To think some people found lockdown really hard and it wasn't their fault

[elliejjtiny]

I don't normally think about this, it's something horrible that happened but it's over for us for the most part thank goodness (I appreciate there are people who are still struggling a lot).

It's that time of year so some people are saying 5 years ago we were doing xyz for the last time etc. Mil was going on about how great she found lockdown. Not a lot changed for her and FIL as they don't go out much and they are retired. Meanwhile I had 5 dc with SEN, one of whom licks everything and for us life changed dramatically for the worse. I was saying that it was nice that MIL enjoyed lockdown but for us it was extremely hard. She told me it was my fault and it would have been fun for us too if I had been more organised.

IMO for some people lockdown was awful.

I think with it coming up to the 5 year anniversary a lot of people will be reflecting like that, and we'll see more threads on here.

@ThePartingOfTheWays duh, of course! Silly me wasn't thinking big enough. Neither was OP according to MIL

@limefruit I sympathise- my son was 21 at the time living in a shared house in London- he had to do his job from home at this point and at one point had 24 laptops on his bedroom floor and had to arrange delivery to various places every day( they were being set up with particular systems and software) - the house had no lounge and just lived in his room and the kitchen. His mental health went to pot and he smoked far too much weed to cope- luckily he turned it all round quite quickly

Oh God. I have so much unresolved rage about lockdown that I daren't even try to articulate it.

What got to me the most was the sudden realisation how easy it would be to recruit people into the Stasi. It was almost a global Standird Prison experiment in many ways. And the oppression of discussion in case "misinformation" was hugely frustrating.

Any other veterans of the "State of Fear" threads here? The shrieking of far right every time conversation got interesting or mildly controversial?

On a personal level it was utter shite for so many reasons, and I know others had it worse, it was absolutely harrowing for so many people. All the guilt tripping and WW2 analogies, and accusations of lack of resilience were revolting.

Covid was a pivotal point, far more damaging but as significant as 9/11 IMHO, in terms of decline in so many directions. And when people say oh, but "the greater good" etc, they overlook that every previous sensible pandemic strategy had been scrapped and defunded in I think 2016 (correct me if I'm wrong), and the clowns in charge basically winged it, merrily lining their own pockets along the way.

I'm going to go and try and bring my blood pressure down now, before I say something "not in the spirit".....

@MistressoftheDarkSide perfectly accurate sadly !

Absolutely not unreasonable.

It was awful for me and I'm sick of being reminded about that time.

I loved it but really felt for people with babies and young children and appreciate it wasn't easy for a lot of people.

Depending on the situation.

For me it should have been easy, big house, large garden, small town, 3 grown up kids, husband still worked all through, self employed, got my grants but took months to get them so had to take payment breaks, no-one vulnerable. BUT it nearly destroyed me, my eldest had a newborn, 2 younger ones were furloughed. Middle child retreated into cyber world and took ages to get them out. Youngest got stuck in an abusive relationship which we are still feeling the effects on now due to overload of MH services and shutting down of nearly all Gps in our area.We live in an area with a massive elderly population loads of care homes and we had no deaths from COVID at all.We have had several due to missed cancer diagnosis.I was also one of the people who couldn't wear a mask so was trying to stay away due to the abuse. After 3 weeks due to my mh and my eldest we gave up with the so called rules. We saw each other and tried to have some sort of normality. Luckily all my friends and family felt the same. Also I was fortunate enough to live with a scientist specialising in data analytics who talked me through the dark days. I know I was fortunate and I felt for those stuck in awful situations. I will never forgive those that pushed us into lockdown and I will never forget those that judged others for doing what the felt they had to. I have come out the other side a more sceptical, angry ,less compassionate person. That makes me very sad 😞

Yep I'd just gone self employed and had very little work. I didn't qualify for any self employment grants due to becoming self employed the month before lockdown! Which was particularly galling given some people the defraud the scheme with fake buisnesses.

