BBC article that I regret reading

[PurpleRainGirl]

I just read this article on the BBC website (if you are feeling anxious please DO NOT read further):

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51963486

and I am absolutely panicked, sobbing my heart out for the first time since this thing has started.

I tried my best to keep calm and carry on and to cheer up everyone around me in RL.

But I feel so, so scared and upset now.

No one knows what's going to happen, where we're going with this. Are we going to see horror scenes on our streets? Are we going to just let go at some point and let people die? The kind of measures that have been introduced are not sustainable long term. According to the article, there are only three ways out of this, two are a long way away and one is not a long term option. Is this the end of life as we know it? The actual apocalypse?

I'm so depressed having read this article and I don't think I can comprehend that it's come to this. It's finally got to me.

Don't expect anything, I know no one has any answers. Just needed to write this down.

[PurpleRainGirl]

Today is the day I never saw coming, when I genuinely feel ignorance is bliss.

This feeling will pass, but everything that's happened in such a short space of time plus the prospect of being stuck in it for so long is massively overwhelming.

I'm the type of person who will wake up tomorrow and come up with a plan, I'm very "survival mode".

But tonight I just don't feel ready.

[Russellbrandshair]

Yes I’ve also heard Brian is very good at that 😆👍

[feelingverylazytoday]

They're already trying out drug therapies on 'compassionate grounds' OP.
Try not to worry, they're going to crack this, but we all have to play our part as well.

[chatterbugmegastar]

Brilliant post @merryhouse

OP - you'll be fine. Most of us will be

[PurpleRainGirl]

user - it's not unkind to ask that at all. I guess no one has been in this situation before. This thought in itself is scary to me. We're navigating through this best we can, but no one can say for certain where we're actually going.

I'm hard on myself anyway at best of times and don't allow myself to feel sad, scared or down because other people rely on my strength. This probably doesn't help me now.

[Nearlyalmost50]

I had a day like this about 10 days ago OP. I just couldn't believe it. I cried and cried. Next day I got up and organized my medicines, checked food supplies, and by the weekend I took the kids out of school. I felt a whole lot better working out what I had to do for me and my family (and this was at the dithering Boris stage). If you keep at home, minimise food outings and only go out for exercise if you know others aren't going to be around, then you absolutely minimise your risks. Some aren't as lucky as us and will have to still keep going out but hopefully by keeping away from them it will help.

I think we are all having these moments, but your brain (Brian!) won't rest there and you will go back to your more resilient self soon enough. It's ok to feel like you do.

[PatriciaBateman]

No, it's not the apocalypse. I'm not an optimist, and even I dont' believe that.

Almost every generation before ours has survived through trials and tribulations (war, famine, diseases). This is just our turn, and we are better equipped than ever to get through it.

The amount of money and fast-paced research going into treatments and vaccines is just unprecedented. And at the end of all this, there will be some serious reflection on many things. This might be the catalyst for some great changes in humanity.

I do appreciate and understand the fear in the meantime, but alongside it - nurture hope.

[feelingverylazytoday]

By losing borders and also living on an island we had an easy solution!
You can't close borders for months on end. That's not how things work.

[BigChocFrenzy]

It was factually correct

Treatments are being tried, but they are obviously not identified and effective yet, or we wouldn't have these deathrates
However, they should be ready at some time, maybe 6-12 months ?

There should be a vaccine available for mass use in 12-18 months

• it's the world's #1 priority so several countries are working on it

That seems a long time to wait, but we can do this
My late father & his families got through the 1920s - 1930s Depression in the NE, which was far worse - near starvation levels - than this will ever be

and iirc, don't new viruses become milder after a year or two anyway ?

COVID should then become something that we get vaccinated against every year - finally "like flu" !

[AngelicaKauffman]

Is this the end of life as we know it? The actual apocalypse?

No. It really, really is not. The fact that you and so many others are even asking that question is quite a sad sign of how poorly the media/the public on social media and sites like this are managing this whole thing.

[PurpleRainGirl]

💐 wise words, thank you.

Strangely (?) I am least worried about myself getting ill or dying, but the prospect of being so restricted for such a long time and constantly facing the risk of my loved ones dying is a very difficult one, as I'm sure we all agree.

[CaveMum]

There are some positive articles about OP that don’t downplay the seriousness of the situation:

LA Times www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-03-22/coronavirus-outbreak-nobel-laureate

Jerusalem Post: m.jpost.com/Opinion/Spread-of-COVID-19-begins-to-show-pattern-of-4-8-week-eruption-cycle-622035?fbclid=IwAR3_QneVWKPULWHns7jkuim3EHIsPv3ituwU5puq-j7LAN5Zz_bfNLNmkyE

And if you are still struggling, this is a good page with tips on how to deal with anxiety about CV: www.annamathur.com/dealing-with-coronavirus-anxiety/

[PhoneTwattery]

I’ve accepted that the worst thing that could happen is that I die.

I totally understand that freaks most people out but it actually helps me NOT panic.

I honestly can’t explain why...

[Kingcole]

You can't close borders for months on end. That's not how things work.

But hundreds of thousands can die and that's ok?
Supplies only and quarantine not that difficult.

