Is this all life will be from now onwards?

[Tartan333]

I have lost hope of things getting back to normal and I mean normal not the awful phrase "new normal".
This feels like existence, all the fun has gone from life, we are all ruled by covid now. Is this it now for the long term? Will it be years before we can do normal things again without masks, distancing, threat of covid etc?

It seems like a very dark future at the moment.

There have always been respiratory viruses with pandemic potential. They’re just getting a bit more attention right now. (And hopefully that means we’ll be better placed to tackle them before they take off this time.)

No, there will come a point people don’t give a fuck about the NHS or random people sadly dying and as we’ve already seen the police can’t even disperse random gatherings, they’ve got no chance when the riots start.

It’s all been a complete and utter overreaction

GoldenOmber Of course, although I didn't tell anyone to "stop grumbling". People can grumble away all they want, I was just suggesting that it's not necessarily a 'dark future' ahead for a long time and a return to the 'normality' (or at least very close to it) that people want probably won't be that far away.

I don't want to get dragged in here, but as a PP has mentioned not to lump everyone together, I'll disagree with your other statement. As, actually yes there are a few people that could develop their character a little and be a little more resilient.

We'll go back to normal with regards to the virus, it has a similar death rate to flu but is less lethal for young people.

The catastrophic political response we launched for a virus with a similar death rate to the flu? The result will be that things don't get back to the high standard of living that we're used to within our lifetimes, likely our children's lifetimes, and possibly our grandchildren's lifetimes.

It was all worth it though, for buying an extra few months of life for my Nan who has dementia.

Flu seems like nothing now! At lest there are vaccines and treatments.

I hear you OP and at the moment I’m feeling the same. As time has gone on the despondency is getting worse. Rationally thinking I know we’re learning more about the virus everyday. The world’s best minds are focusing on it and funded for researching it so the treatments will improve and hopefully there will be a vaccine. Like a PP I suspect we’ll get the risk levels down to flu level and learn to live with it.

But at the moment I’m finding it all a bit shit and that the light at the end of the tunnel seems quite far away. I don’t like queueing to get into shops etc, but it’s not whinging because of inconvenience It’s the fact that it’s a very real depressing reminder of the situation we’re in.

For all the posters who hate the negative people, think we should all buck up and must not have faced adversity.....have some empathy. Everyone is different. I’m really glad that there are optimistic (or realistic?!) people in the world - we definitely need those. But not everyone is of the same mindset and maybe your posts will make others just feel worse than they do already.

Santana considered being a teacher? We're in desperate need of some of those right now...

@MoreW1ne - I also agree with you. The best way to deal with adversity is to make the best of it. Wallowing in misery will not make the situation go away or make it better.

Miggins I agree we're all different. And it's not a lack of empathy, and I don't hate negative people, but the OP started a thread so I assumed they wanted to hear different people's opinions.

Will my 'positive' posts make some people feel worse? Maybe. Will they make some people feel more optimistic? Maybe...

But equally, will a thread full of negativity make the OP feel better on it's own? Or will that just confirm their feeling of doom?

Who knows. All we can all do is share our own opinions.

The best way to deal with adversity is to make the best of it.

But not everyone is facing the same kind of adversity.

I have retired relatives who have hefty savings, big house and nice garden, now getting out and about to their hobbies again. Their adversity is the wider scary situation, being a bit bored, and missing hugging friends.

That is a different kind of adversity from people who are losing jobs and houses, who are stuck in tiny flats with small children, whose mental health problems have been massively exacerbated by isolation, etc etc etc. We are not all experiencing the same pandemic.

And honestly, life IS a bit shit right now for lots of people. It is fine for them to say so. Nobody’s obliged to stay cheery and perky about everything short of living in a Syrian refugee camp.

Jesus wept.
I'll crack on with that 4+ years of education/training then. A job next week would be good.

I’ve had a shite 12 months.

But the thought of this situation carrying on ad infinitum... I don’t care about me, but I see ds and his friends, all in the prime of life, not able to socialise, find a girl/boyfriend, job hunt, enjoy university, go away - it’s such bad luck. I agree there are Lockdown Champions - retired with nice pensions, nice gardens and who’ve had their fill of holidays and shopping etc. I’ve seen a fair few of them on MN pontificating about how we should all be trimming back our lifestyles and doing our utmost... to safeguard them. Selfish fuckers.

@MoreW1ne

Some people are obviously quite sheltered and have never faced adversity. So its natural that many will struggle to initially cope with this challenge.

You'll be surprised how quickly you'll be able to bounce back. You have more strength than you realise.