I was awaiting and had surgery I had to go through all of the pre tests, appointments and the surgery alone. It absolutely wrecked my mental health as I was so anxious and unsupported.

I lost my grandma in lockdown. Things had eased slightly but she still spent her last conscious hours alone in a waiting room in hospital. We were with her when she died but she was no longer conscious. This breaks my heart.

My partner worked in a health and social care adjacent role so worked very long days and was massively stressed.

These are just a few bits from my experience and I probably got off lightly. It honestly makes me fucking furious that people harp on about how lovely lockdown was. Even if it was or them which I can totally understand, the way they re so self absorbed they can't seem to grasp it was awful for others is astounding a tbh probably one if the many reasons we're totally fucked as a society.

Yeah it was crap. DH and I were working FT, the nature of my job meant it was busier than ever, and we were trying to homeschool a 7/8yo with AuDHD and look after a 2/3yo. I had awful anxiety trying to deal with it all and was working round the clock trying to get stuff done.

It was also very lonely. I cried after my parents popped over and had a conversation with us through the living room window when it was DC1's birthday. We had no other family nearby.

The government threw children and young people under the bus and the way people behaved, turning into neighbourhood police, was ridiculous.

And I am very aware we were lucky really. No-one we knew died. No-one in the family has been left with any lasting effects, mental or physical.

Suicidal and 8 months pregnant. I can't even remember it now. I think my brain deleted it.

@Sallysoup yes there was a period in summer 2020 when things were open but with some restriction eg face masks indoors, and then the Tiers restrictions in the Autumn which depended on where you lived, but there was another period of full lockdown January to March 2021 which was worse than the first one because it was in the winter so no sitting in the garden or enjoying countryside walks as a novelty. That was the worst in my opinion.

Yes, I was thinking along similar lines. And can I say that I remember some of your posts during lockdown and although you were obviously struggling, you came across as a very positive person.

Hated it and I still feel that world has never recovered its joyfulness for me. It was like a veil was lifted and I saw the world for what it really was - state control had never oppressed me like that before and I had not been but aware of the full power of the state to oppress and manipulate.

I found it absolutely horrendous.

People are still being affected now. These welfare cuts that are coming are to pay for these fucking lockdowns

I was on a ventilator, in ICU for 6 weeks in 2020 with COVID and double pneumonia, so no, how the fuck could it have been fun? Lots of people died.
Your MIL is an insensitive cow.

Fucking Tier 4.....................because they didnt want to call it what it was A lockdown

My OM (who i got back together with in Sept 2021 after 13 and a half years apart cos lockdowns taught me that life is short) sometimes dribbles + spits a little when he talks because he had a STROKE in 2017 really struggled with the masks. And because he lives alone he didnt see anyone for four months. His stroke affected his speech and his swallow reflex but luckily nothing else

OMG Another one for our bingo card over on the Mners without chilidren board

Yep I know the feeling

Yep Im here.

My brother had a mental breakdown leading into psychosis/CPTSD/psychotic depression caused by social isolation and fear that he has never recovered from, even a tiny bit, in the following five years. He is on his fourth detainment under the MH act at present having had no apparent MH issues beforehand in his previous 40 years of life. He was living alone abroad with a suddenly enormous work from home workload and no support or connection from within work or outside of it (he's 'home' now, actually detained in a psychiatric hospital 100 miles away from us). I'll never say the measures were all unnecessary - as they weren't, but the impact on mental health has been disastrous. I've watched it play out with my own eyes over the last half decade.

My autistic and severely learning disabled son regressed during lockdown and has never recovered either.

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's on March 14th 2020, you can imagine how (the little existing) support played out.

Some bad timing, not all of it means lockdown was bad overall but the impact on our family has been akin to a nuclear bomb going off and there is no recovery from it for any of those affected it seems, nor reprieve for those of us living and caring for them.

I’d be interested in the actual wording the MIL used