I completely misjudged the situation

[randomer]

Re Covid, I thought buckle up for a rough few weeks, after the initial shock. Then things would return. I find now ( sorry for melodrama) my world is up the creek.
My town is bleak, my friends have lost contact, my MH is crumbling.

I think a lot of people did; people rearranged weddings for September thinking it’d be over and when people suggested it wouldn’t I remember thinking they were just being negative. This whole new normal is hard to get used to and accept.
I remember watching the news about wuhan and it never occurred to me it would get that bad (worst actually) here although I now feel quite naive for that.

I think a lot of people thought it would blow over relatively quickly and that would be that, and honestly who could blame them for thinking that? If someone had told you a year ago that come Spring 2020 we'd all be on lockdown because of a global pandemic, no school, only keyworkers leaving home to work, everything cancelled, people sick, people dying, would you have believed them? I wouldn't have.

Do you have RL support for your mental health? I know services are patchy even without a pandemic going on but your GP will be able to help. Things will get better sooner or later, it wont be this way forever

Do you remember the jokes about Corona pop?

Can you contact your friends. Don't be so hard on yourself, no one could foresee this.

My friends appear wrapped up in their own stuff. Thanks, though.

When my DCs asked (maybe early February) if it would come over here I said of course it wouldn't, in a 'seen it all before' type way. When the schools closed and people were saying they might not go back until September, I thought 'don't be so ridiculous'. Mystic Meg I'm not.

I'm just continuing to be as careful as I can whilst not letting it affect my life/MH too much.

Aw. Sending you a big hug. I thought it would blow over too - ended up having a bit of a break down.

I’m a pessimist so normally imagine the worst anyway haha but I thought this would be over by now

Some Friends - barely In touch , I get it they have their own stuff

New relationship - over . He’s working in a different country and it’s to hard to come back like he used due to this . Still friends but both agreed it’s not fees able anymore however still hurts like hell

Mh - on the brink tbh

Oh and still might lose my job

What a year !!!

YANBU, I thought the same. I definitely didn't anticipate such a slow route out of lockdown/"the new normal".

It is shocking how quickly the world has changed, and i’ve also been shocked by how many intense and extreme emotions i’ve felt while being relatively safe at home doing the same things every day. I go through phases of feeling ok, and then phases of feeling like you do op. I’m back to work now which i am glad about, but it is very weird (am a hairdresser) and we are not complacent, a hairdresser acquaintance in the next town over has already had to close up again after one of her staff testing positive for the virus. It’s a really strange time. Try and be kind to yourself, it’s a huge thing and it’s perfectly normal and rational to feel overwhelmed by it.

Might be worth a text anyway? I know i thought similar but 2 friends were actually relieved to chat something different and get headspace away from their own stuff.

Yanbu my life is unrecognisable and has changed forever since March I'm keeping it together on the outside.
I'd love to stand on a mountain and scream till my lungs hurt I'd be afraid I'd be overly tempted to jump.

I am isolated in my isolation. I consider making contact but I feel small and insignificant. One day merges into the next.

There is something very " Catch 22" about it all. My MH is better if I am involved in something but there is nothing available. I need to be amongst people but they are preoccupied or unwell themselves

And bleeding Boris saying it will all be over by Christmas. That was said about WW1 and that went on 4 years. Cheers for that Boris.

Your friends WILL want to hear from you.

Op, please text your friends. Don’t assume people are fine and coping ok just from what you see on social media or whatever. Even if they seem fine, they may not be. And even if they are actually fine themselves, they would want to be there for you if you’re struggling - they’re your friends.

Please reach out to your friends. Even just a quick text to ask how they are doing. I’m the first to admit that I’ve just been getting through it and not given much thought to those outside my immediate family, but if a friend reached out I’d reply and try to strike up a conversation.

