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Original poster

To think that life just hasn’t been the same ever since covid

267 replies

Youcantbeseriousmate · 12/02/2025 22:12

Does anyone feel the same?

It feels like something changed. Life carries on and there are sometimes good times, but it doesn’t feel the same, people don’t seem genuinely happy anymore.
When I think back to before covid, it seems like a different world

OP posts:
wingingit1987 · 12/02/2025 22:15

I actually didn’t mind the whole lockdown era. I’m very introverted and think it just suited me. I worked for part of it (nurse) but was pregnant so was put on special leave from 28weeks (this was pre-vaccine). So I found it was actually a nice, easy pregnancy as I was able to rest up much earlier on. I was then homeschooling during maternity leave which I loved. I loved having the kids all home and have so many nice memories of that time. The only thing we hugely missed was travelling/holidays.

100PercentFaithful · 12/02/2025 22:16

No. I feel like we are back to normal.

Createausername1970 · 12/02/2025 22:17

I don't feel that way.

COVID and all the lockdowns seems so long ago.

Everything is much the same, some things have changed in the meantime, but then they would over a typical 5 year span.

Original poster
Youcantbeseriousmate · 12/02/2025 22:17

100PercentFaithful · 12/02/2025 22:16

No. I feel like we are back to normal.

We are back to normal..,but do you feel the same as you did pre covid? Do you feel as happy?

OP posts:
Changeandchanges · 12/02/2025 22:17

I totally agree with you OP.
There has been a real fundamental change in society since COVID.

There has been a total breakdown in manners and respect for social norms.

Caravaggiouch · 12/02/2025 22:18

The lockdowns were such a shit experience for me (no nice relaxing times or being furloughed or spending them sitting in the garden here!) that I actually feel like it made me seize life more afterwards. In a “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” type situation.

mynameiscalypso · 12/02/2025 22:19

Not at all. I know some people have to live with the legacy of it - mental health issues, long covid, bereavement - but it really had minimal impact on me. My life isn't the same as pre-COVID but that's because I'm 5 years older, have a 5 year old and not a baby, have changed jobs, moved house etc. All of that stuff would have happened whether or not Covid had happened.

Original poster
Youcantbeseriousmate · 12/02/2025 22:19

Changeandchanges · 12/02/2025 22:17

I totally agree with you OP.
There has been a real fundamental change in society since COVID.

There has been a total breakdown in manners and respect for social norms.

Yes, so much feels different to before. I honestly don’t think people seem as genuinely happy

OP posts:
Dreamerinme · 12/02/2025 22:19

Back to normal here and I don’t know anyone else who doesn’t feel the same, but obviously there are many who feel the opposite too.

ThatShyRoseViper · 12/02/2025 22:21

Definitely different here, but more for health reasons than anything else. I used to do half marathons and now I couldn’t walk 200m comfortably. Fun.

ThePoshUns · 12/02/2025 22:23

I agree, I think we've lost something. I felt it this evening leaving the supermarket and thought of lockdown.
I think we've lost our joy, life feels very humdrum.
It feels like there could always be something else around the corner.

grafittiartist · 12/02/2025 22:23

I feel like life has changed too.
People seem different. Might be increased social media too though.

Diarygirlqueen · 12/02/2025 22:25

100% agree!

Everyone around me feels the same, we seem more prone to anger, we gather less together. It's so bloody sad.

Ineedanewsofa · 12/02/2025 22:26

I think it’s more to do with everything that has happened since the world opened back up - wars, genocide, global shift to right wing politics, cost of living crisis. I do hold covid/the lockdowns responsible for the bump in mental health issues in teens and am seeing firsthand the impact missing an entire year of school has had on my child’s education.
I personally am happier now because it forced me to confront some truths about the life I was living and was a catalyst for huge change BUT I didn’t lose anyone close to me and did not get any long term health issues from covid (never tested positive for it!). I may feel very differently if either of those things were different.

NotSmallButFunSize · 12/02/2025 22:26

All back to normal for me - the only remaining thing that pisses me off is that a lot of businesses seemed to use it as an excuse for shit service and have stayed shit ever since

theriseandfallofFranklinSaint · 12/02/2025 22:27

No, everything as before here except we're all 5 years older!

Life was strange for a few months but moved back to normal or a new normal if I count WFH which I thought would never happen for my work.

As an aside, what's with all the Covid threads recently???

Cadenza12 · 12/02/2025 22:27

Massive negative impact on me/family. Changed a lot in my life which I can never get back.

memoriesofamiga · 12/02/2025 22:28

I think people are seeing the pre-covid days with rose tinted glasses. It felt shit then to be me and now does aswell really, ray of sunshine that I am 😂

Aitchemarsey · 12/02/2025 22:29

I agree, in some ways that are hard to put your finger on.

One big thing for me is the way people's interest in the climate has absolutely disappeared in contrast to all of the protests and things around 2019. Like people are now much more fatalistic, and willing to just wait for things to gradually become unbearable.

haveacampaccuccuonme · 12/02/2025 22:29

I've felt slightly bored and unmotivated since covid. Tired all the time.

Like there's something missing as well. Can't quite put my finger on it.

Mind you - my life has thrown many curve balls in the last 5 years so it could be that.

Hazel665 · 12/02/2025 22:29

I think a lot of people were surprised to have found lockdown a relief. I wasn't furloughed - still went to work every day - but the social pressure was off. The Easter of 2020 was glorious weather and apart from work, there was nothing we had to do except go for a one hour walk each day.

Now we are back to rushing from appointment to appointment, along with massive increases in the cost of living, and life not looking so rosy for our young people in terms of jobs/affordability of higher education/housing/car insurance prices(!) in the future, or for us in our old age. No wonder we're all a bit down.

Oh, and it's still only February ffs.

Moodypony · 12/02/2025 22:29

We've been discussing this a lot in the office. Definitely a lack of respect, social manners and general courtesy. A lit of oeople are quick to blame, demanding and frankly entitled.

Dealing with large organisations has become impossible. No one wants to take responsibility and there is little customer service.

Definitely a lack of joy.

longestlurkerever · 12/02/2025 22:30

To me it's actually brexit thar was the turning point. Such division, it hasn't really healed. Covid gave a different focus for a while, and then became its own source of division, wgich probably exacerbated, what was already there but I don't feel like it was a watershed in the public mood really, though I recognise the shift from say 10 years ago.

AzurePanda · 12/02/2025 22:31

I don’t think people socialise and entertain as they
much as they did pre Covid.

Cynic17 · 12/02/2025 22:31

Life - for me - is exactly the same as it was before Covid. Didn't take it too seriously and just went straight back to normal as soon as stuff reopened.