Constant anxiety over the situation

BumbleWumble · 2020-07-02T11:30:22+00:00

Does any one else feel their life has been taken over by anxiety surrounding the virus? Ever since this started I have been overwhelmed with anxiety. It has subsided somewhat, but is still severe. I worry constantly about the virus, and I worry constantly the 'New Normal' will be forever. The whole situation just consumes my thoughts from waking up to falling asleep. Now that I am out of work it is even worse. I do not know any one else who has reacted this way. Some people are understandably worried but no one I know is totally overwhelmed and obsessed by it like I am. I don't understand how they are able to remain so calm. Sometimes I think is this all life will be from now on. Just worrying about the situation until I catch the virus and it finishes me off, or worrying about it until something else finishes me off. Maybe the worry itself will do that? I hope that at some point my brain will realise it needs to come to terms with the situation. But has any one else reacted like this?

Realitea · 02/07/2020 12:35

I’m sure many people have. I have always been an anxiety sufferer with GAD but strangely I don’t think I’ve had a ‘flare up’ of anxiety since it started. Definitely very cautious but I accept we can’t control anything and the only thing to do is just take precautions. Or stay alert as Boris would like to say!
I have had times when I’ve sat and worried about what would happen if I got very ill but ‘what’s ifs’ don’t help anything. You could ‘what if’ about a whole host of things.
Just take every day as it comes and remember it won’t be like this forever. Whatever happens in the future, we can deal with it.
There are mental health services set up to help people during this pandemic. Also take a look on the ‘mind’ website.

Cusano34 · 02/07/2020 12:44

Yep!! I find myself day dreaming about life before and can’t snap out of it...I’m angry all the time and hate going to work. I worry for my little boys future, I worry about all the what ifs...I google everything...I’m hyper aware of everything I feel...I’m worried about everything opening up again...😭

FelineUK · 03/07/2020 22:36

@Cusano34

Yep!! I find myself day dreaming about life before and can’t snap out of it...I’m angry all the time and hate going to work. I worry for my little boys future, I worry about all the what ifs...I google everything...I’m hyper aware of everything I feel...I’m worried about everything opening up again...😭

With you.. it seems like we're living a Netflix sci-fi film.. not sure of the ending, thinking back to how life used to be.. all the plans that were going to happen this year.. waiting for the second wave... then DH says things probably won't get better for a few years - oh thanks! That really cheered me up!!

girlofthenorth · 03/07/2020 22:52

Feel the same! Had a difficult week with my kids , one of whom won't go near me as I'm a key worker ( she's right but I can still distance at work and wear a mask ) . The other so fed up with her lack of normality. I have constant anxiety about being ill. Trying to be hopeful, I actually like my wfh days as I feel more in control.

Original poster

BumbleWumble · 03/07/2020 23:04

@Cusano34

Yep!! I find myself day dreaming about life before and can’t snap out of it...I’m angry all the time and hate going to work. I worry for my little boys future, I worry about all the what ifs...I google everything...I’m hyper aware of everything I feel...I’m worried about everything opening up again...😭

Yes I keep thinking back to life before this. I can't believe up until 4 months ago it was just life as we had always known it, but now it seems an unattainable dream to live like that again. Sometimes I get a memory and it seems like it was only two minutes ago. I yearn for it back. Maybe it is selfish when so many have lost their lives. But that is now a possibility in all our futures due to this horrible virus. And it is the reason our former way of life is gone. In order to try to live we now have to pretty much stop living.

OP posts:

Notcontent · 03/07/2020 23:14

Yes. Not really worried about getting the virus but just anxious about the current situation and the future. It’s odd - I don’t actually mind wfh (I am lucky to have an office job that I can do at home) not doing much but it’s the fact that life has suddenly been turned upside down - and yes, it is like something out of a science fiction plot. It’s made me realise that we can’t take anything for granted.

ssd · 03/07/2020 23:24

Me too. And it's made my health anxiety worse. Dh had a headache tonight, he never gets sore heads but he's had one the last few nights and my stomach has a pit of anxiety it's something serious. I feel I've got anxiety about just about everything. And the thought of going to work makes me terrified.

I've lost all sense.

Keepdistance · 03/07/2020 23:50

For me it is mainly around the gov. They are definitely making me feel worse.
It started when they were going for herd immunity.