[brightlights73]

Well said @merryhouse

[Alialialiali]

It's a great article. Purely factual. Points out the reality. At some point all these social measures will fall apart and the disease will rip through society.
It's something the government is already planning for. They know they only have one shot at a true lockdown that's why they're keeping it in their pocket for use at just the right time. This is not it.

You guys watch too much disney with your kids and have come to expect a happy ending. Better grow up fast. Keep an eye on what happens in countries like India in the next month... and then you'll realise that the worst outcome this country can ever experience is comparatively a fairytale ending.
Keep your hopes up in the knowledge that even when it rips through society, 98/99%% of us will still be alive.

[Sammymommy]

@Bluntness100 Thank you. I was starting to hyper ventilate and wonder if jumping off the balcony was the best option. I was fine (ish) until I start reading this thread.

I know we can't tell what the future will hold or how long it will last. I will take it one day at a time. I just need hope. A tiny bit of hope.

[PurpleRainGirl]

This thread has been really cathartic.

It's good to be able to talk about the future openly, even if the facts are hard to acknowledge. I think transparency and honesty are key. Despite the uncertainty, I took lots of reassurance from your comments and feel more myself now, my feet are getting back on the ground. Thank you.

[OneOfTheGrundys]

@merryhouse
Brilliant post. ‘Kittens and rainbows and coffee’. Lovely! 👍

[SnakePlant]

Our lives have changed in every way in the space of just over a week. If that’s not a mind fuck I don’t know what is. I think we are allowed our bad days and not so bad ones right now as we try to come to terms with what’s happening.

I’m nearly 60. My family have escaped pogroms, as a boomer I’ve lived through imminent nuclear Armageddon (Cuban Missile Crisis), IRA bombings, 3 day weeks and going to school in shifts in the miners strike. All things that changed life in major ways.

This pandemic is obviously in a league of its own but while we won’t be able to eradicate it we should be able to manage and vaccinate against it. There will be annual deaths from it just as there are with flu. We will recover from this. Life may not be exactly the same but concentrating on worst case scenarios is an exhausting and futile way to live. We just have to take it week by week. We have some amazing scientists and researchers working on vaccines along with treatments aiming to improve the outcomes for those who do get seriously ill. We are a resourceful, resilient species. When you find yourself going into worst case scenario mode, do something to try distract yourself. We will get through this.

[LuluJakey1]

I don't think it is terrifying, it is realistic. There will be a vaccine but not for a while. Once there is and it is trialled, it will have to go into mass production and be rolled out across the world.

Things will improve in Europe in the next few months but we won't be back to normal and are likely to go into further phases of distancing as autumn and winter arrive.

More people will die and we will see that roll across the world - China, Italy, Spain, other European countries including us. But it will have huge effects in countries with less developed infrastructures and greater overcrowding and they will need help.

We need to do the right things to help slow the spread of this down and manage it and too many of us are not.

We will come out the other end of it and all the selfish Tory bastards will go back to their usual London-centric, selfish Tory bastard behaviour - depriving the NHS of funds, ignoring the poor and vulnerable and making them live on the edge financially, not sorting out adult social care, running down our manufacturing industry etc so the next time it happens we'll be in the same mess and be holding up our hands in despair while the rich London second home owners rush off to swamp other bits of the country and steal their minimal resources because they have that choice.

Hands up those who voted Tory at all since 2009?

[PurpleRainGirl]

@Sammymommy I feel awful this thread has stressed you out, this wasn't my intention at all, in fact it was completely the opposite! I felt the same way about half an hour ago, but took a deep breath and re-read everything. My conclusion is that it is very serious, more serious than most of us ever anticipated, but it's not the end. Things will change for better, but we have to brace ourselves until they do. We will be ok, most of us. I'm really sorry you're stressed now💐

[goldfinchfan]

Different experts have different views. He can be wrong.
This is a new situation.
Be hopeful and sensible.

Do not give in to the fear. That won't help. Yes it is a tough time but nature need to rebalance and we have to be resilient and mindful to get through this

[Needmoresleep]

Yes CV is grim. Governments have been willing to shut down economies and essentially put populations under house arrest.

However it is also very new. We first heard about it in January and we are not at the end of March.

Already scientists across the world are learning about the illness, testing vaccines, creating antibody tests, experimenting with combinations of existing medicines that may prove effective treatment, inventing new ventilators and so on. It is like the reaction to HIV, but on steroids.

Yes the article is correct, and things look bleak. And things are going to look bleaker still in a couple of weeks as we follow Italy’s curve. But numbers are still small compared up to the annual flu epidemic, and hopefully with the amazing knowledge and energy of the international community of scientists, the lockdown will buy us the time we need to find ways of fighting this.

Remember a good proportion of people will be more or less symptom free. And each of us can control the extent we are exposed to risk.

[VortexofBloggery]

We'll get tests for immunity before we get the vaccine. That way large numbers of people can get back outside and working again, back to school, while others await the vaccine. It'll be phased, we won't all be inside the whole time. Not sure our govt is smart enough to sort out an exit strategy, after all the bad science flying around No 10. Maybe another country will come up with a protocol we can follow. Track & trace was abandoned early on because of woolly thinking and "too hard" + expensive. Hope there is a Review into the handling of this. Shmozzle.