How much longer are we meant to do this?

[Creamteaincornwall]

I have so many friends who are at the end of their tether. Some suicidal, many almost.
I attend a zoom support group for my mental health and emotional well being as I have BPD and ASD. The last few weeks have been horrendous, every person is at the lowest they’ve been since the beginning of all this.
The amount of posts I’ve read on various Facebook groups of people saying they don’t want to get up in the morning anymore, they just stay in bed. Surely this isn’t doing anyone any good physically or mentally?
Surely this will put most in a weaker position if they were to catch covid?

How much more are we all suppose to take of this? With no end in sight?

Meh. Everyone pinning hopes on the vaccines but I reckon the much maligned herd immunity will probably play just as important or even more important a part. 100k cases a day (who knows what the average has been, but A LOT of asymptomatics out there) is 36.5 million cases in a year & the PHE immunity study proves natural immunity lasts (so far).

I think it’s a shame that people don’t think carefully about how they respond on threads where people are clearly struggling.

There is lots of reasons to be optimistic:

Vaccine program going at some speed
New vaccines coming through
Ability to tweak existing vaccine to deal with variants
Natural immunity for a period for those who have had it
New ways of treating it to reduce the death rate
Case rate dropping
Warmer weather approaching.

It has been shit and continues to be so and I do hear what people are saying about the NHS always being under pressure but my friend has been nursing for close on 30 years and hasn’t had to work along side army personnel or had a temporary morgue in the car park before.

Hang in there OP. Things are improving, there is a time lag with everything though unfortunately so it’s a case of doing whatever you can to get through 💐

@ElliFAntspoo

For how long for?

Your prediction essentially seems to be lockdown indefinitely, no schooling indefinitely and the NHS overwhelmed regardless with no capacity for anything that isn’t an emergency or Covid?

Even the most cautious of scientists aren’t saying that’s the scenario.

Once we get February out of the way (only three weeks) and into March and Spring things will feel a lot more positive

Mentally I think it will help seeing Spring appear. It will be lighter and milder and signs of life start to show, flowers and trees with buds

I've been working a week on/week off for god knows how long. I've now started doing three days a week, every week because I've been finding it so depressing being at home looking out the window bored out of my mind

So many people with false hope on this thread.

No wonder people get very depressed they believe the impossible will happen.

We have to get used to restrictions for a long time yet. It's plain daft to say "I've had enough", when there's fuck all you can do about it.

@ClarencesMum

We do have choice.

The choice is - do as you are asked and not infect others, therefore not extending the restrictions and longer than necessary.

It will be fine. We have an annual flu vaccine programmd and we will build up to doing this too.

As for hunkering down i think this is natural and people should stress about it. Weve been under 'attack'for a year now andcwe cant do anything about it so our bodies are sort of protecting itself

Firstly I have no desire to see lockdown continue, I miss all the things I took for granted pre- Covid. I would love to hop on the train to see my 93 year old grandad in Birmingham, but I can’t and make do with FaceTime. I miss going to dinner, events etc
Just after Christmas I caught Covid. My symptoms were just like a cold, sore throat, stuffed nose etc .. and sore eyes. I did not require hospital treatment, however it’s now February and hand on my heart I am still living with the after affects. I have fatigue, head aches and mind fog, my concentration level is so low.. and I had a mild case. So when people say, oh it’s just like a cold, trust me that’s not always the case.

Yes the infection rates are falling, partly due to vaccines and the lockdown, but this virus is mutating and we have already been informed that current vaccines will require tweaking to combat the variants. Personally having had the ‘mild’ version I am not prepared to put myself or my family at risk.

Until they have vaccinated groups 1 to 9 they will have not vaccinated all the vulnerable Only up to group 4 in most areas

The average age of death from covid in the UK is:

82.4 years

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/average-age-of-coronavirus-fatalities-is-82-pcwqrzdzz

Therefore you do not need to vaccinate ALL of the groups.

Vaccinating the first four groups - which is nearly complete - will make the biggest difference to the mortality rate as the stats tell us.

There is no need to wait until all groups are vaccinated, because the main driver of those being admitted with severe disease are all over the age of seventy with a few exceptions.

It is your choice of course if you wish to stay in until all groups have had both doses (currently looking at a time frame of the end of May/June) but we certainly won't be! There will not be a single shop/business/restaurant to return to if we follow your logic maze

@Radio4Rocks

So many people with false hope on this thread.

No wonder people get very depressed they believe the impossible will happen.

We have to get used to restrictions for a long time yet. It's plain daft to say "I've had enough", when there's fuck all you can do about it.

