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?

The Guardian is seemingly obsessed with the subject as well.

I can only say that I know of nobody who is still "dealing with the trauma of covid" (whatever that may mean).

Some people are over it, some people were affected badly and some died. My husband and daughter had a lovely time furloughed, whilst I was suddenly named a key worker. Senior management worked from home and basically left us to it without a care on how we were affected in our 24 hour shifts which left us at risk of infection, insisting that we took temperatures many times a day, taking service users to be tested, organising activities for them every single day for a whole year and trying to restrict their outside movements as per Government guidelines. I left within 18 months, best thing I could have done. We collaborated as a family and shopped accessing food and items that were hard to get whilst taking care of two sets of elderly parents. We survived, some did not. Was it worse than the second world war, were we impacted more during Covid? I think not. Many people died during the war, many people lost relatives and friends, there was rationing and fear and air raids, children shipped out to the country, life changing injuries etc. Yes, Covid was unpleasant and scary, but what happened to resilience? It was the first major UK incident since WWII and we simply could not cope with the issues which it brought.

Those that couldn't say goodbye to loved ones aren't over it. Those that are vaccine injured aren't over it. Those who had their freedom taken away while MPs had party's arnt over it. Those whose deaths were put down as COVID when in fact it wasn't (cancer treatment postponed etc) including murder those families aren't over it. Those who now can't get a GP appointment arnt over it. Those who struggle now with cost of living arnt over it. Those who are over it you are very lucky.

Er, yes you are aware of people who have, given that you’ve just posted on a long thread of people saying they have, not least the OP.

150 years ago few children reached the age of 5. Society handled it and without too much hand wringing.

It’s actually not true that it didn’t cause hand wringing, I’m an academic and can’t remember the exact name of the book I read a while back now, but basically someone researched whether living with high infant and child mortality rates in the nineteenth century meant that parents experienced less grief when their babies or children died than they do currently, as those deaths were more expected. The researcher found that didn’t make a difference, the loss of a child is always equally devastating basically.

I completely agree OP. I think the whole fabric of the country feels different, much more stressed, much less connected. My best friend still has long covid and has lost her job, another friends husband had to be completely shielded so she and her children were isolated for a year, another friend was separated from her mum who couldn't travel and died of covid in another country. I know lots of families where their childrens mental health was very badly affected, most of them are doing okay now but not all.

It started five years ago, but it was really only from 2022 on that people stopped talking about it as much. I think it is all very recent and is definitely still raw for many people.

This time 4 years ago we were still in lockdown. Schools went back on 8/3, but most restrictions on public indoor spaces persisted. The next phase was 12/ 4 when you could freeze your tits off in a beer garden. Another phase in May. Then the promised June date was deferred back to July with a new variant. While the autumn/ winter had few restrictions brought in, the threat of them was real and constant. It still was not business as usual and that general confidence to make plans without disruption or addition risk assessments crept back through 2022 into 2023.

People go on as though it was over by July 2020. It wasn't. That was just the warm-up phase. Some regions barely came out of lockdown at all for over a year (Leicester). Great chunks of the north and midlands barely had any reprive before the constant instability of the Tiers affected them and constantly shifting goalposts and increasingly illogical restrictions.

I am definitely over it. It feels like a long time ago and I don't have any personal negative memories from it. I'm not aware of any close friends or family that are still affected. 3 young family members who were covid babies are fully socialised and don't seem to be dealing with any developmental issues as a result of covid. The only thing that bothers me is if I get unwell I'm much more conscious than I used to be of making a vulnerable person sick.

Yeah it was a while ago now, let’s move on. My nephew is in junior school and everyone his age and younger (ie half of Generation Alpha) won’t even remember it.

They'll sure as hell be affected by it, however. School kids are an interesting example, given that the change in social attitudes to school attendance is one of the more obvious, lasting impacts of the pandemic.

Some people were bereaved by Covid, some people are left with permanent health problems, some children have continuing problems with socialising. That doesn’t mean that keep discussing it is helpful. I was bereaved and the circumstances around that were difficult. Reading this thread has stirred things up for me. Some comments have made me angry. I think it’s better now to just move forward accept what can’t be changed and continue to help any kids who are still adjusting in practical ways rather than focusing on the past.

