Is this year the worst year of your life?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

It's a shit year, I think virtually everyone would agree. But is it the worst you have lived through?

I'm bored, frustrated, and because I am chronically ill and depend heavily on access to specialist doctors for time-sensitive treatments, have a constant level of background anxiety in case SHTF and my doctors are forced to cancel. However, for me it's not the worst period of my life to date.

What about you? I'm interested in different perspectives on this, as we all are coming to the situation from very different places.

No. If this is the worst year of your life due to just COVID being around and lockdown stopping you from seeing people and nothing else ‘bad’ has happened, then you’ve had a pretty good life IMO. Doesn’t make it a great year in the general sense of things, and yes it is testing, but there are much worse scenarios you could go through in life.

Absolutely the worst year of my life.

I'm fortunate I have a very safe job but I've been worried about the prospect of being moved to covid wards (it's not the covid bit that worries me but the fact it's almost a decade since I worked on a ward) - it fortunately hasn't happened yet.

I live alone so I was bored during lockdown when not in work. At least the glorious weather earlier in the year meant I was able to get some jobs done in the garden and enjoy the wonderful area I live in. Definitely not the case now though.

I have several family members who are very high risk, some of whom have had a few essential hospital and it has been a worry each time they go. I continue to worry about them constantly.

But, I also believe the pandemic has brought out the best in most people. It has been heart warming to see and has brought tears to my eyes on several occasions. Communities and neighbours have pulled together, local groups have formed to support one another. Individuals have rallied around after the vulnerable, neighbours have become friends, my parents neighbours have checked in on them regularly and have done shopping when they've needed odd bits during the week between my shopping trips for them.

No. As someone else said, it's been boring and stressful. But not awful. Boring is way better than many alternatives.

No. The worst year of my life was in an abusive marriage with DV and a newborn. How I didn't commit suicide -I don't know as I thought about it night after night after night. Even the thought of my DC wasn't enough -I did get through it though.

It's shit, but really I have a lot to be grateful about.

No. Not even close.

But 1.I have a personality type quite well suited to lockdown and 2.have a history of abuse (various types from various people) so plenty of shit years behind me.

@DevastatedandDistraught I'm so so sorry for your loss

Yes we have lost my gran, my cousin and my dad all in a 3 month period and none COVID related so yes truly the worst year of my life.

This year has been ok for me so far, in terms of day to day stuff. I'm in North Australia, and we haven't really been affected by covid yet, apart from our borders closing. No one in my town has ever had. We have a lot of family in the UK and it has been hard to watch the disaster there unfold. Several of my family over there have had covid, and one of them died. I couldn't be at the funeral. That was tough.

It's been tough in general not being able to visit family, and them not being able to visit me, as we had another baby earlier this year. We had intended to see each other, but obviously covid stopped all that. I have no idea when my baby will meet her grandparents. 1 year? 3 years? Who knows.

Overall I think I'm lucky. I know some people who have lost their jobs, and can't see themselves getting another one anytime soon. That must be so tough. I dread to think how long the British economy will take to recover from all of this.

Oh yes I've had to go through much worse than this year....

But this year was boring and a bit dull but I actually quite liked some of it

It s a shitty year, but for me personally far from being the worst, so far.....
There are lots of Nos in the thread!
It puts it into perspective indeed

Not by a long shot.

My DD having cancer and being in a specialist unit 2 hours away from home was the worst time of my life.

I quite liked homeschooling and being safely tucked up in my house with my children. In acknowledge that I’m fortunate to have been able to do so - although the background to being at home is caring for my disabled child (different one to the DC mentioned!) so maybe not so fortunate after all?!

Challenging maybe, worse definitely not.

No, on a personal level lockdown provided me the space and peace and quiet I needed to recover from having DS the previous year! Not the case for most people, I know, but for me it’s been quite good.

We stayed with family for much of lockdown, then saw lots of other family when it was allowed in summer. My job is busy and stressful, but so far nobody in my family has got too ill from Covid and DS has settled well in to nursery, so I can’t complain on a personal level about 2020.

Though never say never...

One of the best years of my life. I accomplished my big life goal. Everyone important to me is healthy, happy and stable. I'm financially stable for the first time in my adult life. Life is great, but I am aware of just how lucky I am.

One of the best years of my life. I accomplished my big life goal. Everyone important to me is healthy, happy and stable. I'm financially stable for the first time in my adult life. Life is great, but I am aware of just how lucky I am.

