Friend saying she’s ignoring lock down from the end of the month.

[Covidcovid]

She’s always being very anti lockdown, citing mental health issues, etc and has just said from next week that’s it. She will do what she wants and take any fines.

I assume she just means visiting family because it’s not like she can go out for lunch or shopping. 🤷‍♀️

But I don’t understand her, she’s an intelligent person and an ex nurse. Her mum is currently very unwell in hospital with covid but she posted the other day that her mum has turned a corner and should hopefully be home soon. So surely she should see if it wasn’t for lockdown then there’s a risk people like her mum may not have got the treatment they needed because the hospitals would have likely being overwhelmed?

If it was me I’d be thankful there had been a lockdown because it wouldn’t have taken much more the way things were going for hospitals to not be able to,offer the current level of care......and in ICU even that isn’t optimal care with stretched ratios.

[Perpetualheadache]

I'd find it easier to want to comply if the government wasn't such a shit show.

They've basically had a year now to sort out the testing system. It's still shit.

We're in lockdown 3. It's not the public's fault. Eat out to help out right after lockdown 1. Delayed action every time. Borders open. Confusing rules. 64 times the rules have changed. U-turn after U-turn after U-turn.

It's understandable that people are really fucking fed up. I'm by no means saying I'll start breaking the rules but I can see why some people are starting to feel like they want to. If the government isn't taking it seriously then how can the public?

[Sillyduckseverywhere]

Oh, and as of March I'll also be relaxing more regarding other people.
The vulnerable should be vaccinated by then

[Mousehole10]

My limit is March, I’m seeing family then. I don’t think it’s right that it’s illegal to see family. A month or two is ok on an emergency situation but 6 month? A year in some places? No, it’s not morally right. I’m at my breaking point but I’ll give it until March but then that’s it. I don’t care if schools are closed, I don’t care about going to a pub or shops but I am going to see my family.

[joystir59]

Following any set of rules to the nth degree even when your heart gut and soul are telling you you need human contact will obviously break you. Each person can only do their best.

[MaudesMum]

Once the weather is warmer and it is possible to spend time outdoors more enjoyably, I think its going to be harder to stick to some of those less logical rules, even if you mean to. Eg, instead of just exchanging a couple of sentences with a neighbour you stay talking for ages and at some point another neighbour comes along to join in. Or you go for a walk with a friend and you sit down under a tree to continue your conversation.

[BilboBercow]

Maybe she's really struggling with her mental health? I know I am at the moment and there will come a breaking point

[Frenchdressing]

She’s an idiot then and will put others at risk.

[AliceinBunniland]

I know too many people like this who think the rules don't apply to them, Covid isn't a real threat... I understand mental health is important but I think some people are very selfish.

If I were you, I would tell the friend straight "but are you not worried about the hospitals being overwhelmed? Your mother has recovered in hospital but some people might not get the treatment they need if I ripped ignore the rules"

[CaughtInTheCovid]

I think spring is the end for a lot of people. Obviously we can’t go to closed pubs or shops but most will be seeing family. My older relatives have had 2 doses of the vaccine- I’ll be seeing them.

[secretllama]

Me and my husband have both agreed March. I already made a pact with my mum and sister after lockdown 1 that we'd see each other, but from March I will be seeing my friends also inside. A year of my life living like this is enough.

[Sillyduckseverywhere]

@TinyTinaTriesAgain
I'm not in a single household. My relationship was suffered badly and I hadn't had a single human touch me in months.

[joystir59]

Yes, stay away from the shops except for buying what you really need, yes don't have house parties or meet in big groups, yes minimise who you mix with, yes, avoid public transport and busy places. BUT if you need to see a loved one in order to stay sane, then do so. This virus isn't going away, the restrictions aren't going away but there has to be a balance and we have to support people we love in order to stay sane and not break.

[redsquirrelfan]

@redcarbluecar

You can only break rules if other people are happy to break them with you, so she’ll probably be quite limited in that sense. She’s perhaps just trying to shift her mindset a bit to ease her MH. Think a lot of people are really struggling at the moment.

Yes that was my first thought too. But it might be that as the weather gets better people are less likely to adhere to the no meeting in gardens rule for example.