And all their awful decisions it is like being stuck in a nightmare but you cant get rid of the gov. And all other countries except Sweden (and usa) are doing better. And i want to get away but cant fly. So feel trapped.
And now the school 'guidance' has tipped me over the edge where the bubbles are just the whole school for primary and they want the kids to go on trjps. Exactly how they were talking in march.... And also now waiting for 2 positive tests.
Hiding data on the numbers in each area even from the councils.
And yet having to shut Leicester including the schools.

iffymiffy · 04/07/2020 00:11

@Notcontent

Yes. Not really worried about getting the virus but just anxious about the current situation and the future. It’s odd - I don’t actually mind wfh (I am lucky to have an office job that I can do at home) not doing much but it’s the fact that life has suddenly been turned upside down - and yes, it is like something out of a science fiction plot. It’s made me realise that we can’t take anything for granted.

This is exactly how I feel, too.

Showchin2 · 04/07/2020 00:50

@Keepdistance

For me it is mainly around the gov. They are definitely making me feel worse. It started when they were going for herd immunity. And all their awful decisions it is like being stuck in a nightmare but you cant get rid of the gov. And all other countries except Sweden (and usa) are doing better. And i want to get away but cant fly. So feel trapped. And now the school 'guidance' has tipped me over the edge where the bubbles are just the whole ** school for primary and they want the kids to go on trjps. Exactly how they were talking in march.... And also now waiting for 2 positive tests. Hiding data on the numbers in each area even from the councils. And yet having to shut Leicester including the schools.

This is so true. How do they keep getting away with such mishandling of the crisis? I'm counting the days till a vaccine with everything crossed! Let's hope they don't mess that up as well

LovingLen · 04/07/2020 06:18

Cant we just keep these thoughts to just one thread instead of starting several on the same subject and blocking up the board.

Jrobhatch29 · 04/07/2020 06:24

@LovingLen

Cant we just keep these thoughts to just one thread instead of starting several on the same subject and blocking up the board.

Three threads running saying the same thing. She is just whipping up fear at this point

Christmastree43 · 04/07/2020 06:34

You're not alone OP, I'm fed up of constant guilt too, like about going shopping for non essentials, visiting family and friends etc even though it's within the rules is it in the spirit etc and are we putting ourselves and others at risk? So fed up of the constant worry and guilt

Original poster

BumbleWumble · 04/07/2020 06:54

@Jrobhatch29

Is it not terrifying? The whole world ground to a halt over it. It's running rampant through millions of people and has killed hundreds of thousands in a few months. It has caused terrible physical damage to many others and left many more ill for months with no sign of recovering. Am I whipping up fear or is the virus genuinely something to be very fearful of. Are most people just coping by being in denial? Telling themselves it's not really any big deal? Or are they genuinely not bothered about the idea of early death, permanent organ damage or bring severely ill for months for themselves and loved ones?

OP posts:

EnlightenedOwl · 04/07/2020 06:59

No fear about a virus. But severe anxiety this is how we must live now with restrictions and threats of lockdown and removal of civil liberties. Terrified of redundancies some roles already gone at ours . Will we ever get our lives back?

Original poster

BumbleWumble · 04/07/2020 07:01

@EnlightenedOwl

No fear about a virus. But severe anxiety this is how we must live now with restrictions and threats of lockdown and removal of civil liberties. Terrified of redundancies some roles already gone at ours . Will we ever get our lives back?

Yes in addition to the horrible threat the virus causes, it has also taken so much from every day life.

OP posts:

SeonaSeona · 04/07/2020 07:04

Yes I'm very scared of the virus. Don't get the subtle judgement of you on this thread.

SnuggyBuggy · 04/07/2020 07:06

I'm worried about what sort of future my child will have. I'll never accept this situation as a normal, it's horrible. I also have several friends losing their jobs and potentially homes.

TiredMummyXYZ · 04/07/2020 07:17

I sympathise OP. I’ve always been quite an anxious person but this situation has definitely made things worse, especially as I’m asthmatic, my almost 50 year old husband’s diabetic and my Mum is shielding. I worry what will happen if we get it and I worry for my kids’ future. This is not the life I would have chosen for them.

So far, me and DH have both been working from home, which has been
a juggle with having the kids around but has at least felt relatively safe.