Not even close to being 'the worst year' for me. Been a good one after some dreadful ones, losing my beloved mother and my Nan, and then devastating MH and other issues in my close family. Everyone now pretty stable and going in the right direction.

Mum has terminal cancer.
Needed several new appliances as the old ones all broke at once and now need a car as mine has just given up the ghost.
Due to be furloughed again from two of my three jobs which is going to cause me financial difficulties.
However, I still feel very blessed all things considered.
Lucky enough to still have one full-time job that can be done from home.
My children have moved out and are adulting like champions - so proud!
I haven't lost anyone to this terrible illness.
Have had so much time to reflect, learn and work on myself that I have severed ties with several people that were actually a very toxic presence in my life and have had the time to properly heal from some long past childhood trauma's.
As a consequence, I feel this is potentially one of by best years to date.

@Greenbks
My son died unexpectedly on Christmas Day 2019.
I fully understand what you are saying about trivial moaning - especially in relation to the festive period.
I’m sorry you’re going through this too.

Yes my desperately wanted, loved baby boy who took 5 lots of IVF to conceive was found to have multiple severe fetal abnormalities in all his organs except his brain and lungs, every week the picture grew bleaker and in the end we let him go so he wouldn't suffer. Thanks to covid I was alone when being told this news, I barely had any maternity care at all until seeing fetal medicine and I'm lucky they allowed my partner in with me to labour and deliver our silent still son. My family decided to behave like total assholes throught and ever since,constantly telling me to accept he's gone, stop talking about him, stop buying and making tributes to him, telling me to move his urn off the mantle piece in the front room because it's morbid and upsetting for other people, telling me to.take down the two black.amd white photos of him because no one wants to be forced to see a dead baby if they visit. Start coping and move on. Constantly brining up fostering and adoption. Facetiming and then showing me babies with no warning because I should be coping now. Telling me I am the horrible unreasonable one when i tell them the things they are doing and saying are hurtful, insensitive and in my opinion cruel. The last thing they said to me was he was only really real to you, not to anyone else so you need to stop now, you are so bitter and twisted you need to get professional help. So I am now no contact with them. My work also tried to tell me that 3 months of my mat leave was already gone because they misinterpreted the law about premature and stillbirths. I had to fight them and they massively underpaid me for a further two months causing unnecessary stress and financial hardships at the time we were planning our baby boys funeral and grieving. I also had retained placenta but no one would listen to me and help me despite the fact I was heavily bleeding and expelling chunks of placenta. It took my partner getting angry and constantly calling both the gp and the hospital for me to receive any treatment and I was finally seen 10 weeks after losing our son. I am broken physically and mentally, I have never felt so isolated,alone and let down. I couldn't care less about having to stay home because of covid and the inconveniences that go with lockdowns/social distancing I want my son back alive but healthy, not as ash in a tiny urn.

Sorry to those who have had a bad year and suffered losses.
Not the worst for me.
It's been quite a good year for me. Various relationship and family difficulties have been far worse for me in previous years.

I’m so sorry DevastatedandDistraught

Mum has terminal cancer.
Needed several new appliances as the old ones all broke at once and now need a car as mine has just given up the ghost.
Due to be furloughed again from two of my three jobs which is going to cause me financial difficulties.
However, I still feel very blessed all things considered.
Lucky enough to still have one full-time job that can be done from home.
My children have moved out and are adulting like champions - so proud!
I haven't lost anyone to this terrible illness.
Have had so much time to reflect, learn and work on myself that I have severed ties with several people that were actually a very toxic presence in my life and have had the time to properly heal from some long past childhood trauma's.
As a consequence, I feel this is potentially one of by best years to date.

Yes we have lost my gran, cousin and dad in a 3 month period

It has been. Mainly worry about the kids. If I didn't have them I wouldn't be so bad. It's mainly guilt about having brought them into this shit show.

@DevastatedandDistraught

My life has been horrendous since May last year when my 15 year old daughter took her own life completely out of the blue due to medication she had been prescribed for acne.

My life as I knew it ended with her death. Since then I have no interest in anything. I have become semi- reclusive because it’s easier than having to pretend I’m ok to everyone. Lockdown would have driven me mad before, now it suits me just fine. And when the worst has happened you don’t worry about things like lockdowns or Covid or anything else for that matter. It’s quite liberating not being scared of dying. Everyone else is terrified of catching this virus- not me. I couldn’t give a shit.

That is truly one of the worse things I could imagine happening. God only knows how you pull through that. Must be worse if only a handful of people have experienced it too. At least with Covid it’s everyone’s problem.
Massive hugs Devestated.