To think many people are still dealing with the trauma of COVID, but we just don’t talk about it?

[BluntLilacGuide]

It feels like everyone wants to act as if life has completely gone back to normal, but I don’t think that’s true for a lot of people. The pandemic disrupted lives in ways we still haven’t fully processed - whether it’s grief, anxiety, financial struggles, or just a lingering sense of uncertainty.

I see people who still struggle with social anxiety, who haven’t fully recovered financially, or who feel like they lost years of their lives. But because everything has “moved on,” there’s no space to acknowledge it anymore.

AIBU to think that COVID left a lasting impact on people’s mental health and general outlook on life, even if no one really talks about it?

I swear I saw almost exact or very similar thread on mumsnet a day or so ago

i can just tell you how the thread will go

some will say don’t be silly
others will agree with you
and then it will evolve in to an argument about whether lockdown was the right thing to do

so I have saved you the bother of reading your thread op!

I am not sure what the acknowledgement will achieve. People who still process trauma need appropriate professional support. It makes zero difference if you or I "acknowledge it". It's a bit like breast cancer awareness campaigns. Yeah, we are aware. Now what?

Yeah I’m sure you’re right but also…it was half a decade ago. What are we supposed to do now? We just need to keep moving forward instead of constantly harking back to harder times.

A lot of people don’t seem very resilient. Heaven help us if there is a war (which seems increasingly likely).

I agree with you OP, for what it’s worth.

I don’t know anyone who is.

The fact that this thread is trotted out on repeat means its all that's bloody talked about! Its been all over the BBC all week as well.

People have to learn to move on.

Sometimes we all just have to accept what life throws at us, accept that other people just aren't that interested, and just get on with it ourselves.

In the list of things to worry about these days it's quite far down. We all need to start looking for things to be positive about, not the opposite.

Why does this inane "god help us if there is a war" thing come up in every single thread?

What are you expecting to happen in that event? The entire population to promptly wet themselves and run around wailing and flailing their arms in the air?

If there is a war, people will get on with it, the same as they did during Covid, the same as they did during every other bloody war.

Covid was a long time ago . Those who suffered a bereavement deserve our empathy. Everyone else needs to stop looking for reasons to keep on about it . All that really happened is we stayed home . No-one I know mentions it anymore .

It's been five years and I think that the people who are genuinely traumatised need to be proactive in seeking help and support to address it.

Financially we haven’t recovered as my husband was in hospitality and unfortunately earned nothing like what we anticipated. Furlough was fantastic and we are so very grateful- but it didn’t come close to his usual earnings. We have a plan and will get straight, in many years.

Im an ICU sister. Rarely give those awful days headspace now. I have lots of compassion for those that passed away or have life long illnesses resulting from Covid. In all honesty tho, we’ve got to move on.

I feel a bit traumatised by it but I'm not sure what form of acknowledgement would help. Probably better not to dwell on it. I'll admit to becoming angry when people say it wasn't a big deal (because it was to me) but that's a me problem really.

A day or 2 before covid shut everything down I was diagnosed with cancer, then I was pretty much left to it for months, which, unfortunately resulted in me having a stroke, which probably wouldn't have happened had I had my operation and treatment sooner.

That whole covid period has left a lasting negative effect on my life, and my kids lives too, we were all scared, and none of us knew what would happen to me.

We know 2 people who died of cancer, very likely die to all the delays, over that period of time too.

I'm not sure I'll ever be over it really.

We lost time and yes I do think there have been society changes but post covid we've experienced worse with NHS services and other services than we durring.

I think have focus on future because with kids they need us to do that - not dwell and there's still bills to pay ever rising ones.

My siblings and DH all got screwed by employers having worked their ases off during during cirsis and then fucking them over later - siblings losing their jobs - DH chosing to move on. They don't want to dwell - and in my family everything was elipsed with ill health and deaths plus more mundane exams and kids moving on to next stages.

Covid is still affecting some people.
Some people are perpetual victims, others are not.
Large numbers of children haven't returned to full-time school.
Some are still waiting to access mental health support.
Some business collapsed and people are still recovering amd/or have found alternative incomes.
Some people have pulled themselves together and are trudging on.
After 4 years though, we should have found / be finding ways to move forward.
I know people in places that do not have the support resources we have in Britain, so people have just had to strap up and decide to live their lives as best they can instead of wallowing.
A generalisation, but at some point you must make a choice as to how you move forward.

There's not no space. Some people are happy to have these conversations. So yabu there.

Rather, there are some who not only aren't willing, which is their right, but also whine about other people doing it. Additionally, there are always people who react with anger on threads discussing entirely obvious consequences of covid and lockdown, such as change in attitudes to school attendance. Sometimes these people are fine discussing other aspects of pandemic trauma.

Its been all over the BBC all week as well.

We've seen and heard adverts for their covid programs my teens - eye roll and don't want a bar of it - they don't want to look back.

I think I remember reading something similar post spanish flu - society as whole wanted to move on and not talk about it- Dad said something similar happend to bad flu in 60s he vaugley remembered.

Perhaps there's a need to move on till more time passes and emotional disatance is greater.

Me neither

YANBU, OP. Honestly most of the respondents to this thread so far don’t sound like the most emotionally intelligent people in the world, so it’s not surprising if people they know who might be struggling don’t confide in them.

There’s something odd about people who are so insistent that ‘we have to move on’, yet click on a thread about the psychological aftermath of Covid when it’s posted. How about taking your own advice and moving on by not clicking on the thread?

Personally I think it’s possible to move on with life while also acknowledging that we went through something that was, and in some cases still is, very disruptive for some people’s lives, in ways that include but don’t only involve bereavement. It was, and in some cases still is, also very socially divisive, partly because it was so disruptive for some yet not for others.

It’s because it’s the 5th anniversary of the first lockdown.

Lockdowns were an infringement on human liberties and should never have happened.

I was shielded and my fully vaccinated husband died of Covid in 2023. What am I supposed to be doing, other than getting on with life? 🤷‍♀️

Sitting around, feeling sorry for myself, won’t change a thing.🙄

I feel completely over it, but due to my circumstances I had a really enjoyable lockdown.

My good friend is absolutely not over it. She has long COVID and has lost her job. Her marriage is also going down the toilet as a result.

I suspect most people are more or less over it though aren’t they?