At my breaking point now. Don't see light at the end of the tunnel

[Valleydad99]

This is probably not going to sit well with people but I'm honestly at the point where I'm questioning what the fucking point of these virus measures are. All the masks/social distancing/lockdowns haven't worked in eliminating the virus & now apparently as cases rise it's back to lockdown again?

Am I the only one thinking maybe we need a plan B? Rather than being flamed for apparently trying to kill people for questioning it?

My 1 year old has been locked down for half her life. I can't take the kids to see sport or play inside for basically no reason.

My kids are no longer welcome at church because of SD & in case they wander around like kids do so now we have no spiritual guidance & anyone I express concerns to just say it's for the greater good & fuck you. "Suffer the little children" said Jesus except when they need god most I suppose.

We've been following all the fucking rules but now it's well if more people followed the rules this would all be over. But that's just not true is it. There's no magic bullet & a vaccine doesn't cause it all to go away so I guess we'll just stay in our bunkers shouting wear a mask at people until we're all dead.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, guess I just want to shout into the void but I'm mentally at my breaking point & don't see a future for my children & me.

You can always read a page or two before bed, if it helps. I work ft, I don’t pick up a book before about 10pm and only read a few pages. Not for everyone but my point is getting context outside your own immediate experience is important.

You I agree with you OP.

We are just trying to do as much as possible while we can in case we can’t again!

So two trips a day when not working, zoos/playgrounds/soft play/ beach/ swimming/ lunches out etc etc. So another lockdown may feel less painful as we’ve had months of fun!

Also if you as a family are not at risk - you are very very lucky. Perhaps think about that.

One thing I have repeatedly said since the start of this pandemic is that there has been an eerie silence from the Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury and other senior religious figures around the world. Italy was on it's knees and we heard idly squat from the pope

You may have repeatedly said that, but it’s not actually true

Also if you as a family are not at risk - you are very very lucky. Perhaps think about that.

yeah OP, you're not allowed to be unhappy about anything unless it involves dying of covid.

I agree OP. I’ve just had someone on Facebook demanding pubs were shut. As evidence she cited her mother’s 85 year old next door neighbour having a party for 25+ people in her house. How will closing pubs stop that? If anything it will make it worse. FB friend has no answer for that of course, just picks on something that she isn’t bothered about and demands it closes.

The church has been seriously lacking throughout this and for all those suggesting virtual services, this worked for about the first 4 weeks for my DC and then they totally lost interest - as did I, I have to say. It's not the same at all, or even a close second.

Fortunately, our church have started doing an afternoon family service of 30 minutes with a lot of drums and percussion instruments and then the kids can have a run around outside afterwards. It's not perfect because we have lost that wonderful sense of family, where we have friends literally from 1 to 95, and now we only see the ones with younger children, but it's something. I would really recommend writing to your vicar/pastor/priest about this - if there are other families in your church you will not be feeling alone.

But other than that I agree - the whole situation is woeful. The response has been massively disproportionate to the risk for the vast majority of people. We have totally screwed our economy and the mental health risk to so many people (including me) of a potential winter lockdown is catastrophic.

Whilst well-meaning, I think it's not so helpful to tell a person who is suffering that they shouldn't feel bad because some people have it worse. You can't ask someone who is struggling to even offer compassion for themselves to find it for someone else. All suffering is valid. Even first world problems are problems.

@tootyfruitypickle

Also if you as a family are not at risk - you are very very lucky. Perhaps think about that.

What a pathetic thing to say.

I completely agree. So few people are dying from this and I no longer believe that is because of lockdowns and other measures - huge numbers of the population are ignoring them and still not dying. Sweden isn’t having a terribly high death toll. I just can’t see how politicians think the risk is still worth the measures and damage now that we’ve seen it fundamentally isn’t a particularly dangerous disease. Only about 50 people are dying daily out of a population of nearly 70 million. 25 of those are over 80. I personally am comfortable with that risk, not only to myself but to my parents and grandparents, and they say the same. It’s just not the kind of disease that will ravage the entire population but we’re acting like it is.

I don't feel too good now either. Ds very depressed and wistfully watching Download youtube videos (very muddy heavy metal festival!) dreaming of a time when you could bundle with impunity.

A close relative is a vicar. Frankly I am quite astonished by his lack of engagement with his flock. Zoom sermons and phone calls. He and his dw have not left the house since March. No vulnerabilities, just fear. The pair of them trumpet about "lives before the economy" as well.

