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.

@IndiaMay no, but if you just give up on social distancing etc and let it run its course (which I thought you were advocating, forgive me if I'm wrong) then you dont need to just cover the costs of the shielded staying in, as you were suggesting but also bear in mind the long term cost of making 3 million of your population long-term sick.
It's not known yet how long this "long-tail" form of COVID makes you sick for, at the moment its 3 months and counting. Maybe it will "only" be 6 months, we dont know yet, maybe it'll be 5 years. I just think we need to take care before letting that particular genie out of its bottle.

It’s temporary , like any period of adversity. I’m sure many of us have been through far more difficult times than this. It’s not even been 6 months yet. And there is hope with a vaccine. I know I’ve faced worse times where it’s taken a while to see and find the hope. This will end.

I don’t think it’s about finding the positives personally. It’s just about getting on with it until something changes. Head down, carry on!!

God I hope not. With two under 5 I'm at the sharper end of it, I feel like there's never anything to do anymore unless it's an outdoor walk. And the constant queuing and dancing around other people in the places that ARE open is beyond tedious. Fingers crossed it won't be for much longer.

I agree.with tootyfruitypickle.I have been through.years worse than this personally.The whole uncertainty of employment is hard for everyone.
As an introvert I dont.miss anything.I didn't meet anyone for coffee or go out much.Certainly not to the cinema,theatre or on holiday much.
I don't find it difficult to sunrise my hands for the supermarket or gardencentre.
I can see this situation would be difficult with small.children though.

@IcedPurple totally agree with your post and this recognition is very important for mental health.

It’s ok just now but winter....with stuff not open...just awful.

I’m optimistic. Humans are clever (and so dumb too) but I think we will sort this

I have a friend (in Australia) who keeps saying things like "stop worrying and try and enjoy this time with your family". I have to bite my tongue to stop myself telling them to fuck off! I'm worried about my job (softplay centre), my parents (who were about to retire and now won't be able to for many years), my friends who are all suffering different issues due to covid. But mostly I am worried about my children - DD in year 10 who is trying her very best to work hard with very little teacher input and has no idea what will happen with GCSE's next year, DS in year 8 who misses his friends (the first proper group of friends he has ever had after being bullied through most of primary because of his autism). We are all busy and stressed - working from home (both DH and me as I do accounts so didn't get furloughed), helping with schoolwork (DS needs to be sat with and DD likes support so 5 hours of my day is spent with them) and running our business which we've always done in the evenings. I'm exhausted and at the end of my tether. Yes I'm trying to "make the best of it" but life is bloody hard right now. It is ok to be pissed off - constantly positive people do my head in, nothing wrong with just being honest about how we feel!

I hate and resent everything about it, and am desperately worried for kids who are missing out on education, safeguarding and food, and women and children experiencing domestic abuse.

Nothing about this is good and it’s terrifying how people begged the government to take their freedoms away

I have to admit it's probably harder for younger people and those with kids. Mine's 16 so can and does pretty much take care of herself apart from meals and washing so I've been able to take up new things, cross stitch, gardening, painting. These things might sound cringy but im sure there's something out there to suit everyone. Isn't knitting a current celeb trend?

I guess you have two choices, grin and bare it or drive yourself mental with it. It's still hard for me sometimes but it's better when I'm busy.

For me worrying about the people around me is the worst. I’m lucky as I am introvert (not often I use that phrase!) but also in a job where I speak to people all day and chat to them. I am ok with this as a short term thing.

My dd is not. She is 12 and constantly having to fight back depression . I’ve got a couple of weeks off in the summer so need to use them wisely and try and get out as much as poss with her.

@HermioneWeasley

I hate and resent everything about it, and am desperately worried for kids who are missing out on education, safeguarding and food, and women and children experiencing domestic abuse.

Nothing about this is good and it’s terrifying how people begged the government to take their freedoms away

The bit about the people begging the government to take the freedoms away needs to be said TEN TIMES LOUDER. Because that's exactly what the public did. And now we have smug Boris saying things like "maybe I'll let you do a tiny bit more next week", when he should be the one who's afraid of the wrath of the public. And mark my words, he's going to say "well, I tried to let the schools back in June, but unions and the public refused to co-operate".

@woodlands01 if your a teacher you will know its two terms about 13/14 weeks and we dont know what seot will bring yet
My ds is getting some teacher time 4 hrs once a week but they just sit in a room doing work that is set , cant do anymore than the kids nit going in
As you know they can't totally cover new things , coursework based subjects unable to submit as cant be used
Thats a lot to catch uo on , and we dont know if exams will be delayed , they may be asked to drop a subject ( if you believe papers ) and realistically will likely be days taken off in winter aa coughs and colds around.
Im just hoping it somehow burns it self out sooner rather than later so so can get our lives back in track

The bit about the people begging the government to take the freedoms away needs to be said TEN TIMES LOUDER.