However, from September it looks like I will be back in a classroom teaching 30 kids in a bubble with no SD and no face coverings. I love my job and until this have never had a day off. But I’m seriously starting to think that I may have to leave as the stress of putting my family at risk is getting too much. That said, if my own kids are back at school they could pass it on to us anyway unless I homeschool, which I could, but then I’d worry about them missing their friends!

I try to keep myself busy and distracted but I think there is just no escaping the fact that this is a very stressful time at the moment, especially for those with underlying health conditions. The government’s handling of the situation and complete lack of empathy certainly doesn’t help either.

EnlightenedOwl · 04/07/2020 07:17

I don't care about coronavirus. I really don't. It's the overreaction and needless hysteria that worries me and the shit life we have to lead as a consequence

TheMurk · 04/07/2020 07:27

I’ve said a few times I feel genuinely sad for the seemingly many people who have developed warped thinking around this situation and are now paralysed with fear. There will definitely be a large number left behind as the world and the media moves on from this.

Most of these people seem to be those who have previously faced little illness or adversity in their life.

This is a virus, like a cold or a sickness bug, you get it, you feel ropy for a week or so, then you make a recovery and go back to absolutely normal very quickly. That is what will happen. In a tiny number of cases where people already have other painful, debilitating, life limiting problems, there may be complications of covid. Just like there may be for any other virus.

To be frank I find it a little insulting, as someone who has seen first hand what other, very serious illnesses can do to people’s lives, that all of a sudden people care so much about this new thing that is really not that bad but has been stirred up by the government and media to suit an agenda.

OP there are many awful things in life to be scared of. I would put coronavirus at the very bottom of that list.

BogRollBOGOF · 04/07/2020 08:11

No, I was anxious at the start about a likely impending lockdown- I already knew I'm not good with cabin fever from two SPD pregnancies. It was a relief to be allowed out to exercise, and I have been out virtually every day unless the weather's been particilarly grotty. That's very grounding and normalising

There's things that concern me longer term like the impact of missing school for 5.5 months and having to re-socialise a child with ASD back into normality, and that it's a major delay in the EHCP process which may well have an effect on secondary transition (he's y4 now and we needed in place during y5) This is another reason for getting out, to not spiral him into anxiety and to let him know that the :world is as "safe" as ever, but we're just adapting temporarily to stop too many people catching the virus.

Life will get back to "normal" individuals will change for better or for worse. But humans are sociable. Mass events, group entertainment etc exist because there is the demand for them and that demand will always exist. It's the way that human society functions. That is our default.

New normal is bullshit. It's dangerous to use the word normal to describe alien changes in human society. And we are already creeping back to the real normal. The fear of the virus will gradually shift, and we already know so much more than we did 6 months ago about who is vulnerable (similar to the annual flu season) and how to treat it. There is hope of vaccination, but we've only eliminated one disease through vaccination so I'm not putting my eggs in that basket.

If anxiety is dominaying you, please seek help in addressing it

Fishfingersandwichplease · 04/07/2020 08:31

I had a bit of child free time this week so thought l would go to the shops and support the economy. Going in a shop just felt like a military operation, nothing pleasant about the experience and made me think l will just order online. The whole not being able to try clothes on means l would have to go back if it didn't fit so might as well get it delivered. Got friends who have said the same, not the shop workers' fault but it will discourage people going out which ultimately means jobs on the High Street will go etc and that upsets me more than the virus. Just feel desperately sad for people who will lose their livelihoods and suffer for years and years. Try not to think about it because it is so depressing.

Bluntness100 · 04/07/2020 08:37

I think this is a mental health issue and it is worth speaking to your doctor about you anxiety.

A healthy caution is one thing, reading and understanding the stats and risks and acting accordingly is the healthy approach. Being terrified and consumed by it is not.

You don’t need to live like this, I’d give my gp a call and explain to them how you’re suffering.

110APiccadilly · 04/07/2020 09:19

Well, I've looked at the stats (and I have the necessary technical background to understand stats) and I'm as likely to die in childbirth as I am to die of CV19, as far as I can tell. I don't worry about one, so why should I worry about the other?

I am worried about the lockdown's effects on civil liberties, mental health, the lack of healthcare for non-Covid patients, and the economy though.