People feel shit enough. They don't need patronised too.

@yayadingdong I don't have kids and my life is far from normal.

I can't visit my family, museums or go to gigs and events.

It's fine and I've been getting on with it but please don't make that assumption.

I am making the best of it

It's still unremittingly awful. I'm worried about the virus itself, and I'm now hating feeling unable to go out properly

I'm going to reach the end of Netflix at some point...

@IrmaFayLear

I’ve had a shite 12 months.

But the thought of this situation carrying on ad infinitum... I don’t care about me, but I see ds and his friends, all in the prime of life, not able to socialise, find a girl/boyfriend, job hunt, enjoy university, go away - it’s such bad luck. I agree there are Lockdown Champions - retired with nice pensions, nice gardens and who’ve had their fill of holidays and shopping etc. I’ve seen a fair few of them on MN pontificating about how we should all be trimming back our lifestyles and doing our utmost... to safeguard them. Selfish fuckers.

I agree. I caught a snippet of the radio yesterday morning where a guest was talking about how we all needed to be careful otherwise there was a chance our "privilege's" could be removed. When the fuck did seeing family and friends, having an education, running a non essential business and trying not to go bankrupt, sitting on a feckin park bench etc etc etc become a privilege that can be removed at whim in this country? and there seems many who are happy for them to become so

I agree @UserAccessDenied alot of people think we should all accept that we cannot see our families for the good of the nation...

I sympathise OP, it’s hard. IMO this year will be like this and we might next year be back to proper normal.

So this year is about trying to do the things that are possible to alleviate how difficult it is - the outside meetings with friends and family etc, zoom exercise classes, bubble with another household if possible etc. And take it one day at a time.

It’s hard. Even harder when we are told that worldwide the virus is still on an upwards trajectory.

We all have each other, even if remotely, and I think it’s important to try and access as much virtual or socially distanced help as possible. People like the London Buddhist Centre and others are running free online things and other people are charging small amounts. I think more and more of that kind of thing will be available as we come to terms with how much help we actually need to get through this.

@IndiaMay I totally agree !!!! This situation is horrific there is fuck all to look foreword too and you know what the virus I don't care about it is my kids !!! Their future etc .. my 5 year old too scared to get out of the car incase he gets it /missing his friends /missing holidays /his mental health it is draining and the double cases in mental health is scary , double suicides so I cannot see any light at the end of this dark shit tunnel

Just because people have “had it worse in the past” doesn’t mean people can’t feel shit about what’s happening now. There’s always somebody in a worse situation than you, but that doesn’t mean your situation isn’t shitty.

People have lost their jobs, being isolated in flats with no social time at all, skint, feeling hopeless, feeling bad for their kids etc.

In prison systems, the absolute worst punishment is isolation, being put in a cell with no human interaction at all. It literally drives people to psychosis if left too long. There was an interview with a guy who had spent 3 months (over a year) in an isolation cell and said that he would rather have been beaten or tortured as a punishment rather than the isolation.

I don’t think people understand what it does to your mind. It’s all well and good if you’ve got a garden or live with people or have savings. But if you’re on your own in a small flat, or alone with your child/newborn etc it can be an awful experience. Couple that up with thinking this is going to be the “new normal” and you’ll just have to get used to it, you can see why some people feel absolutely helpless for their bleak futures

@Deblou43 my son is the same, he is 7. We try not to talk about it round the kids but he knows about it from school before they closed. He is now washing his hands loads and gets anxious if he feels his brother has not washed his hands properly. We always make sure the kids walk single file when we pass people on a path or cross the road... For their benefit not ours, some people look visibly anxious when children come towards them. Now when we are on walks he will say Mam someone is coming towards us. It is horrible. We bought them masks as their barbers has asked over 4s to wear them and we were walking in an empty park the other day and he said Mam should I not have my mask on so I dont get infected. Breaks my heart.

so I cannot see any light at the end of this dark shit tunnel

There will be. It’ll get better. There’s multiple pharma companies now saying they reckon they’ll have a vaccine in play before the end of the year. This all feels like forever because it’s so overwhelming, but it won’t be forever.

I've coped pretty well so far, today is the first time I've felt pretty fed up though, as we are ( just inside ) 😣 the Leicester lockdown area.
Just started to see a light at the end of the tunnel now this.

@Brownieinthewine totally agree with all you just said. I have seen people say you should read Anne Franks diary and realise this is not so bad

@goldenomber I hope you are right hun this is brutal
@Jrobhatch29 that is heartbreaking poor baby I have now told my son it will be gone in September he said a snake will eat it