Until June?!

[Woman31]

Iv read today that these strict rules will be in place until June.

I’m going to go insane before then. How are people going to manage? Surely it can’t be that long? China didn’t take that long ?

My anxiety is so bloody high 😩

This is an interesting thread. I also have mental health issues - for me, they have been exacerbated by the virus, but not by lockdown (frankly I don't socialise much irl anyway, as my friends/family are all across the country). I also have asthma which places me in a high-risk group, so the thought of dying is driving my anxiety much more than being kept inside. I will happily take months more of lockdown if it means I (and thousands of others) can live

I have the utmost sympathy for those who are feeling fragile, upset, anxious and hopeless during the lockdown. But it is wrong to presume that "people with MH issues", as though some kind of monolith, would like to see these restrictions lifted early or are suffering more because of them.

OTOH, I am really concerned about my elderly grandparents who are now isolated. No MH issues there, but they aren't in great health, and this is having a real impact on them.

At the moment we don’t have a choice. We have a partial lockdown and it will get worse. Those with mental illnesses I really feel for you. But you are not alone. There are people whose urgent cancer treatment has been put on hold. There are people whose operations have been cancelled. It is hell I agree but what else can we do apart from lockdown?

I’m lucky that lockdown will be more bearable for us than it would’ve been if this had happened 2 years ago, when we were still stuck in our old house (tiny, no garden, no heating, no shower, mould, far from anywhere but a small coop). I do think the environment people are isolating in must make an enormous difference. I don’t think people should be told to suck it up etc, even though we all have to somehow get through it, we have to accept that it’s not easy and that it will make people mentally unwell and somehow put support in place.

I have numerous MH issues but to some extent I am not too concerned for myself yet for various reasons, my anxiety has reduced a lot staying home and having rules etc. But obviously it’s early days.

What is scaring me most about lockdown at the moment is the thought of rioting and unrest, looting, violence, the sheer unpredictability of people.

Italians are already running out of money as many businesses are closed.
There are more muggings and violence.
The government are already discussing lifting the quarantine in parts of the country to let businesses operate.

Tbh, I think it could be longer.

I too suffer from MH but I keep telling myself it’s for the best as my child needs to be shielded because of his health, but at the back of my mind I do worry how people will cope financially. Businesses might not recover so what will people do for money and to pay their bills, will the banks take their homes away, take their cars away because they can’t pay.

If it goes on for a long time will the supermarkets eventually run out of food.......it just goes on and on.

I’ve had to stop myself watching the news so much as I was actually having panic attacks and not sleeping

The Italian govt sanctioned another 142 million last night. You can apply online from tomorrow if you have certain types of contract or are self employed.

There has been a national overall drop in crime as people are observing the lockdown pretty much constantly.

Obviously you get some who will see the opportunity to ramraid a supermarket which happened yesterday or the guy mouthing off at the police because the cashpoint hadn't been filled but those stories would never have made the national or international news had we not been in lockdown so very little other crime (or football) is around.

lunar567

The government are already discussing lifting the quarantine in parts of the country to let businesses operate

Have you got a link for this info? Cheers

( yes I know it’s for Italy and not the UK )

@dworky tbh, why?

3-6 months

The government in Italy are talking about imposing further restrictions in some regions as peak infection approaches. Some local authorities are already doing so- for example, food shops can stay open as long as they want, but our mayor has them close at 6.30pm.
There will be no relaxing of restrictions until peak has been and gone, which is logical. Then it will be done in stages, production will start up again first probably to get the economy at least moving if very slowly, and of course it will be in the least affected regions.

Its driving me mad people saying, it's so simple just stay home.

Most people can not afford to..
Jobs and homes will be lost. Poverty will rise, children will suffer, domestic violence will rocket, it's going to be fucking awful for many many people for a long time to come.

Mental health problems and loneliness kill. You can't just toughen up.

