Impending sense of doom.. anyone else?

[Hmmmmminteresting]

I've been absolutely fine till tonight. I have a really bad feeling, like sick to my stomach that this is the end of the world as we know it. Am I being unreasonably dramatic? This is not like me

[TheYearOfTheDog]

Thank @seventyone72seventy3
I had lunch with my family on sunday 2nd march and one of the things we talked about was italy. It was my perception that things had already been known to be very bad for a while there at that point (a week at least)

I can't wait for new cases per day to start going down in italy. I know none of us out of the woods at that point but it is a date im awaiting.

[Seventyone72seventy3]

@TheYearOfTheDog On the 8th March the "red zone" was extended to include Lombardy and a few other towns outside of Lombardy. The day after it was extended to the whole country iirc.

[TheYearOfTheDog]

@Seventyone72seventy3 can you remember what date they first started warning italians, asking them not to go out?

My perception is that you're weeeeeks ahead there, so the fact that new cases havent started to go down yet is very scary.

[JustaScratch]

Definitely. bit anxious OP. About the health impact sure, but also the economic and social impact - it will be huge.

[Seventyone72seventy3]

Hi OP. I'm in Italy and I felt exactly like you a couple of weeks ago. Now we're actually in the midst of it I feel better. Obviously I'm really worried but the panic has abated. I think it's worse at the beginning when you are still trying to convince yourself that nothing will change but feel that everything is changing that you feel overwhelmed.

[klaraday]

Could this outbreak also have long term benefits? Perhaps manufacturing will move back to the west to some extent, we will take food security more seriously and grow more here reducing food waste. Things like work from home, UBI and internet as a utility not luxury could be seen as more reasonable. The NHS may finally get the respect and funding it deserves. People may become more proactive about their health as you never know when something like this could happen? A slow down on the economy might help us readjust what success looks like and see it doesn't have to be just growth and the environment might also benefit, perhaps the coronavirus will save us from climate catastrophe? Perhaps society will stop being so polarized and inequality will be challenged by this?

I don't know what will happen but I think there are bound to be some positives?

[Nquartz]

Personally I'm not scared about getting it because we're healthy but I'm terrified of the pressure on the NHS (would be a really bad time to have any other kind of illness or accident), the impact on the economy (have friends who will be financially fucked after the announcement yesterday) and worried we'll drive each other mad in lock down.

It feels like we're sleep walking into a disaster and people are still wittering on about it just being flu

[chicken2015]

I have had this since last night , im in high risk group so self isolating for the 12 weeks, husband now out at Tesco as our ocado got cancelled yesterday, 3 yr old special needs nursery has decided to close she has autism non verbal so thats going to b hard, had about 4 hours sleep as couldnt sleep, going to be intresting day

[GuyFawkesDay]

I woke up fine then that realisation the world has gone to shit a bit hit me.

I'm luckier than most. My salary will be ok, as will DH and we will have time to rebuild financially long term.

I worry for my parents with existing conditions. My 90yr old grandma. My colleague who just finished chemo. My relatives who are self employed.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Yes, I’m worried.

I’ve been told to work from home for the next six months. Dh also working from home now. I’m worried about his job. I’d guess mine is fairly secure. Dd works in a bar and still working, I’ve begged her not to....she is in a vunerable group. Her boss has said they will keep her job open for her. She has a second job running a teenage activity group on a Saturday and that’s closed down.

I watch business owners on the news, saying they’re going to go bust, etc. I think the U.K. will look very different when we come out the other side. I think the world will.

[klaraday]

I think that reaction is pretty reasonable at the moment OP. This is unlike anything most of us have ever known in our relatively privileged lives. It will have a huge psychological impact on people. I have had a massive wobble last night. Previously it all felt a bit unreal but its hit home now. I know that I'll adjust and get back on an even keel in the next few days but I appreciate that for many people with severe anxiety this will be very difficult.

[LadyTiredWinterBottom2]

I think the world won't be the same again after this. But it won't be the end of everything we knew xx

[occulus]

I think some PP's are missing the point. The need for healthy people to limit social contact isn't a nice opportunity to slow down and kill the need, instead it will kill many small (and big) businesses and livelihoods. That will devastate families and take some recovering from.

On the health side, my dad is in the extra high risk category undergoing treatment and with weekly community nurse visits. My sister is a community MH nurse.

The sense of doom is justified for many people.

[ruby29]

I think it would be quite unusual not to be very worried at the moment. Most people are frightened for vulnerable family , personal financial/work situation as well as society at large. It’s surreal and
our lives are all turning upside down at once.

