to be terrified?

[Newkitty]

I've just read in The Times that the UK's economy is forecast to have the slowest recovery from covid of all developed nations. Brexit is on the horizon. Debenhams has just folded. Everything is absolutely terrifying, and this country is already on its knees - schools and hospitals are crumbling, millions of people rely on food banks. How much worse is it going to get?

How do you cope? I can't concentrate. Everything seems so pointless. What can we do? There's no amount of preparation that would make a difference. We don't have enough room to stockpile even if we had the cash to do it. We rely on systems working. I'm so, so scared.

All we need to do is be patient - by 2050 coronavirus and Brexit will be a hazy memory, reflected on in the same "what the hell was that about" way we reflect on the IRA terrorism campaign now.

Be patient! Just hang on for another 30 years and all will be well .

Aww ancientgran - if it was I bet it bought them as much joy as it brought you!

I voted YABU because there is zero point in being freaked out and worried. It will not affect the economic outcome, or the future, it will only damage your mental health, increase your cortisol, and eat you from the inside out.

We are all in the same boat, and it absolutely is NOT true that the UK is going to have a slower recovery than other countries - it is all speculation. Please see your doctor for some meds if this is adversely affecting your health

Mummyratbag, I hope so. It has really made me tear up. I was barely 20, 2 kids, exH spent as much on alcohol as I had for food. God I must have been a pathetic little character.

@ancientgran that is a lovely story!

I am reading all these replies and realising that a) I am massively catastrophizing and b) there is also a lot to be worried about. Both things are true!

I realise that people had it worse in the past. I don't think I could live through what my grandparents lived through.

Brexit is due to cost several times the amount that Covid has already cost us and it brings no benefits at all. I can't believe that BJ didn't ask Europe to extend the discussion time once we were all hit by a pandemic.

Ancientgran - far from pathetic! You must have been made of strong stuff.

Dd came down in tears the morning after the Brexit vote and said "mum, what are we going to do?" And I said "we're going to be very the best we can".

I don't think any of the actual problems now on the horizon have come as that much of a surprise to me. What has been a surprise is how completely incompetent- and uninterested!- the government have been. I never thought Brexit was a good idea, but I did at least think the people who were pushing it through would take an interest in it. Instead their ambition seems to be to think as little about it as they can.

But I can't do anything about that, so I 'm going to try to focus on what I can do and do that as well as I can- be a mum, wife, friend, do my job well while I have it (already lost half), just generally try to be nice to people.

If things are going to get tough, then whatever little thing I can do will not be pointless- it will be needed more than ever.

I'm expecting things to get a lot worse, as the government dismantles the country (eg the NHS and farming) to sell it off cheap in order to cash in.
I do think that the "good times" are over for the UK. Plus things will get much worse as climate change accelerates.
We will get used to living differently - a poorer, greyer, less varied and more dangerous life, under greater government control. With even greater inequality.
In the short term - you probably do have room to do some stockpiling. Eg if you have a table, put cardboard boxes underneath it. And on top of it - you can eat from your laps for a few months. And pile up boxes in the corners of rooms. I'd do it now, to be honest.
Life is also about things that we do have control over - eg. good relationships, good books, enjoyment of nature, pets. They can continue. Focus on the things that you can control, and protest about the wider stuff.

I cope because my life has been an utter shit show for several years: 2020 is a walk in the park

We managed to cope when Woolworths went bust.....

Love this 😂

NewKitty, I think the clue maybe in you opening senstence.....I read in The Times
Its hard not to keep poking at the news, I do it. I'm looking for some kind of resolution. There is nothing.

I think stockpiling is totally pointless and rather sad.

Why do you think that - randomer? Genuinely interested.
In the likely event that loads of the stuff that we like eating is not available, or is much more expensive than it used to be, I think that there will be some comfort in having some nice things to eat sometimes. Especially over the remainder of the winter and Covid period.

History shows we have been worse off and we will come through it.

Covid is shit. Brexit will be shit. Recovery will be slow.

But we will bounce back. Our parents survived 17% interest rates, the Cold War, 3 day week and blackouts. Our grandparents survived the war, rations etc. Our grandparents lived through the Spanish flu.

Humans are not meant to go without drama for long swathes of time. This is just our crisis to weather.

It was worse in the 70s and 80s, they were very grim times

But we got on with our lives because it wasn't thrust in our faces 24/7

Plus I work for a major supermarket. Seriously, you don’t need to stockpile. The only things likely to be disrupted is fresh fruit, veg and certain meat that can’t get though the ports.

The only thing I got from your post was that Debenhams have folded and I have £120 in vouchers for there so I better go spend them!

@Greektome, because there will never, ever be enough and its taking it away from others.
Todays extra tin of soup, is tomorrows case of soup, is the next days larder full of soup. Stockpiler, prepper...what next a machine gun and the Confederate flag?

That's crap. Brexit is pointless - 100% avoidable. A massive home goal.
And lots of people didn't survive the war or Spanish flu.
It's not OK just because most people don't actually die.
And people will die - from the increase in poverty, less healthy food, increase in mental health problems, and the (let's face it, engineered) collapse of the NHS.

@ancientgran

I just had a thought. I was the youngest, and probably poorest, mum at playgroup. Everyone was so thrilled I won. Was the raffle a fix? I never thought of it before but I can see the committee ladies all smiling and so excited for me, I bet it was and I could cry.

It's lovely to think people cared and they looked out for you.....

We have a vaccine coming.

We have a new US President who is committed, along with others, to protecting the planet we all live on.

We have a health system, and a welfare system.

It is in nobody’s interest for Brexit to crash everyone’s economy.

Everything can seem scary, but everything will be ok. As for the first suggestion, of stockpiling things under your bed and at the bottom of wardrobes, I think you need to practice some mindfulness, and calm down.

If you’re anxious, it’s not a great idea to post on forums like this, as a lot of posters enjoy whipping eachother into a panicky frenzy about these sorts of things.

Preppers (which I'm not) have been stockpiling for a long time. This does not take away from others, as supermarkets have been well able to re-stock their goods.
It's true that stockpiling now is leaving it a bit late.

[quote Newkitty]@ancientgran that is a lovely story!

I am reading all these replies and realising that a) I am massively catastrophizing and b) there is also a lot to be worried about. Both things are true!

I realise that people had it worse in the past. I don't think I could live through what my grandparents lived through.[/quote]
@NewKitty - you would have come through it, because you would have had no choice. The same as we will get through the present time, step by step, day by day......