Is anyone else more scared now than they were in March?

[Swearlikemalcolmtucker]

Everything just seems so dark, and even with the vaccines it’s got to get worse before it gets better.
I don’t recall feeling like this in March but I’m genuinely scared now. I’m hoping my health anxiety is at the root of most of it as I’ve been able to stay pretty upbeat and positive until now, I kept thinking vaccine, warmer weather, things will get better but now it seems harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Seeing the celebrations in NZ is like looking into another world

Yes, I am scared at the moment whereas I wasn't quite so much in March. I am scared that this is crippling our NHS. I worked through the first lockdown but have now been put on furlough from my part time job so I am concerned whether I will have a job longer term. I lost my other part time job back in March as a direct result of the pandemic. In March I didn't have a school age child and I now do, so previously I felt more in control in terms of us being careful and not mixing. It seems like a different set of circumstances have made for a long and uncertain road stretching out ahead. I have made a list of 3 things to focus on this year and 3 things to minimise, which probably sounds crap but has helped a bit.

I am not particularly scared of covid, no. I'm also taking all reasonable precautions and am very lonely. But mostly, I am scared of what this has done to otherwise normal, rational, nice people.

Yes this is exactly it, I’m scared of the bigger picture.
I worry that if we needed an ambulance for little DS for example we wouldn’t be able to get one.
That if us or a loved one ended up in hospital with something non fatal, they could then end up with Covid and die alone in hospital due to the rate of transmission in hospital.

I’m angry that the government have let things get this bad, all the while parroting about us having the best x,y,z, in the world - doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough beds for critical patients or enough staff to man your overspill emergency nightingale hospitals.

I feel hopelessly trapped and our world feels so so small. I look at DS and what his first year has been like and wonder what the hell I have brought him into.

I think in March it felt like there was an end, even though it was scary, and now it feels like it’s going to be quite a long dark time until we get to any sense of normality. I know people keep saying but we’ve got a vaccine but they don’t even know how or if it will affect rates of transmission.

I’m in the south and all three of our local hospitals announced a major incident/critical alert in the last few days so I think it’s just added to this feeling of inevitable doom I’m feeling.

And I’m not usually one to be a doom monger at all!

I am less scared because at this stage I know dozens of people who have had it (work NHS, DC in school, live in East London). They are all fine, many had no symptoms at all.

Obviously I am not in denial that for a minority it can be extremely serious, but I can now keep that risk in perspective. In March I didn't know anyone who had tested positive, and I frankly feared things would be much worse than they are (even atm).

@hobbyiscodefordogging yeah well on these boards it's just a competition as to who is most concerned about covid. Forget about life, who needs that... But you can't die of covid! I guess I'm just really bitter at the way people bang on as if nobody has ever suffered before, as if this is the only problem, the only disease. Yes, the NHS probably will be overwhelmed and we'll all suffer. Oh well.

That my point exactly

I feel the same, OP, and was just saying as much to my mum. When this first started I was mildly concerned and cautious but mainly just got on with it. The last week or so has really got to me and I am feeling increasingly on edge, anxious and generally have this awful foreboding feeling. I am worried about my mum catching it as she's fairly vulnerable health wise, I'm worried about my dh getting it due to his weight, and worried about the kids going back to school and bringing it home. The situation seems to be getting worse and worse by the day and our useless fucking government are absolutely anger inducing, and negligent, and incompetent. I'm angry and I'm scared and I just can't seem to see the end of this now.

@Itisasecret

I’m not scared. I’m very, very angry that this Government had the benefit of hindsight. Yet they let it rip through schools and now we have a nice mutation.

They gaslighted for months about safe schools and now they are the main driver, they’ve started closing them. Some schools cannot provide remote/kw/v provisos because of a lack of staff. I have 2 exam year children as I wanted schools to be open, I could see it was a fucking disaster about to happen.

I literally cannot believe they have made the same mistakes, again and again and they are hell bent on doing it all over again.

My only worry is the NHS. Young people are not dying but they are needing critical care. If you have an asthma attack, a car accident or chest issues. There is no guarantee you’ll get the help you need and that could happen to anyone.

People should be very angry.

me too! I'm in an area of London that was very bad earlier in March. We had the overwhelmed hospitals, temporary morgues and many people suffering the long term effects of covid. I'm angry no lessons were learnt and schools were forced back with no social distancing or protection. The only positive is the vaccine roll out, but it's not going to help us out of this mess for months.

I wasn't scared then and am not now

@Tootletum You’re agreeing that the NHS will be overwhelmed yet you some how seem to still be trivialising Covid19? I don’t get it.

I feel more anxious than in March. I think when it began it was all new, it felt like it would soon be under control, we were repeatedly told it would be over by Christmas so there was an end in sight, it seemed like once we were through the first wave and lockdown things would improve, there was more daylight and opportunity to get outside even if just in the garden so it didn't feel as closed in.
Now it feels like it's gone on forever, my children's mental health has suffered and I'm worried about them, and everything seems to have got worse rather than better. The messages of hope we were getting in the beginning seem to now be gone and it's all about how we're in it for the long haul with more lockdowns ahead.
It feels like we're in a much darker place now.

