Will this ever end? Dark thoughts today

[Lissy23]

I’ve just read an article stating that this South African variant may be able to be caught again, by people who have already had and recovered from the virus...so where does that leave us if true? And that it also may evade vaccination.

I was feeling more optimistic the last few days with the excellent and efficient vaccine roll out and the infections coming down...however I’m now having some very dark thoughts, my DP and I are in a long distance relationship, I haven’t seen him since December due to our individual living and work situations meaning we cannot form a bubble. I’m missing him desperately and we were going to see each other end of March (he has provisionally booked an air b&b to stay in near to where I live) I have no idea if that’ll go ahead now, if lockdown is still in place and travel restrictions still an issue. I also haven’t seen my parents in 7 months and counting, due to the distance between us (200 miles) and the fact my parents are frightened of catching it, despite not having any co-morbidities or anything, but convinced they’ll end up on a ventilator if they catch it.

I have a 2 year old and it’s very difficult being stuck in the majority of the day with him. I miss playgroups.

I’m starting to feel like there’s no point in going on...there will be new variants coming up all the time surely? How will we ever get out of this mess? Lockdown will never end and there will always need to be a trade off between schools returning and other things opening.
I just really miss going to the cinema on a whim, popping into a cafe to escape the rain to read my book and have a coffee & piece of cake...playgroups, soft play, seeing people in person opposed to on a screen

Don’t know how to go on much longer...if it wasn’t for my DS.

This will eventually pass! Have hope and moderate your behaviour as much as possible. Look at Isle of Man close to home or Taiwan next to the original epicentre or New Zealand etc etc. This means we can beat this as it takes time and it takes all of us doing whatever it takes! So check your potential Covid footprint, follow the rules (if pragmatically possible exceed the minimum requirements) and await your vaccination! Think positive as this is no super deadly Ebola as Covid fatality and post long Covid syndrome rate is much much lower!

I'm not depressed. If I could see friends and family and had something to look forward to, I'd be fine. If I'm never going to get any if the things I value back, I'd rather be dead. I never have thought that being alive has a value for its own sake, and in my view sometimes suicide is a rational choice. If we never get out of this, my life no longer has any value to me. I'm not imminently about to commit suicide, because there is a possibility that we may get out of this - but if we don't, life isn't worth living any longer.

@Fembot123

Whoever said that is a cunt *@LucilleTheVampireBat*

I got deleted for calling them a cunt, and their post remained. Typical eh! Thanks for the flowers

I'm in one of the postcodes listed and I'm worried but then I think we are all in a lockdown anyway so hopefully new variant won't spread like wildfire

My main issue is what are the Government not telling us about this new variant to ask us in those areas to have mass tests and not go out?

I'm clinging to the hope that the vaccine works on the variants

I completely understand. I'm really really struggling. I could list all my worries and rants, but actually bottom line, as far as I understand, is this:

Yes, these mutations are making the road longer and driving conditions even more treacherous, but even with the efficacy of existing vaccines dropping and dropping quite significantly, they still protect against serious illness and death.

Surely that's the big beaming light we need to look for on the horizon.

I’m with you op. I think there’s going to have to come a point soon where we’re going to have to just learn to live with it with improved hygiene and a degree of social distancing. The virus isn’t going away any time soon and they keep finding new variants which the vaccine may not protect against so what’s the alternative, locking us down forever?

It was always going to mutate. ALWAYS. This shouldn't be on the news. It should only be on the news if it hasn't mutated, that would be news.

The scientists are ready for this.

We all have days where we feel so gloomy and grim (I had one yesterday) but soon it will be spring and then summer. Rates will go down, at least for a while. We'll picnic in the sunshine with people we love. Or browse shops on a whim. It's going to be ok.

It's relentless. And it's coming from all directions. I think we'll end up in a position where it will always be a threat but will no longer be at the forefront of our minds all the time. Much like other risks out there. And we'll have to take our chances.

There has always been a subset of the population who has been at higher risk from viral infections, whether it's genetic or not we still don't know. Many people don't find out until they get it and just don't recover. But it doesn't generally stop us going about our daily lives and we just take whatever precautions we can.

In the meantime, the only thing I tell myself is that it's easier to cling on with my fingernails than to try to climb out the hole. So I'm still clinging on and remembering each day we're closer to what will be our new normal.

Thank you for that @aftereightanytime, it really helps. I will try to keep that in mind.

For months and months last year they said that there was no proof that people who have had covid developed immunity, but despite some rare cases, it is now accepted that they do. The SA variant is an unknown saying it may do this or it may do that is meaningless.

In September they did a health survey here in Mexico that involved taking blood from some 20,000 people countrywide and found that 25% had already had covid and that was before the latest wave. We are getting there.

I think the suggestion of taking one day at a time is a good one. I think lockdown will be relaxed some enough

I just miss my old life. I didn't have my little girl for this. I want to go to my mum's for a nice coffee. It's shit.

