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.

@byebyeboyee

I'm not diminishing anyone elses life but this is the best year of my adult life the last 15 years of my life have been a chaotic misery and despite everything I am so happy compared to my previous years , I've quit drinking and other substances. Next year I'm going to quit smoking and become vegitarian, I now own my own business. It's a far cry from last year where I was a suicidal and starving stuck with with my abusive ex.

No you aren’t diminishing anything, you’re sharing your good news and it’s lovely to hear.

Newmum, That is lovely.

Hard year yes, worse year no. The two previous years were tougher.

Not at all. This year has been absolutely shit, but 2018 was the worst for me

Not at all, worst years were when I was a child living with a schizophrenic brother and a mother having a breakdown, or losing my beloved stepdad to cancer. This year is surreal but not that bad

So sorry for everyone who has struggled this year for all kinds of reasons. I remember my teenage years as being the worst of my life as I was extremely unhappy and suicidal. Everything felt like a struggle then. Right now I am in an unhappy relationship but my mental resilience is very strong and I find happiness in the smallest things so I am generally quite okay. Every year I have got older, my mind has let me be a happier person. I appreciate I am very fortunate in this respect.

No, it's been quite a good one for us. Both myself and my husband started new careers early in the year which, thankfully, left us secure jobs throughout all this (my previous job was secure but he was in non essential retail before). We both lost weight, found a love for exercise and being outdoors, we climbed a mountain together and have grown closer as a family. Our eldest child had previously suffered from anxiety but a summer at home with us has helped him massively. The worst part was me being diagnosed with a life threatening medical condition but im seeing the positives in that it was found, I will be monitored and well looked after and I am aware of it.

Sending to everyone for whom this year has been a bad one

Honestly I think this has been my best year yet. I was ready to burn out before lockdown but now can wfh indefinitely and saved so much we have just bought our first house, a goal that felt impossible before. Things aren't perfect and I do have some pretty big issues to cope with but I've also dealt with far worse in previous years so finally feels like things are better.

No, but I am worried that the best times of my life are behind me.

@Thisisworsethananticpated thank you. I Try to lead a mainly normal life with a few hiccups when it spreads further. Still working and children at home.

It's not despite the limitations and living under the worst government in history. I have a job and have been able to adapt to working from home. About 20 years ago I had five months of unemployment, which was worse, especially with the uncertainty of not knowing how long it would be.

Possibly, but only because I haven't had any really bad years before this one?

Despite all of the rubbish, this has been a good year for me - my first niece was born, I worked my arse off and obtained a promotion, I have got a handle on depression and feel like a completely different person to this time a year ago.

No. I hate working from home and I miss my family, but I have a beautiful ds and a wonderful dh, we are financially stable with a roof over our heads and overall good health (touch wood). We are lucky compared to so many others.

The worst year of my life was around a decade ago and lead to years of utter psychological chaos. I am in a great place comparatively.

No, it's not.
Not by a long shot.
It's actually been ok for me, all things considered.
Probably because I live abroad.

I'm not diminishing anyone elses life but this is the best year of my adult life the last 15 years of my life have been a chaotic misery and despite everything I am so happy compared to my previous years , I've quit drinking and other substances. Next year I'm going to quit smoking and become vegitarian, I now own my own business. It's a far cry from last year where I was a suicidal and starving stuck with with my abusive ex. You bloody celebrate every single thing! 💐 You’ve come an incredible distance and nobody would begrudge you being happy and thankful for that.

As for me, no. I’m a million miles away from the worst year. We’ve had a couple of heartbreaking things happen. But I have a roof over my head, I have food in the cupboard, I’m warm, I have a happy marriage and the people around me are wonderful. I appreciate every single thing I have.

I had a rough time at the start of the year but I've got gradually though it. Thanks to Allah. And a food thing came of this year, we are expecting our 5th

For us it has been a roller-coaster. There have been a few high points; I got my dream job posting, DH also got a brilliant new job, we are happy and healthy and mostly enjoyed the first lockdown. Then our beloved cat was run over (just after lockdown ended - I think he was used to there being little to no traffic 😭), DH's job is in danger due to the second lockdown as he's a chef and here in France we don't know when restaurants will be allowed to reopen, we've had to pass up on our ideal house due to this, and have been advised not to even try to get a mortgage until things stabilise.
It feels like every time we allow ourselves to get a little bit hopeful for the future something shit knocks us back...

Difficult to say, but it ranks up there with the worst of them. It's been a terrible year for many, even without a bloody pandemic as the capstone.

No - no one close to me has been sick or died this year, and we have been managing work and school at home in a way which is okay if not brilliant. So it's been stressful, annoying and not as relaxing as usual but not terrible otherwise.

The year my Mum was sick and died was far worse.

Not even close. Probably wouldn't even make the top half if I ranked all my years in order. The years with multiple family deaths and two court cases top my list.

No. But possibly the dullest.

No because my baby boy was born so it will always be a happy one for me but appreciate that for others it will be very different

This is probably one of the dullest, and perhaps loneliest. Moments have been hard, working at home FT with 2 kids homeschooling was pretty intense, but we also had a lot of family time which was fab. Doesn’t compare to the worst times at all, such as losing family members to horrific diseases.

Maybe not the worst, but it's up there.
Two kids with ASD struggle hugely with school.
I hoped lockdown learning might work better for them but it didn't.
Ds anxiety got even worse (was very bad before) and he overdosed.
Fortunately he was ok but that night I never want to go through again.
I'm a single parent and I was sitting in A&E with my other child and we were counting ceiling tiles to keep her calm (also ASD) as I wondered how to explain it to her. We counted the tiles (217 of them) 10 times whilst I waited to hear if ds was ok and tried to not cry in front of dd.

Now I'm grappling with him losing his DLA as he's just turned 16. Which means losing my Carers allowance (and related benefits) which gives me the time / money to care for them. I don't know what I'll do.

I've not seen anyone since March and don't expect to until Easter, realistically. I've found the posturing of most politicians increasingly hard to stomach. So I've been scared, lonely and I'm still very worried.

But we are all still here and I am extremely grateful for that.
So many folk have lost someone this year. I try to count my blessings.

This is a draining year but I have many blessings. I have lived through tough years, including my disability getting worse, but it was not the year that I watched my dad get more and more ill and then watching him die. I also now get to watch my mum get ill from the loss of her husband and her own different life ruining illness. COVID is restricting but it is not tough unless you are one of those who have lost people or had serious impacts from it.

Honestly, in some ways, it has given my family a chance to stop and deal with the past few years and find our new ways forward.