Not trivialising covid, just wondering why that is the only focus anyone seems to have

[quote CabinClose]@Tootletum You’re agreeing that the NHS will be overwhelmed yet you some how seem to still be trivialising Covid19? I don’t get it.[/quote]

I can't speak for tootletum, but for example, my dad's cancer spread during covid. He was able to access life-saving surgery. My mum on the other hand has a progressive lung disease which has got worse and the GP won't even see her for a referral. Has someone somewhere decided that one is more worthwhile than the other? They both would have continued on their care pathways had it not been for covid. So yes, you can be both concerned that the nhs will be overwhelmed and unworried about covid itself. (My dad has continued to attend work apart from when he was recovering from surgery, and he's nearly 70. He recognises the value in continuing to live his life with cancer rather than being scared into hiding away forevermore.)

I am more scared than I was.

I've been fine till now, sad and angry at times but pragmatic and reasonably confident that we (my family and the country) will make it out the other side.

I am in London with DC 13 & 15 so we know loads of people who have had it - most of whom who have had very mild symptoms. I do know of two people who died early on in April - both deeply upsetting, but I was able to rationalise this and was still mentally ok.

Now I just feel terrified. The NHS is buckling as feared, I am scared that if me or one of my loved ones needed medical help, we couldn't expect the usual level of care and that might have disastrous consequences. I am scared that the demographic of those who are critical is shifting to a younger and healthier group, and although I"m not saying that the older people suffering was less valid, it just feels more like 'anyone' can can become critical now.

I am more scared of the DC going back to school and having to be squashed onto crowded busses than I was but I am equally scared of the mental health issues all the locking down - however necessary - is creating.

The vaccine news is extraordinary though and a real beacon of light. I think that the fact that the first dose is so effective - meaning that they can focus on first doses for more people before starting 'round two' is hugely encouraging and I keep trying to focus on that to keep myself from spiraling.

Definitely feeling more worried about the knock on effects, economy and mental health- I can see a potential disaster in both areas.

@SabrinaTheMiddleAgedBitch

I've always been worried about it but when I saw the announcement that schools would be remaining open I became scared. This government is making the same mistakes over and over again, I don't feel safe whatsoever

I feel the same.

@CabinClose why not? Life sucks and then you die. I am doing what I can, i feel very alone and my kids have missed out on so much it's hard not to be sad about it. There's also no point being scared, what of? Historically we have never been so privileged. Even 100 years ago people would laugh at our idea that death is so very terrible or unusual.

@Ginkpin

I am more scared than I was.

I've been fine till now, sad and angry at times but pragmatic and reasonably confident that we (my family and the country) will make it out the other side.

I am in London with DC 13 & 15 so we know loads of people who have had it - most of whom who have had very mild symptoms. I do know of two people who died early on in April - both deeply upsetting, but I was able to rationalise this and was still mentally ok.

Now I just feel terrified. The NHS is buckling as feared, I am scared that if me or one of my loved ones needed medical help, we couldn't expect the usual level of care and that might have disastrous consequences. I am scared that the demographic of those who are critical is shifting to a younger and healthier group, and although I"m not saying that the older people suffering was less valid, it just feels more like 'anyone' can can become critical now.

I am more scared of the DC going back to school and having to be squashed onto crowded busses than I was but I am equally scared of the mental health issues all the locking down - however necessary - is creating.

The vaccine news is extraordinary though and a real beacon of light. I think that the fact that the first dose is so effective - meaning that they can focus on first doses for more people before starting 'round two' is hugely encouraging and I keep trying to focus on that to keep myself from spiraling.

Also this.

@costco

Not trivialising covid, just wondering why that is the only focus anyone seems to have

Well because Covid isn't just about you getting ill on an individual level- it's affecting peoples jobs, our ability to pay our mortgage or put food on the table, kids going to school, getting medical treatment for other illnesses, our movements, who we can see, where we can go. It's hard not to focus on Covid when every aspect of our lives is currently being dictated by it.

Do you think that the governments in Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany etc are also making the same mistakes over and over? They have the same kind of figures if not higher than here. Do you also think they are hellbent on letting the virus rip through their countries?

I'm as as scared as I was in March. I was terrified in March, I'm CV (not CEV) and I was scared of catching it and the outcome being the worst. Summer, I began to relax a bit, September I became anxious around school return and slowly began to relax a bit (even though we had burst bubbles and our own isolation with symptoms though negative tests thankfully). Now I am back to feeling really anxious, not happy about the return to school (primary in tier 4 and all that mixing people will have been doing 😭). This feeling is not a good one.

To be clear I'm not scared of Covid. I'm worried that with the Hospitals out of beds, and no ambulances, normal emergency conditions (with a good outcome if treatments available) will result in death e.g asthma, sepsis, anaphylaxis, meningitis, aneurysms etc

@Itisasecret
Explains my feelings exactly.
Angry.... sad too 😢

Yes it's much worse

The nhs is COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED in London

And FUCKWITS on Mumsnet are still wanking on about 'herd immunity' and 'getting on with our lives' and 'it's just like flu'

^ ^ - all of this has been disproved - herd immunity would kill 500,000 in the UK, as would 'getting on with it' - and of course its FUCK all like flu

I am very scared. I’m relieved that I will not have to send my children to school at least for the next two weeks. At Christmas I had the shocking news that a very old friend of mine has died from Covid. Alone in hospital after two weeks on a ventilator. He had no underlying health conditions. I’m struggling to come to terms with it. I feel if I can stay home with the children and not be forced to send them to school at least I can try to keep us safe.