@Lissy23

Oh and I’m so sick of people saying to me “Think how fortunate you are, think of the positives” and my favourite “Imagine living through a world war, then you’d have something to complain about”

In a world war you can hug your mum! I feel shit too. I feel horrendous for DD who is missing out on so much. Sick of living half a life.

Thank you to all the pragmatic and calmly optimistic posters. It really helps.

People can buzz off with their ww2 comparisons as far as I'm concerned and in the nicest possible way we need to forget a miracle because it's not going to happen. We need to live with this virus not in fear of it ..imo time to get back to normal enough is enough

I think you're right bonnesvacances I was just saying earlier today that how at the height of the AIDs crisis people thought that nobody would ever be able to have sex again without this being at the forefront of their minds. Things evolve and we adapt.

But I wonder if it being February is adding to a sense of gloom just now, I know for me I was thinking to just get January over with, and now we have and it's no better. But I do think we'll be better off by March, even to the extent we can do a few more things hopefully. All we can do is hang in there but it's not easy some days is it.

So what’s the endgame here? We sit at home forever and nobody has a job? There will be no economy and no money to pay for the National Covid Service. Do the government have a plan for when unemployment is 50% and there’s still mutations so we are on lockdown in 2022?

@staceybeaker

I think you're right bonnesvacances I was just saying earlier today that how at the height of the AIDs crisis people thought that nobody would ever be able to have sex again without this being at the forefront of their minds. Things evolve and we adapt.

But I wonder if it being February is adding to a sense of gloom just now, I know for me I was thinking to just get January over with, and now we have and it's no better. But I do think we'll be better off by March, even to the extent we can do a few more things hopefully. All we can do is hang in there but it's not easy some days is it.

I agree. It is the same as the mentality of "Let us make it through 2020 and things will be better," a little bit of hope is painful at the moment.

Same here. I'm normally very positive but struggling to see it at the moment. I'm not worried about coronavirus and just wonder how long this is going to continue while everyone continues to suffer. My 2 year old is becoming addicted to the tv as its the only way I can entertain her while I supervise my 6 year old with school work. I feel sad that DD1 hasn't had an uninterrupted school year yet and is missing out on vital friendship building and learning social skills. I feel sad that my 2 year old doesn't know what soft play is or going further than the local park. I know we are very lucky and our situation could be much worse but I just feel sad that things could continue for such a long time.

We will just have to get back to normal once most people are vaccinated and hospital admissions are back to normal and it will be like seasonal flu. The global economy won't stand for anything else.

I don’t think having caught the virus once offers any immunity does it? Or only 5 months. You can just catch the next strain.

I meant close the borders apart from freight. I would like to know what the governments plan B is if the virus evades the vaccine😟

I also have a 2 year old, and parents living very far away. I have really struggled for the past 2 weeks. I had my first panic attack in 15 years last Saturday. I have a call with the GP tomorrow about PND (I have a 3 month old too). I am struggling to see the light, to see positives, and I feel like everything I see and do is just not good enough. It feels never ending. My sister is very much of the 'just see the positives' type of person. She doesnt understand i cant. My parents are better with their attitude which is go for a walk every day, stay away from the news, actively work on recognising negative thoughts and make a conscious decision to replace them with a nice thought, or a cuppa, or a hug with my DDs. I am going to work on it all. It's a dark time for everyone at the minute, and I have been thinking struggling makes me weak as everyone else is ok, but in reality nobody is ok. We are all a bit broken. We are all taking it onw day at a time.

Christ. I've just watched the 1pm news.
I feel really fucking flat now.

Really fed up. So sick of it all.
I'm.living through some awful things in a house in a strange place where I don't know anyone, away from my family who I've not seen fir months.

I swing between just keys gave a free fir all and get on with life znd let's really stop nimby pambying around and go fir fuck off strict lockdown with curfews, real consequences, shut our borders to everyone (except special cases like NZ,Singapore and Australia) whilst we roll out our vaccine programme. I say this as someone who's life's work is in aviation and lost 2 jobs this year. We need to just decide we're living normally or we're going in hard to stamp this out.

Everything we do in the UK seems so wishy washy and a half measure and just look at us. Fucked and yet again we find ourselves on the back foot.

I feel so depressed today.

I'm struggling to understand what people want the government to do ? It's pretty obvious, stay indoors and the numbers go down , resume normal life and the numbers go up . We have a vaccine and so far the programme is a success so far as getting people vaccinated goes . That's pretty much all they can do , they are not wizards .
I think people are just finding it really hard to accept that there is a risk to everything and there always has been . I'm afraid that's life

I'm sorry for everyone at the end of their tether and feeling done in with it all today.

I know someone who's had it twice. Once in April and now. Suspects this is the new variant. This time they're in hospital. COVID is not going anywhere. Life will be very different next winter but not "normal." It's a pisser.