And the people not seeing their partners are bonkers, I would see mine if we didn't live together.

As I've said on here before (quite a few times) I'm fed up with the emphasis being on individual compliance when a lot of employers are letting their employees down. Sort out the moronic employers who won't follow the rules or guidance, rather than having a go at the person who goes out for two runs a day or travels 15 miles to meet a friend for a walk.

[Lostinacloud]

Think of the perspective that your friend has just gained; her DM, who she may not have seen for the best part of a year caught covid anyway, became unwell enough to need hospital treatment and all through that worrying time, your friend couldn’t visit her DM and didn’t know whether she would ever see her again.
Don’t you think that it’s now perfectly natural for her to be desperate to spend as much time as possible with her DM having just been gifted the chance for more time?
There’s only so much people can sacrifice for strangers to the detriment of the chance to see and be with their own close family. It’s frankly disgusting that it’s illegal to see your own parents or children in the first place.

[Vivana]

I've reached breaking point along time ago with the government on the way they have treated carers from the beginning. I will still abide by the law but at breaking point now. Mentally and physically and now being diagnosed with ptsd as what I have endured as a carer in a care home. Luckily I acted fast and got a new job starting soon.

[whippettiger]

I think most people will be like this, even the devout rule followers. I find some of the people shouting the loudest about staying home are able to do so as they have a key worker place, a job which allows them outside the house, various bubbles and a general lack of understanding about specifics, so are breaking small rules themselves.

[SophieB100]

The irony of people acting like your friend OP, is that by 'breaking the rules' they will only achieve one thing for certain - making the 'rules' last far longer for everyone.
So the thing they kick against - the lockdown - stays for longer than it would have done if they hadn't kicked out.
People who say, but I want to do this, and that, and I want my kids in school, I want to see my mum, friends, go out etc., etc. need to realise that we all want this, every single one of us hates this. But in order to do the things we want, we have to put up with it and crack on with it. Then we'll get the freedoms we want sooner rather than later.
It's horrible, it's soul destroying sometimes, but it has to be done. There is no alternative.

[redsquirrelfan]

@CaughtInTheCovid

I think spring is the end for a lot of people. Obviously we can’t go to closed pubs or shops but most will be seeing family. My older relatives have had 2 doses of the vaccine- I’ll be seeing them.

Yes, my mum has had covid AND her first dose of the vaccine - once she's had her second there's no reason for her not to visit us again (she came at Christmas anyway, slight bending of the support bubble guidance in terms of not being local but she lives alone).

Despite what some of the dementors say on here, if you've had the illness and the vaccine, you really aren't going to get it again.

[carlaCox]

Once the vulnerable groups have been vaccinated I really can't see any reason why we should all still be locked up indoors. I'm in my thirties and happy to take the risk, I've already lost a year of my life to this. If others don't want to take the risk then they are free to continue to restrict their lives.

[QueenPawPaws]

I'm shielding but technically breaking the rules today. Some people might see it as stupid but..
I have a broken kitchen tap. My options are my dad to come and fix it (had covid already, hasn't been mixing) or pay a workman (could have covid, going to lots of houses)
The choice was fairly simple for me, my dad to come and fix it. I'm keeping the windows open and distancing and he isn't hanging about
Otherwise it's live without a tap for the next however long

[Lotsalotsagiggles]

A lot of people are recovering in hospital and then deteriorating within 2-3 weeks of coming out with long covid

Ti r

[Iwonder08]

There will be more people like your friend. You can judge, but it is their decision. People will inevitably start prioritising their own mental well-being over perceived well-being of humanity. And BTW, NHS is not underfunded, it is just awfully badly managed.

[ChocOrange1]

When my grandparents have had the vaccine and a few weeks have gone by, I will be visiting them. They will be protected, we don't go anywhere anyway, and nobody in my household is at risk (we are all under 30) so what's the risk? We wouldnt be contributing to overwhelming the NHS and I would like my grandparents, who are in their 90s, to see my kids before it's too late.

[Lotsalotsagiggles]

To risk re infecting her mum is selfish and so worrying

[SeldomFollowedIt]

My sisters the same and she’s a nurse she’s literally never followed the rules.