Things that might help are supporting each other in anyway we can. There are so many people facing this, hopefully we can come through together. Also trying to take each day at a time, trying to practice Mindfulness if it works for you might help some people.
www.headspace.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=917256451&utm_content=51529951612&utm_term=411021410531&headspace&gclid=Cj0KCQjwx7zzBRCcARIsABPRscPv_N539QwTzdilXwhHBsge8KGBNUWALyFbY4EmcpJ4044Hja_leIgaAg8BEALw_wcB

[Hmmmmminteresting]

Morning all. I've woken an hour before my alarm with belly ache and still very anxious! Didnt sleep well at all.
Offering a hand hold to everyone out there feeling the same. Let's see what today brings. My plan is to go to work and ask what they want me to do. I work as a buyer in retail for a well known supermarket so am sure I am still required at the moment.

[todayisnottuesday]

• have a BMI over 40 and I am absolutely mortified that I may have to isolate due to this. So embarrassing. I
  
  @EC22
  
  Please don't feel embarrassed or put yourself at risk by not self isolating, we come in all shapes and sizes

[highlandcoo]

We will get through this. Life will change for months or a year. I'm relieved the government have at last seen sense and are aiming to suppress rather than reduce. So we have to wait for a vaccine or treatment. Fewer people will die

I agree sessell. I was terrified up until today as the government seemed hell-bent on following their own theory of "herd immunity" rather than doing their best - like most of the rest of Europe - to avoid as many people getting ill as possible. I've been waiting for them to change their mind and am relieved as I now feel that at last we are getting on the right track.

I think today's announcements mean it has suddenly become all too real to people so there is a huge sense of shock tonight.

It's scary though, no question. In Italy and Spain those confined to their homes are finding ways to cope and we will too.

[HopefullyAnonymous]

I’m more concerned about the implications of lockdown than the virus itself. I’m firmly of the belief that many more thousands of people have it than have been tested/reported. Which means the majority are suffering only mild or no symptoms and that the death rate is far lower than current estimates.

[TheBananaInPyjamas]

I'm so scared. I saw my parents on Sunday. Both disabled. Dad is 69 and has cancer. Visits the hospital regularly for chemo. How is he going to avoid getting it?!

My mum is fitter but still going out. I've begged her not to. She's finally stoping. I hope.

I'm now scared to visit them again. I live central London and they're suburbs. I don't want to carry it to them. Their next online shop can't come until next week and will probably be sold out anyway.


My sister lives abroad on a work visa. If she has to come back she won't be allowed back to the states. She will have to give up the life she's building there.

I am so so scared. I want to cry all the time. My heart is constantly pounding every time I think about it and I feel sick. Really need a hand hold

[sessell]

We will get through this. Life will change for months or a year. I'm relieved the government have at last seen sense and are aiming to suppress rather than reduce. So we have to wait for a vaccine or treatment. Fewer people will die.

I am also self-employed and my income has already crashed. I'm planning to have the mortgage frozen, and then tighten my belt - not difficult in the circumstances! Life will be simpler and slower for a while and there can be joys in that - baking bread, picnics, crafts, nature. It should also help alleviate the climate crises.

A feeling of doom is classic anxiety. Get your worries out of your head and onto a list. Deal with those you have some control over. Think of contingency plans. As the serenity prayer sort of puts it: "give me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can change and the wisdom to know the difference." That's all we can do - and meditate.

[pintoffginplz]

I keep wanting to go back a few weeks ago when everything felt relatively normal. I'm worrying so much about my youngest, he has non verbal autism. We ended up in A&E a few months back because he would not eat or drink with a bug. You can't force a non verbal to do anything! He's got a cold atm which turned into a cough the past few days, he's fine but I'm slightly losing my shit. I'm also a single mum and worried if I get it, and not able to be a function.

[MauriceandAlec]

You are not alone.

[bumblingbovine49]

O have been feeling like this for while.( Since around early Feb).I am.a bit calmer now because I feel.as prepared as I can be. I know.it is going to be awful but I feel like my real panicking was done and dusted a week or.so.ago . This is going to happen. It will be bad but most of us will get through ok

[TwelveIslands]

The virus is rife if random famous people and politicians are testing positive for it (with their private tests unavailable to most of us!).

Financially the country is going to be in crisis from the numbers of self employed who lose their livelihoods, and the numbers of retail and hospitality staff who are laid off. Plus many other people in jobs where there's a knock on effect and more and more people can't work yet have mortgages and rent to pay.

Both of these are ample reason to feel a sense of doom!

[LeSquigh]

There really are a lot more people with the virus than the government are reporting. They are very obviously trying to keep the published numbers down. A colleague of mine is in isolation and has since developed symptoms consistent with Coronavirus. She has been in close contact with someone who is hospitalised with a confirmed case of it. She also has a history of lung issues. But they will not test her.