How hard will it be for you to go back to “normal”....

[Imhermione]

I’m really struggling with the idea of going back to normal life and I don’t think I can do it 😭

I became a first time mum right at the same time as the first lockdown.

I remember being petrified and thought I was going to be taken away from my new baby.

I still feel as scared now as I did last March.

I’m frightened to be around people, we go for walks to the park and I panic if someone walks past me.
I wanted to take my son on the swings last week but I was too scared to touch the gate to the play ground.

I wash my shopping every week, check my temperature daily.

I’m absolutely petrified. My son starts nursery in 2 weeks and I don’t know now I’m going to cope with the idea that he could pass Covid to me.

I’m obese and I have inflammatory arthritis. Both put me into group 6 but I’ve not had my vaccine yet.

I just cannot imagine going back to life as it was where we can just relax and not think about avoiding people.

I will go hopping and skipping back into normality.

It sounds to me like you could do with some proper help. You don't have to live feeling like this

Normality for me does not fully come until I can travel abroad, so not until next year. The hardest bit will be going back to an office, even if only for one day per week.

I am still wiping all my shopping down with a weak bleach solution and cloth - you should see the colour of the water at the end!
I’m feeling a bit the same OP. I don’t know how I managed it ‘before’ - I struggle to keep the house clean and healthy food going into their mouths and getting the washing done and hung/folded/away....basic stuff - with two small ones there just aren’t enough hours in the day!
Your vaccine should be on the horizon if you’re in group six - so could you tag some annual leave onto the end of your mat leave to delay your return to work (and hence DC starting nursery) or at least minimise it - do one day a week or something and make use of a grandparent instead of nursery (of course not always possible but you get my jist - think about other options). Your employer should be understanding. Please also chat to your GP - it would be great if you could get some help with these anxieties - they’re not unfounded - but still are not great to live with. Talking therapy can help you
Best of luck x

I'll go back to normal straight away. Not scared of Covid one bit.

When you have a baby sometimes your mind goes into complete overdrive. I was convinced that I was going to get ebola when I had my last child (when ebola was rife in Africa). My logical mind told me that it wasn't in the UK but another part of my protective mummy brain was somewhere else. Call the gp. They will put everything until perspective for you. You do really need to get your baby out into the real world. He /she has to be able to live and survive in the real world. The only thing that is in your power is to wash hands /wear a mask /concentrate on losing weight and being healthy. You can't control anything else. Good luck.

Covid doesn't bother me anyway, it never has, and my life never changed much anyway apart from my social life and going to the gym, both of which will be more than fine to go back to and very often.

Very easy, I can’t wait. Worked in a office throughout. Can’t wait to burn my mask too.

@MrsEWeatherwax

Very easy, I can’t wait. Worked in a office throughout. Can’t wait to burn my mask too.

I work in a factory and we were discussing a mask burning ceremony when we can finally remove them

I’d have behaved as normal throughout if I’d have been allowed to (and it wouldn’t have put anyone else at risk). I have never been concerned for myself.
Your anxiety sounds on the extreme side and it if I were you I’d speak to my GP.

I have worked throughout. So my life never changed. I gave kinda forgotten by about covid in last year. When you have to carry on you just ignore it.

@teenagetantrums

I have worked throughout. So my life never changed. I gave kinda forgotten by about covid in last year. When you have to carry on you just ignore it.

I’ve worked throughout too. I haven’t been able to see my family and friends, teach my community dance class, take my kids to their groups, go to bars/restaurants/the theatre, do my voluntary work and loads of other things I usually do though, so despite working full time throughout my life has changed. Cant wait to get it back.

Becoming a mother is a time of suceptibility to increased anxiety. To some degree, it's a good survival strategy, but it can go too far and become inhibiting, even without a year of Project Fear inflicted on us all the time with no escape. When the anxiety inhibits you from doing normal, very low risk things like touching a gate, it's time for some support with that.

I'm looking forwards to the eradication of all restrictions particularly masks. Trying to operate in a world of barely audible, expressionless mumbling and fearing encountering some gobby self-appointed mask police is very draining. I long to look random people in the face again and read what they are saying. One miniscule benefit of lockdown is that the supermarket is the only place I go to where I have to deal with the blasted things.

