to think Covid is changing people in unusual and disturbing ways?

[tttigress]

Have you noticed Covid changing you friends? Effecting their mental health?

Couple of examples of friends who have been very vocal on social media:

Friend1:
previously: quite left wing, into animal rights.
now: sees Covid as a scam, posting stuff from right ring/conspiracy oriented sites, attended a protest where people like David Icke was in attendance, many comments about "do your own research, don't listen to the main stream media"

Friend2:
previously: quite relaxed (maybe too relaxed), bit of a stoner, bit of a drinker, life of the part, quite sociable.
now: hardly leaves the house due to Covid, thinks people should wear masks at all times - even when outside, thinks people are taking Covid nowhere near seriously enough, thinks the media is underplaying Covid, thinks doctors are underplaying Covid etc. Although they think their life is in imminent danger from Covid still smokes and drinks at home

I am am bit concerned about the mental health crisis Covid could be causing

@lljkk my advice would be to stay off Facebook

I agree with all of the above.

I don't know if it's mental health or not ut covid has made people very snitchy and also very dictatorial about the way people should feel or behave. We have lost some really basic freedom here

We’re already in a mental health crisis before Covid hit - it’s just that before now no notice was taken. Mental health is ignored, misunderstood and much maligned and is, in my opinion, the last acceptable form of discrimination.

I have personally had to work on my sociability, as my hobby is very involved (writing), and whilst I find it hugely rewarding, I don't want to end up an obsessive shut in.

I have noticed some positives in our work though, in that I can see people are REALLY listening to each other respectfully over Teams in a way people just weren't in person. They're taking turns, and we've adopted queuing gestures and contributions that really help structure the discussion.

(like everyone doing thumbs up to signify agreement, a gesture for a minor intercession to clarify a detail, and joining a queue to speak by raising fingers - and the last person to speak hands over to the next person in the queue rather than the traditional scrabble to get your word in next)

I genuinely think that our team have communicated better and are happier as a result, which is something I'd like to keep up.

It's at times like this you realise there isn't much difference between the extreme right and extreme left.

Antisemitism and Brexit are are two of their meeting points, and COVID conspiracies from 5G to vaccination tracking is definitely another.

@tttigress I don't think so, all my friends are compiling long bucket lists on what to do post covid. Examples include going on the trans siberian railway, road trip in the USA, Gigs etc. I am going to NYC after all this!
My colleague is adamant that he is moving back to london and he dislike wfh (despite the fact that he doesn't own his home, and hence wfh would really benefit him as he could get a far cheaper place in his home city, but i guess life is more than property ownership).

I lived through SARS in a badly affected country as an 11 year old. It was nowhere on the scale of covid but we couldn't go anywhere without mandatory temperature checks for 2 years. It didn't fundamentally change society, just caused a massive recession (which had far worse long term effects).

I don't see what's wrong with friend 1 suggesting you do your own research and not listen to mainstream media? Quite sensible.

I'm not surprised that friend 2 is a stoner and seems paranoid about going out and catching a virus. And they're still smoking so it will just be heightened all the more.

I think it may have brought out the worst in some people. I still know people who genuinely suspect we live in The Matrix, or who think aliens have infiltrated global government. People look for explanations, reasons and patterns, that's why religious beliefs are so reassuring.

Yep. It’s totally reinforced my disbelief in government. I’ve loathed government in general since Tony Blair grinned his way into power, made himself rich and took us into his illegal war based on a huge lie (and he still walks free) but now I utterly despise government, and I distrust everything they say more than ever.

I live in a city centre. I have noticed some weirdness from neighbours I usually thought were pretty rational.

Odd stuff over phoning police about the communal garden. Then going on about pets in the garden. Petitions / votes. Then a lot of aggro over tourist buses (they kill apparently) and traffic calming stuff.

@Livelovebehappy

I was discussing with my sister the idea on social media re the vaccine containing a microchip which people thought was going to be used by the government. Such a stupid theory, and I was laughing. Silence on the phone from sister, and then she said ‘well I actually think there might be some truth in that....’. She’s normally very level headed and would never have believed this sort of conspiracy thing 9 months ago.

don't know why this is so far fetched

let's face it, if I told you, last year, it would be illegal for me to have tea with my neighbour on account of a virus with a 99.6dotdotrecurring chance of death, you'd laugh. You'd say, oh no, the rate would have to be at least 10% before they'd do something like that (I'd have gone for 30% personally).

microchip volunteers go back at least 5 years, don't they? here's an article from 2019

www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/08/the-rise-of-microchipping-are-we-ready-for-technology-to-get-under-the-skin

Friend 1 - man nearly 60, oldest of our group of friends, so potentially most at risk, thinks it's all exaggerated, we can solve it all with vit D, shares conspiracy videos. (He knows full well that Covid is real, but is so annoyed at not being able to do his hobby)

Friend 2 - casually mentioned going to visit friends and family that were nowhere near local in the middle of lockdown

Friend 3 - stays home all the time because she wants her DM to be able to visit her, I was surprised she invited me around because I go everywhere I'm allowed to go, including busy public transport

Smug married - I know quite a few people who are actually enjoying lockdown at home with their families, enjoying having an excuse not to go out etc. I spent some time absolutely hating these people, but I'm over it now

Myself, I follow the law while having as much of a life as possible under the restrictions where I live.