People go on as though it was over by July 2020. It wasn't. That was just the warm-up phase. Some regions barely came out of lockdown at all for over a year (Leicester). Great chunks of the north and midlands barely had any reprive before the constant instability of the Tiers affected them and constantly shifting goalposts and increasingly illogical restrictions.

This annoys me as well - we are in Wales and restictions here just kept on and on at national and local levels- schools, dentist and GPs.

But before they eneded we also went into wide spread public tranpsort strikes which hit us - massive teacher shortages at DC school and other problems there- then cost of living - the NHS problems with wider family then deaths we had babies and young kids this year and last in family start school and foucs has been for years getting them caught up and my kids keeping them in school and trying to migitgate gaps for them.

My IL tend to be one who go on about it more - good and bad - their social circle was hit and it did mark more or a turning point in their lives while for us and my family it was start of period of change than in many respects is still ongoing.

It was terrible for the people working in hospitals and they were putting themselves at risk. The post you are responding to made me very angry.

It is being talked about - there was a program about long covid earlier this week on Radio 4, and at a recent gathering with friends people were talking about the affect in our kids (who were 16-18 at the time). My sister never got her taste back. Plus wasn’t there an upsurge of cases not so long ago?
It is now as they said it would be: it’s not going to disappear but the immediacy has died down so it’s not headline news anymore.

But people were banned from seeing family and friends. And many had to keep on working.

The separation of us all is the thing that has led to a lasting impact, IMO. People are more disconnected than before lockdowns, more insular. At the time people couldn't share the experience with their social network, thus making them less relient to stress and trauma.

Pressure sores on your face? Do you mean rub marks? Your fit test was clearly inadequate.

I know lots of people who worked in critical care and they had every resource chucked at them financially, equipment, staff, food including constant treats and takeaways.

Of course it was a tough time, there was a pandemic it was always going to be a challenge. Maybe a different clinical area would suit you better?

No I mean actual pressure sores, from a hard plastic mask that was pressed up against my nose for hours on end!

Yes there were treats, yes there were takeaways, the first wave, they very soon disappeared.

Staff came, but couldn't do half the work we needed them to do!

Do you honestly think that takes away from what we saw or did ,do you???

No a different area wouldn't suit me! Why would you even think that, you know nothing about me!

'No I mean actual pressure sores, from a hard plastic mask that was pressed up against my nose for hours on end!'

Very unusual to get pressure sores from face masks. Most people used the ffp paper masks unless they had a beard which I presume you don't, then they used the full face respirator type. If you need ppe again I'd ask for a better fit test.

It was of course a challenging time but a competent critical care nurse should be resilient and more than able to look after 2 vented patients at a time with another less experienced member of staff assisting.

It was the ward staff I felt sorry for as everything understandably seemed to be channeled to critical care.

Unfortunately it’s dropped vaccination rates in children as there are more anti vaxxers now, and some people think the government are putting covid vaccine in other vaccines.

Wake up sheeple!

Covid didn’t cause mental anxiety or financial hardship. It was government policy that they didn’t apply to themselves.

As for the pp whose husband died of Covid 19 while being fully vaccinated and shielded, I would be bloody angry if I was you.

Well it wasn't unusual! We weren't wearing paper masks! we were wearing hard plastic masks

I am a very competent critical care nurse! Still working in critical care and still loving it!

It was working in full PPE, hot sweaty, not being able to talk, to eat, to drink, to having to plan to have a week as you had no idea how long you would be in for!

if you weren't there, you have no idea, so crawl back under your rock!

Yes, I think this is a really good way to put it.

And those impacts are ongoing. Clearly not going anywhere, any time soon. We'd have to actually do something to fix that particular issue, and we haven't. Which makes all the talk of it being done, get over it etc, wildly premature.

It's deeply affected our life, in that my then 11yr old daughter ended up in a coma after it attacked her brain. She is 15 now and she will be reliant on me or someone always.