months later and her body was disposed of in a mass grave.
As you read this there are modern day prisoners of conscience who may never see daylight again. There are slaves living in squalor, lured from their families by the promise of a better life who may never see loved ones again.

I’m not disputing that the current situation is pants but being healthy and well at home for a few months is a lot better than still being on your own but in a temporary hospital, struggling for breath

NZ has a 'nominated friend' system for this. single people can partner up with a nominated friend. Neither people can see anyone else but they can travel to one another's house as they are basically just creating a dual bubble. They need to live close by. Makes sense

@Quarantimespringclean so what if we have access to television and phones.

People in prison have access to television and phones

People in prison have access to television and phones

so we don't torture people in prison either. Not sure what your point is?

@Quarantimespringclean and also are you aware that hospitals are refusing to treat other people's medical conditions at this time - due to coronavirus.

They are simply refusing! So many people have lost their human right to health care.

How is that okay?

This site has some of the most toxic, awful people I’ve come across online.

I really think people read every OP looking to disagree with them. Seriously the sheer lack of empathy on here is just bizarre. Anyone on this thread who has minimized the OPs pain, managed to center themselves, or tell them they’re being dramatic after the OP mentioned poor mental health, in the middle of this crisis, should take a good hard look at themselves.

I bet you’re the same people who share memes on Facebook about ending the stigma of mental health while enjoying feeling superior to people struggling on here.
OP I hope you find a more supportive place online. I’d honestly not recommend mumsnet except as entertainment.

OP I'm sorry I haven't read the full thread. I'm so sorry it's difficult. Hard for all of us in different ways, but I can imagine no physical touch is really tough. We all need this.
For company, have you considered NHS volunteering? Several opportunities there, so you'd get people to talk to, though at a distance of course. Why won't they have you as a care worker?
We can get through this

@JustInCaseCakeHappens saying that we have television and phones, does not seem like a great human right to me.

I know people who have been refused treatment at hospital becaue the hospitals are only treating coronavirus. These people are very ill .

How is that ok?

It is NOT good for people to isolate this way, and I hate our Government for imposing such severe restrictions on people.

These are NOT severe restrictions, firstly. Secondly. Do you want them to do nothing?

@AlaskaSometimes People are especially wound up at the mo, seems more extreme than usual.

Some of the posters on this thread are so unaware of their good fortune. They have the mental, social and financial resources to feel happy on their own; they can "potter about" "be creative" "connect" whilst sneering at those with mental ill-health or neurological diversity who struggle to cope as indulgent or wallowing. How thoroughly unpleasant you are to come on here and belittle someone when they are down.

@Amymayapple

I totally agree that its different for different people.

I today agree that some people will find it very difficult.

But I disagree that it is torture. Torture is a completely unfair form of punishment. This is not a punishment, this is to safeguard society, protect the NHS and to give all of us the best chance of getting through this.

@Amymayapple

I lived alone briefly in my twenties. I hated it. I know that's not a cool thing to say on here. I found it really depressing.

@Amey I guess the NHS are trying to balance the prison of continuing existing treatment regimes with the v real possibility of making people worse by bringing them into the virus stews that are our hospitals. My MiL was due to have a hip replacement next week. It's been postponed indefinitely. Not great on one level, but much safer for her on the other.

@CarolHasAnotherUTI how is it protecting the NHS, when they are treating badly right now?

I have heard of two people being severely ill and being sent home, because the hospitalt were only treating coronavirus, how is that okay.

One was my aunty, who could not even walk out of the hospital, she was in such severe pain. They told her they would not keep her in. My cousin told me that he was so afraid for her - that he was arguing with the hospital staff

It’s not OK. My elderly mum has cancer and some other less serious health problems. Her next appointment have been cancelled. That’s not good, but I don’t want her to have cancer and corona virus.

I’m not saying that this is a wonderful situation. I’m not saying there are not people who will be hit harder by it than others. (My adult son has mental health problems and I am worried about the effect on him). What I’m saying is that it isn’t comparable to torture.

These are NOT severe restrictions

So true - we're stuck in this, the govt is doing what it has to and it may get worse, so we need to help each other, don't sneer at people for struggling!

Actually I think for many people loneliness is torture...it's incredibly damaging for mental health. Don't minimize it.

They told my aunty that they "were only keeping beds for coronavirus patients".

So it is okay for other people to be severely sick then, okay

I sympathise OP, although I am not in your circumstances. I lived on my own for years before moving in with DP, and while I enjoy my own company, I think I would have found this really, really difficult. No advice, but just saying I get it, and I hope you're okay.

@Quarantimespringclean just stop it. Next time you have a problem I hope someone devalues it in the way you have just done to the OP.

I hope there is some support here @VirtualHugsAllRound - please ignore the angry people, maybe they are the ones not coping. x