@wanderings

Yep. It’s totally reinforced my disbelief in government. I’ve loathed government in general since Tony Blair grinned his way into power, made himself rich and took us into his illegal war based on a huge lie (and he still walks free) but now I utterly despise government, and I distrust everything they say more than ever.

I've always been a bit unsure about government but now I'm really worried about them and would go for the most libertarian regime possible.

"don't know why this is so far fetched"

Oh come on. It's as far fetched as the idea that Covid is caused by 5G.

@guga - I agree you need to get you information from multiple sources, but some of the courses friend1 is suggesting are very far out of the norm, they seem to have use the classic conspiracy idea of talking something that has a grain of truth to it, and then totally blowing that out of all proportion.

I'm not convinced it has changed people any more than Brexit did. The rules have changed and the boundaries have moved.
We are finding out who has genuine beliefs and critical thinking skills, and who doesn't, who will take advantage of others given the chance, who will be swept along with a crowd.

Your friend number one hasn't changed as much as you think, he sounds like the usual kind of authoritarian bloke who gravitates to the latest cause. A lot of people who hang around in the left aren't left wing at all, they just want the kudos of being seen as right and just, and its not popular in their circles to be conservative.

@Gwenhwyfar

"don't know why this is so far fetched"

Oh come on. It's as far fetched as the idea that Covid is caused by 5G.

but people voluntarily microchipping themselves would have seemed far fetched to me 10 years ago.

I’ve completely confused myself! My entire life I’ve been left leaning, I describe myself as an old school socialist but I find myself inwardly raging at how we seem so willing to surrender our civil rights and freedom to choose in the face of this virus. I’m also a fatalist - if I get it, I get it.

It’s interesting about what you said about friend 2 being a stoner.

I also know one that was managing with life sort of ok .

As soon as covid came along paranoia set in big time . And he is in a very low risk group . Actually very worrying to see and extremely hard for his partner.

Not quite sure how he is going to cope with return to work . It was like it triggered something dormant at the back of his mind.

It’s just all very very divisive

BBC news people think non MSM folk are conspiracists
Non MSM people think BBC news folk are brainwashed sheep

Libertarians think the authoritarians are nazis
Authoritarians think libertarians are murderers

Never the Twain will meet

"don't know why this is so far fetched" post that from your mobile phone did you? Or from your computer?

Assuming you have a mobile phone, use google, have either an Alexa or a google home they don’t need to inject you with a microchip to know where you are. You’ve already given them access to that information.

TBH I think that it’s worth remembering that we came to this change very quickly. We went from socialising to not overnight and it rapidly became a way of life. So there’s no reason why people can’t go back to how it was before.

I think the worst thing for mental health is essentially talking people into it, i.e. having an expectation that people’s mental health must be affected by this, which while many people’s will be, many others will not.

As for conspiracy theorists, well there’s no arguing with stupid, so I just wouldn’t give them any airtime. In fact I unfriend them if they pop up on my FB timeline.

I think there's a lot more damage to people's mental health than we think. I expect there's a lot of people walking around who are far more impacted than even they know.

I say this after my experience earlier this week. I've been fine through most of the pandemic. I was panicking and scared at the beginning but settled down into a routine once it became clear this wasn't an armaggeddon event. I rarely go out anyway so keeping safe wasn't a huge change and where I live there's been no issues with getting food delivered.

But on the way back from a hospital appointment the other day I drove past my town big, electronic, information board at the side of the motorway. It said 'It's not over yet, keep your distance!' and when I saw it, from nowhere I burst into tears. Real, ugly sobbing tears. For the rest of that day I really struggled with feeling of hopelessness and despair. It took me complete by surprise. I thought I was doing fine. Clearly I'm not, I'm just keeping my head in the sand until the danger has passed and this warning chipped through my defences.

YABU. Of course a deadly global pandemic will affect people's mental health. I think there's probably a problem if it doesn't tbh.

Friend 2 - doesn't sound like a mental health problem, it sounds like reality. We SHOULD be wearing masks around people who aren't in our household whether that's indoors or out. 600+ people are dying per day yet people just don't seem to care anymore.

If anything, I think Covid has shown how selfish and entitled so many people are. So many people don't care about others and can't face sacrificing for the sake of people's lives.

We have had a large number of people move here (rural) from cities. Many of whom will I think end up miserable and trying to move back. Rural life can be lovely when you are walking the dog through lanes in Spring, but less lovely when you are alone through long, dark, endlessly wet Winters. It is harder to make friends here than in a city, which isn’t great for anyone’s mental health. Being in the office has its advantages, my DH has worked from home for many years and it can be really difficult, harder to network, hard not to get distracted when children are at home or things at home need doing.
Many people seem to be making big life choices based on stress and panic.

Yes, without going into details. I find it very sad.