Oh yes there is There's lots And it will be done

The choice is - do as you are asked and not infect others, therefore not extending the restrictions and longer than necessary.

Did you read the other posts by this poster who you quoted where she said the choice is not to be here anymore and that she is really struggling?

@speaksofty

elli I am saying that from March I will be seeing my friends in the garden probably a rule of six, so not huge parties and yes I will be ending my own lockdown.

If you want to continue with self imposed lockdown you can, but once the vulnerable are vaccinated that is it for me.

We don't have any close neighbours but if we did I would probably invite them along. No one is going to 'get covid' stood outside and I have had enough of this. March is the end of lockdown for us.

Don't know what the rules are where you are, but I'm not allowed to do that up here in Scotland.

I'm not saying don't do what is permitted under the rules where you live, I am just against all the selfish idiots who refuse to follow the rules that are laid down where they live.

Some people on this thread are seriously lacking in empathy. If you honestly think we’re heading for endless catastrophe, is this really the best thread to say it on?

@ElliFAntspoo

You sound unintelligent and also unkind, gleefully telling people who are struggling with their mental health that there will be a really harsh lockdown from 30th November to mid March’

There wasn’t even a ‘very harsh lockdown this winter for the length so not sure how you know the exact date it will happen.

Maze I caught the flu five years ago, and it took me a good six months to feel better. I felt achy, tired and had brain fog. Many viruses can leave a person feeling under the weather for a while afterwards. Feeling tired after covid is not a reason to keep the lockdown going and completely ruin our economy (what is left of it) and the education of millions.

Once the death rate is under control (it now seems to be) and the hospitals are managing (and they are now) , we need to lift the restrictions. March seems reasonable to me.

I thought the whole point of lockdown is to avoid an overstretched NHS. The vaccines will do just that. It doesn't stop everyone from catching covid but will reduce the likelihood of death or requiring hospitalisation. That's what's important, right?

On that basis I think in March we will see some restrictions being lifted and after Easter we'll probably be back to similar situation as last summer. Maybe similar to tier 2.

Agreed kljn this is the most likely outcome. Some people would have us all locked down forever it seems - it is very unhealthy.

@Beaniecats

Its exhausting I don't trust the Government or their advisors either Its like they want this to go on forever

Yeah, I'm sure they're rubbing their hands with glee at a thousand people a day dying u fed their watch

FFS

Why? There was a time when they said, we can't keep kids in classrooms all day. And the kids were forced into classrooms and learnt to deal with it. Now we think its normal just because that's the way we were brought up. As with all educational experiences, the successful succeed and the failures fail. It is the same with the current system.

Are you trying to say that children are equally likely to succeed or fail regardless of whether they are in school or not? Why on earth did we bother to introduce compulsory education, then? Shall we tell all the Save The Children type organizations that promote the foundation of schools worldwide that they're wasting their time?

You are completely insane.

@Dustyboots

If you're not watching the news, where exactly do you expect to see Boris etc? How can you say they've disappeared??

elli I am not sure you understand what I actually saying.
Regardless of what the government says come March we will be having picnics and drinks, dinners and BBQs with friends and family outside as safely as we can. If Hancock wants to carry on with 'lockdown' he can, but I will be done three weeks after the last vulnerable person has been vaccinated (15th of Feb) I am not saying you have to do it, I am saying this is what I intend to do.

@Covidcorvid

I wish I could make my own assessments and live my life accordingly.

Sadly the cafes, shops and gyms are shut so I can’t. I’d go back to normal tomorrow if I could.

🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

@Kokeshi123

British anti-Lockdown protest chant:

What do we want? Meetings of three to six people between the summer house and the geranium planter!
When do we want it? Twenty one days from now, unless Angela next door can't make it in which case we'll wait for Day 22. At 2.30 in time for some cups of tea.

A Great British revolt is coming

Beaniecats

Its exhausting
I don't trust the Government or their advisors either
Its like they want this to go on forever
For goodness sake, use your power of reasoning. Why would the Govt want this to go on forever? They wouldn't.

The Govt do not want to destroy the economy. They don't want companies failing. They don't want an explosion in mental ill-health in the population. They don't want to end the lockdown too soon (which is against the advice of Sage and the NHS anyway) because too soon may result in another lockdown despite people having been partially vaccinated.

It is awful that there are new variants of the virus but our brilliant scientists will tweak the vaccine asap. We just need to hang on in there and keep the faith. One day we may a look back on this as a time where it helped us to develop resilience. We all gain from experiences, even when they are really tough to go through.