This is it for the foreseeable future

[MagicSummer]

It just struck me today that this is how life is going to be for the foreseeable future - masks everywhere so shopping is no fun, no theatres, no holidays, no parties, no proper get-togethers. It is utterly depressing. Like everyone else, I so yearn for my old life back and I bitterly regret taking it all for granted in the past. It's quite true that 'you never know what you've got till it's gone'.

Apparently the roaring twenties happened because they followed two years of the flu pandemic - so maybe we do have something to look forward to? Generation sensible can finally let their hair down?

@cyclingmad

First they said 6 months which was March, then message changed to end of April and last date thrown about was July. Goalposts keeping moving!

They did say welcome to the new normal so here we are.

No. Stop with the 'new normal' crap. If the 'new normal ' means no acting and singing with my theatre groups, no hugging my friends and having to live with all these stupid restrictions that have stripped the fun out of my life then, no thanks, I don't want it.

Ok bury your head in the sand then, they told us whats going to happen and its happening so you can either accept it or not.

But like I said they have told us end of March, then end of April and now talk of July. Ignore it if you like.

They talked of a 2 week circuit break and now its already been moved on to be 4 weeks...

Wake up!

Why are they have drinks in the commons bar? Why are they not scared enough that they happily don't follow rules they set? That's every political party.

Umm no. I can't do this for a year more, my mental health won't cope. Everyone needs to stop scaremongering.

Develop some coping strategies then because pandemics like this generally last a couple of years, we're about halfway through, and no amount of cheerful positivity will make it stop sooner, nor will doom mongering prolong it

You can't power of positive thinking a virus

Yep - I think so.

Its shit. The economic fallout hasn't even started yet

We are now trapped in a London flat no one wants to buy thanks to this shitshow with another baby on the way and no room, and no I can't let it out as we haven't got enough equity.

I'm stuck raising 2 young children in a 500sq flat with no garden, with both dh and I trying to WFH.

Its fucking shit and I'm sick of all of it.

And all you people saying "develop coping strategies" are talking out of your backsides. Clearly you have no idea how mental health works.

Telling someone with a severe mental illness to develop coping strategies is no different to telling someone with two broken legs to run up a flight of stairs.

I hope that they will start vaccinating front life medical staff, teachers etc and over 50s in the first quarter next year. Then everyone else can choose to carry on with some form of caution or go back to what they had before, aware of the risks and making their own decision and appreciating that the health service may not be able to treat everyone. It seems like it's about choice - choose to smoke and your health may suffer, choose to not distance, douse yourself with hand santiser every 5 mins and your health may suffer?

Unfortunately I think this will carry on until next spring and will then start to ease with warmer weather and vaccine roll ours. But it’s not forever, we just need to get through the next 5 months.

It's rubbish and we have to learn to live with it for the time being. It will reset many of us. Is it necessary to drink 24/7, is it necessary to fly to Spain for beer and fry ups, etc.

For the time being, today was.lovely and sunny. It is nice to walk. It is nice to eat well. We are still in tier 1 so I visited my mother today, just in case. We can still go to a restaurant, DH can play golf. There are good books to read and good music to listen to. The DC are back at uni and theirs isn't full of covid.

MIL is in our support bubble and we will get her here for Christmas and we will make a lovely Christmas just for five of us this year. Next year we might get to France.

We are fortunate because we can work from home but yes it has been hard and we are worried about the economy.

@inchyra

Unless you’re already clinically depressed, your mental health isn’t going to suffer just because you’re wearing some fabric on your face. How do you think doctors and nurses manage? Are all the women in Iran clinically depressed?

Wear a fucking mask, keep your distance, wash your hands, get on with your life, stop posting whacko threads on the internet.

Fuck that. I'm not prone to clinical depression and I am having days when I am so thoroughly pissed off with it all and really struggle to motivate myself to do anything. I'm finding myself not leaving the house for days on end because there's nothing interesting to do. The result of that is that my joint pain is much worse than ever and I realised last week that the walk into town and back, which is 2 km uphill, coming home, actually tired me out.