Well, we live in the first world, so literally every single problem anyone has in this country is a first world problem

It’s depressing how many people believe themselves to be Christian and then effectively say that the lives of the elderly and ill are worthless.

Do you not realise that is the exact opposite of the underpinnings of Christian faith?

It’s depressing how many people believe themselves to be Christian and then effectively say that the lives of the elderly and ill are worthless.

Who has said that?

Also "the lives of the elderly" doesn't really cut it, does it. Who are you to say that the rights of an elderly woman who doesn't want to catch covid should override the rights of my grandfather who will most likely die of his illness in a hospital alone, due to covid restrictions?

Only about 50 people are dying daily out of a population of nearly 70 million. 25 of those are over 80.

I’m always amazed (though I shouldn’t be) how posters demand others be less selfish whilst exhibiting absolutely zero compassion for people struggling.

OP the good news is that people are realising what you’ve realised. The government actions aren’t working and won’t work. What’s more the issues they are creating are worse than Covid 19 - the cure is worse from the virus.
We are starting to see more and more people challenging the restrictions and deliberately ignoring them. The mayor of Middlesbrough has recently publicly stated he will not follow the local lockdown rules, effectively encouraging others to do the same.

plonk I don’t know any over 80s who are demanding they be protected from Covid.
They all seem fairly pragmatic - and as you say, more worried about having no company in what is naturally the final stages of their lives.

My child has always gone to church - but has never run around. If she cried, I'd take her out, and as a toddler she sat and played quietly next to us, or coloured in. She never ran around. At the moment, she doesn't go, as I don't want to increase the risk to anyone in the congregation, most of whom are elderly and many have health issues.

I'm with you 100%. I think one of the reasons it's actually not working is because people just aren't prepared to put their lives in hold anymore, so lots of them aren't sticking to the rules.

I mean, we say it's 'not working', but I guess it could be even worse without the measures - we'll never know.

I have anxiety, which means I have to follow the rules to the letter, or I'll worry about harming people I love.

I WFH, but have had very very little since March due to covid. We are in local lockdown and even those restrictions have been tightened so we're back to essential travel only.

So now, I sit at home all day on my own - it's been peeing it down all week so I've not even been out for a walk or sat in the garden like I could in the first lockdown, which made a huge difference. DP is working long hours to cover staff who are off, so his normal 20hrs a week is more than full time at the moment, meaning I'm literally on my own ALL day. I can't go and see my family anymore. A hobby that I do recently restarted but has had to stop again due to the restrictions, which has been an absolute kick in the teeth, as it starting again made a HUGE difference to me.

My anxiety is absolutely through the roof, and I know there are lots of people who have worse mental health issues than me.

I do believe that the so call 'prevention' for covid might be causing more problems than it's actually preventing.

@IheartNiles Yes, the original lockdown was presented as a way to buy time. Perhaps I (like the rest of the word) was gullibly optimistic about the limits of human progress when all financial constraints were removed, and the some of the best minds in the world were working on the same problem. We split the fucking atom, for Christ's sake. We went to the moon. Why can't we find a halfway effective vaccine for a virus closely related to viruses we already knew about and had studied (if not developed a vaccine for)? It surely can't be that hard to get a vaccine in the arms of people likely to be infected? Couldn't Oxford have tried their own students? (Two of mine already down, and it's not even quite the first week of term.)

^ Sorry when I say my hobby has had to stop again, what I meant was that I have to stop going. It's out of the area, as I travel to it, my restrictions mean I can't, but all of my lovely friends who go to that hobby are still able to attend, as they're not in lockdown. So we don't even have the camaraderie of the Zoom calls and group chats etc - as we're not all in it together anymore, it's literally just me and DP who are unable to go.

@Valleydad99, I've sent you a PM.

When will Saint Boris the Clown and his merry men ADMIT that all these "tough measures" are all just pissing in the wind, destroying the country and people's lives? And yes, they are destroying people's lives - it's just that the shit hasn't hit the fan yet, and Saint Boris thinks we have short-term memories, like he does, and thinks that we're only thinking about the virus, and possibly wind farms, as he was wittering on about them earlier. He might think he's washing his hands of deaths by Covid, but he's going to have blood on his hands from the suicides of people who decide that life under his "utterly joyless but perfectly safe" regime simply isn't worth living.