I have to say I am remaining optimistic. We have no Covid positive patients currently in the 2 hospitals within our trust. Our secondary school is currently planning to have normal Attendance in September with slightly shorter day. My work has continued on through as NHS . I am hoping and praying that with better hygeine, more caution for some, more online shopping, more WFH, some warm weather and the fact that our already high numbers of deaths will have included some of this winters elderly frail, I am really really hoping we do not have another bout of Covid. It is not inevitable ( although I admit highly likely) but I am an optimist. I also live in an area that has escaped the worst and so our local demographic must be quite good. I think local lockdowns will help.
Hope things start to feel a bit more positive for you soon.

Never ever presume how others are feeling. Please contact them. Maybe they'd like to arrange a Zoom 'night out'. Do you get out of your home at all? have you been to a park, seaside, countryside yet? Try something different. You never know.

Corona scared the bejazus out of me....the day Lockdown was announced, and all the supermarket shelves were empty {I have no freezer} I was thinking ''SHIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT''.....
Son lives a mile up the road, and we couldn't see each other at all...

I began to do needlepoint, one that I'd abandoned years ago when our dog died {It was of her}.....and in so doing, found £400 that I'd thought was long lost {2005}

The notes were way out of date, but that money helped so much.

I felt it was a blessing in disguise. I split the money with Son...no one knew what the work situation would be like.

It was a very , very frightening time.

Towns are a shadow of their former selves, but traffic is markedly increased from those dystopian early days.

You tube was a blessing for me...I lost myself in the films.

OP, you are not alone...I think everyone was shocked by it.

A beloved Family member died as a 'collateral damage' to Covid restrictions to hospitals, and son's friend had his mother in ICU with Covid...It was surreal.

It was as near to ''Wartime'' our generations have experienced.

I don't assume I know how others feel. I observe them going about their lives " keeping busy". I have messaged and asked and it is starting to sound a bit desperate now. Thanks for all kind comments.

Please don't give up. Believe me, everybody I speak to feels the same way. Get out and about walking as much as you can and that way you will meet other people to chat with and you will realise that they feel the same way too. During lockdown walking was my saviour. I would stick my little girl in her pram and just march about. It gets you fit and makes you feel better. Plus if you walk the same routes you start to see the same people who walk that way too. It makes you feel less alone.
My Mum is in her 70s and its all starting to get to her now which makes me angry and sad in equal measure. She is particularly upset about the mask wearing in shops. She is incredibly claustrophobic and my older brother died of Leukaemia when he was 9 years old and wearing a mask takes her right back to that time. She cried today and said that she really doesn't like this life much anymore. I don't blame her - its pretty dim. She and my Dad feel like they are having their freedom taken away from them and they feel guilty and worried about everything and worry about the "RULES" constantly.
I try not to think too much about it all and stay clear of the news if I am having a black day.

Stay strong!! We can and we will all get through this one way or another.

Do you remember the jokes about Corona pop?

Yes....and ''Corvid 19'' showing pictures of crows {Corvids}...And reports of people not wanting to drink Corona beer..and singing ''My my my my Corona'' to the old tune of ''My Sharona[?]

People made jokes, but texts from the time showed how anxious people were.

.the day Lockdown was announced, and all the supermarket shelves were empty {I have no freezer} I was thinking ''SHIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT''.....

I was about 3 days into convalescing from having my appendix out! I'd got 2 weeks food in the freezer in preparation for the immediate aftermath of the op, but I remember thinking "Shit, I can't lift shopping bags out of the car when I run out of food... and I can't get an online delivery for love nor money... but I don't meet the criteria for vulnerable or shielding... 11 year old DS won't be allowed in the shop. What do we do when the food runs out?" Thank god for very kind neighbours.

It is truly shit, OP. I was okay for the first month, muddled along for the next two, then lost the plot completely the beginning of this month - only just starting to piece myself together again.

Please contact your friends and ask to have a garden meet up. From the outside, I’m sure I could appear to be wrapped up in my own world, two toddlers and a business that has been severely impacted by Covid but it would devastate me to think any of my friends didn’t feel they could approach me to meet up.
I’ve happily agreed and hosted all my friends who have contacted me. The distraction of baking a cake and getting my nice tea set out has been very welcome. Listening to other people’s experiences has been welcome. Please reach out xx