We have more to worry about than just covid.

@jimmyhill

Umm no. I can't do this for a year more, my mental health won't cope. Everyone needs to stop scaremongering.

Develop some coping strategies then because pandemics like this generally last a couple of years, we're about halfway through, and no amount of cheerful positivity will make it stop sooner, nor will doom mongering prolong it

You can't power of positive thinking a virus

I can't do this for that long though, I just can't. I've already come close to attempting suicide.

Not forever. We will soon look back at this time and think crikey how did we do it. But we are. We have to. We all have to pull together to get through this.

And my favourite Beauty and The Beast quote to lighten up this thread.
*
"It'll turn out all right in the end. You'll see."*

@kittensarecute please don't do that.
You are needed here.
This time will pass. It won't be like this forever. This virus is so new that it doesn't look like there is an end in sight but of course there will be.
Have you spoken to someone about how you are feeling?

And it's fucking rained for at least some of pretty much every day so far in October, where I live. All those lovely walking routes that we made extensive use of in the spring are caked in mud and wet, slippery, leaves. Give it a week or so and they will be icy.

Yes it's shit. I want to hug my friends, I want to go see my daughter and grandchild in Scotland, I want my younger kids to be able to go to scouts, sing in their choir and play in their bands but I'm taking deep breaths, putting on my mask and getting on with it one day at a time. I have pretty robust mental health and I've had times where I want to curl up in a ball and cry so I feel for those who suffer with anxiety and mental health issues generally.
I just keep saying spring will improve things with crossed fingers.

It is miserable but I am holding onto the hope that things will have improved greatly by next spring and summer. There are new treatments being discovered, vaccines are being trialled, there is more known about how to treat Covid patients in hospital without necessarily putting them onto ventilators, and there is more known about the virus in general.

for everyone having a really hard time atm.

Its kind odd how suddenly there is a vaccine in production and hopes of it from December. This is exactly what they did around April/ May saying that its not forever and it looks promising for a vaccine in September.

Realising that without hope people are getting sick and tired of it all so offer some hope.

December will come to pass and no vaccine will be ready

Don't you realise how your being manipulated

@cyclingmad.
Who's the they you're referring to ?
"This is exactly what they did around April/ May".

I've been doing ok mostly though have had some serious wobbles. I saw a friend yesterday because, in his words, we probably won't see each other again until Spring and that made me cry. There was a spat on FB today where someone was arranging to meet someone at the weekend and someone else pointed out that they're not supposed to as we're now in Tier 2. Poster was trying to argue the case that the rules are for you to interpret as you wish and there was a pile on from both sides. This is what worries me - the more people ignore the rules the tighter they will get.

@cyclingmad

Nobody is being manipulated

Even if a vaccine was rushed through , majority of spoke realise it will just cause more issues

I don’t know anyone who has any faith whatsoever in a vaccine

I’m enjoying it. Nobody has ever invited me to parties or included me in groups or meet-ups. Now they’re getting a taste of what it’s like to be left sitting at home alone and I couldn’t be happier.

Those saying that they just won’t comply

How does that work when places are still either closed or restricted? You have no choice

All you can rebel over is seeing friends/family..... and only then if they too are all in agreeance

I know some retailers are looking at permanent security options for the doors over covid compliance

@cyclingmad

Its kind odd how suddenly there is a vaccine in production and hopes of it from December. This is exactly what they did around April/ May saying that its not forever and it looks promising for a vaccine in September.

Realising that without hope people are getting sick and tired of it all so offer some hope.

December will come to pass and no vaccine will be ready

Don't you realise how your being manipulated

Just stop. Please. You're not helping.

@WizWoz
I don’t know whether to feel happy for you or sad!

I am kind of enjoying a decrease in social events tbh