I think we'll be heading for a new normal rather than the pre- covid one. Some changes that have happened in lockdown - homeworking, video-conferencing, online shopping - wont go away. Im disappointed that shops like Debenhams have closed, as i like buying clothes in town rather than online, but i think im in a minority, and city centres are going to have to adapt and change.
For myself, as our oldest leaves for uni in September, and the other one a year later, Im hoping that, post covid, we'll be eating out more and also having more weekends away. There have been predictions of a ' roaring twenties' backlash as a reaction to lockdowns.
Having said that, over lockdown Ive rediscovered some quiet hobbies like reading, knitting, art, running and jigsaws over lockdown, and will probably continue with these.

I think it'll be hard ... I've got a whole new appreciation for how easy it is to catch any illness includling covid if breathing same air, especially over prolonged period of time like theatres, pubs and trains. And people are far too close in those environments usually too.

However going to start gently, outdoor stuff with family, then outdoor public setting, quiet spacious shops at quiet times,e.g B&Q warehouse and build up tolerance gradually!

Used to have no problems on packed tube trains or crowded pubs, but now the idea horrifies me! Similarally can't imagine sitting in a crowded theatre next to other people, makes me a feel a bit sick.

And its not because I'm worried about dying from covid, or even getting seriously ill, just think the last 11 months have convinced my brain that interacting with other humans could be harmful

I can’t wait to sit in a packed theatre. Honestly I dream of it.

As pp have said in the kindest way you need to speak to your GP

I have no issues in getting back to normal ASAP but then I’ve never been worried.

I think a lot of this comes down to how much covid has changed your every day life. My DP is a key worker so his life hasn't change much, except he can't go to the put anymore. In comparison, mine is the polar opposite of what it was. This time last year I was on the verge of collapse from stress, since covid there is No more rushing around, no more commute, working from home. Kids home. All my hobbies cancelled. My whole life has been turned on its head and whilst I appreciate it slowing down I am very nervous about what the future looks like when I am expected to slot back into the rat race again. It is going to take a huge amount of adjustment to get back into my old life and I am quite scared of how I will cope!

I am not scared of the virus, I have health issues which could mean it hits me harder than others but I would deal with that at the time if it happened. I am scared of losing my mind over the pace of life going nuts again so this is my nemesis which I need to figure out how to deal with.

Its fucking awful what the government have done to people with their agenda of Project Fear

@Lemons1571

I feel similar (minus the new baby). I’ve started to have what feel like panic attacks, if I find myself near a few people who are not distancing (eg a busy supermarket or a waiting room).

But what could the gp do? Would they really prescribe anti anxiety meds for a couple of weeks until we get our jabs? Maybe other posters could give us an idea of what a gp could actually offer?

Refer you for therapy. This sounds like a form of OCD and that can be very successfully treated with a course of cognitive behavioural psychotherapy, free on the NHS. If you’re pregnant or have a baby under one then you are seen immediately and skip the waiting list.

There are some medications that are evidenced to help with ocd symptoms/anxiety too for the meantime.

Honestly OP, go see your doctor. This sounds awful and it’s not ‘normal’, you need help to move past this before it starts to affect your son and ruins your life even more ❤️

I was never afraid of covid in the first place, and was quite relieved to get it over with back in May when DH brought it home and we all had it (DC was a few months old). Can’t wait to get back to normality, I’d happily do it now. I’ll be the first volunteering to get coated in drunk people’s sweat and beer at a gig!

Not hard at all. No way. I've been taking great care not to lose my mind in the face of Saint Boris's project of brainwashing, playing with our heads like toys, and spreading public fear. And I will take part in any protests, pressure groups, and activism against the government: I don't want to see this kind of mass public brainwashing happening again in my lifetime. Even though the government might be saying "phew, lockdown is over", the story will be far from over for the millions who have lost their jobs, businesses, and homes, and have been TOTALLY FINANCIALLY SCREWED by lockdown.

@BonnieDundee Hear, hear. The government have totally sacrificed mental health on the altar of "saving the NHS". The irony.