I am lucky in lots of ways but financially we are going to struggle - food is expensive, the mortgage is expensive. The government help is needed on the 1st of April.
People are going to get into awful debt. Old people will spend their last days - corona or not, alone. Children are missing out on so much. 6 months is a very long time for a child - let's be honest the last six days have been hard on the grown ups.

It's not just stay home, save lives. Only the very privileged can do that until June.

Those who are worried about online therapy not helping, have you tried it yet?

I have always felt put off by the idea (saying that I’d rather cancel a session with my psychologist than have the session online, if having a bad health day). I don’t mind phones but even with family and close friends I don’t like video chat.

But not knowing how long lockdown will last (I normally only see her once a month due to cost), I’m going to have to just do it. She does say I can have a normal phone call instead but I want to try. It’s got to be better than no session at all. Even if it’s only half as helpful as a normal it’s still helpful and I need to just try and adapt as best I can. I’m nervous though.

Canterbury I just had a text from an Italian friend to say things look like they are getting better (north) - I was quite surprised but they downplayed the reports of trouble. Are you in Italy now? Does that sound possible?

Yes, I'm in Italy.
The only "trouble" I can find in the press is that Sky article. And it's just two incidents. I didn't see the evening news tonight but asked dp who did, and he said no mention of anything.
I think things are settling, if that's the right word. We've been locked down for 3 weeks, some areas longer, and the lockdown has been tightened till it is unlikely to be tightened further. People now just seem to know what to do and why, and are doing it. It feels almost calm. But then I don't know anybody with Covid. I do in the UK, 3 people in 3 completely different areas.

I think it’s safe to say that the people saying “you just have to sit on a sofa” are not the people who’s finances are collapsing more and more everyday. Have definitely noticed that my friends who have shifted to working from home and facing no real issues at work are feeling very different to those whose family income has disappeared overnight.

Thanks. My friend doesn't either I have one sort of central and one more north. All are well thankfully

I think there's a lot of dramatisation and putting words into people's mouths from the newspapers/media and whilst we could be in lockdown until June there is a chance we wont be as well. It really is shit at the moment and the only positive I can think of is I am getting to spend time with my daughter that I normally would and for now am still getting paid, on the flip side I'm pregnant and have been told I will probably only have 1 face to face appointment at 25 weeks and that's it. Gotta stay positive and see it through

There's been a lot of talk and debate on here about mental health and I'd love to know what I can do to support friends and family who may be suffering with mental health challenges.

I know there's been some feedback from some people that 'take one day at a time' and 'try to appreciate what you have and that others have it worse' is unhelpful so was just wondering what kinds of things are helpful and good to say?

I'm asking this genuinely, not to start a big debate or cause controversy - just someone wanting to do the right thing. One of my close friends is on anti depressants and I find it hard to work out what to say to her when she is being down and negative (often about things that most would seem to find trivial like not being able to get white bread so having to eat brown bread), but get that it has a bigger impact on her and it's not really about the bread.

Any help and practical advice is really appreciated!

I totally agree @cloud1183 it’s their manky animal practices that have caused this, and then they covered it up. They should be compensating every other government to at least some extent.

@Samtsirch thank you for making me laugh after an awful day

LittleMrsMama

Validate their feelings. Theres always this big inclination when someone tells you they feel like shit to go "wait but look, here are all the reasons you shouldn't feel shit". And it isn't helpful. Mental illness isn't logical like that.

I'd rather someone just said, I'm so sorry you feel like that, is there anything I can do to help?

Thanks @pishposhpashy ! I'm going to give my friend a call this evening so will give it a go :)

"What will it take for people to realise that those of us with genuine MH issues cannot just "suck it up". Would you tell someone with a broken leg they had to just get on with it and run a marathon?"
Thats not really a good example though, unfortunately. Some people are more resilient than others, that's a fact of life. The brain isnt broken with mental health, like a leg bone would be in your example, it just needs stretching /training / helping/ building....cant think of any better words than that. That's what psychologists try to do. I wouldnt go so far as saying "suck it up", but there needs to be an increase in resilience.