It needs to be yelled through a megaphone.

'I've learnt that it's much easier to take people's freedoms away than give them back,” the prime minister joked, to laughter from his team'

I'm ashamed to be British, I really am.

@HermioneWeasley

I hate and resent everything about it, and am desperately worried for kids who are missing out on education, safeguarding and food, and women and children experiencing domestic abuse.

Nothing about this is good and it’s terrifying how people begged the government to take their freedoms away

I so completely agree with this, it amazed me how many people just accepted their freedom being taken away, being told you can only go out for food and one form of exercise. How quickly people turned on their friends and neighbours. I saw posts from people who had called the police because their neighbours had a get together all social distanced. Even now people keep saying if you don't do as your told we will go back into lockdown like people are naughty children being punished.

[b]I so completely agree with this, it amazed me how many people just accepted their freedom being taken away, being told you can only go out for food and one form of exercise. [/b]

For anyone like me, it was nothing to do with 'accepting' freedoms being taken away, the government haven't invented coronavirus and introduced lockdown for shits and giggles (even if that is what they happen to think of it!). Coronavirus is genuinely killing people, even if they are mainly older people who don't matter to some! It's killed as many people as about 4 years of flu in a matter of months already and that's WITH lockdown. Disliking the rules won't make covid19 magically go away.

I don't know of a suitable alternative than to limit some freedoms though?

If there was no reason, or a reason than didn't make sense to me then of course I'd fight it tooth and nail, the majority of scientists agree lockdown was the only sensible course of action, however frustrating it is for me personally, I can see the sense in it and maybe that makes it easier to accept.

Also, these measures have to be reviewed by parliament every 6 months iirc. That's reassuring to me.

"My teenagers have missed out on so much already and cant plan for their futures"

^that. And my own life is in upheaval.
I wish I could just put head down & ignore it all. But I can't because we are supposed to make plans and we don't know what plans are possible.

Yes it's great I'm not an IDP in Syria or starving in Pakistan or abused anywhere, but I'm still dealing with a lot of uncertainty. Uncertainty is stressful for anyone.

It's killed as many people as about 4 years of flu in a matter of months already and that's WITH lockdown

Wrong. hectordrummond.com/2020/06/26/this-is-what-we-screwed-the-world-for/

If there was no reason, or a reason than didn't make sense to me then of course I'd fight it tooth and nail, the majority of scientists agree lockdown was the only sensible course of action, however frustrating it is for me personally, I can see the sense in it and maybe that makes it easier to accept.

Have you actually done any research into what our imprisonment has achieved? The number of 'lives saved', vs the actual risks, vs the health costs OF the lockdown?
You're gonna be howling when you find out. You can join the rest of us who've been tearing our hair out over it all from the beginning.
inproportion2.talkigy.com/
evidencenotfear.com/

I don't know of a suitable alternative than to limit some freedoms though?

Er - not taking away our freedom, perhaps?

Sweden didn't have a lockdown (though they did limit event sizes and closed secondary schools). True, they've not done great, but they've admitted that's because they didn't protect their care homes. And, they've still done better than us, with our lockdown and also not protecting our carehomes.

Japan's constitution doesn't allow for a lockdown. They DID protect their care homes. Number of deaths in Japan? 972.

@TrustTheGeneGenie
I feel like you.
I am so annoyed by media and the government, but most of other governments are the same. It seems they copy each other.
I cannot believe all these measures are for the public health benefits.
Why have they been reducing number of beds in hospitals for years, closed hospitals, introduced tuition fees for nurses, would rather bring doctors from abroad than train our own.

Wrong. hectordrummond.com/2020/06/26/this-is-what-we-screwed-the-world-for/

Lol. The only thing wrong there is the very tenuous grasp of basic maths whoever wrote that has. For starters they're pretending 3 months of covid19 deaths is suddenly a year of covid19 deaths, nice try but sadly there's even more deaths to come.

And the rest of the page makes my sanity hurt. Most of the dead would have died this year anyway apparently? Lovely. Google 'excess deaths 2020' for a better explanation than 'they woz about to die, honest!'.

Annual flu deaths are around 17,000 on average, covid19 deaths are already at about 4 years worth, the maths is not as hard as conspiracy sites want you to believe.

Annual flu deaths are around 17,000 on average, covid19 deaths are already at about 4 years worth

Have you got a link for that?

And what do you think of the stats on here: inproportion2.talkigy.com/

Genuinely asking btw

I agree it is really tough, and the end keeps getting further away.

I personally have had far worse times, but it is the worst time for the country I have been through.

I think also knowing what is looming - economically/socially - is very gloomy.