How do you feel a year on?

[User133847]

A year ago today our office closed due to Covid - and I think it was the last night the pubs were allowed open - so we're about to pass the 12 month mark since lockdown.

How are you actually feeling at the moment? Dejected, demoralised, depressed etc, or more excited that there's a clear roadmap out of lockdown and a successful vaccination roll out? Or just a constant mix of both?

Mixed feelings, very grateful I had it and wasn’t too ill, very glad my mum and Nan have had the vaccine, sad for my kids who have missed out on so much and fed up with working from home, all the millions of zoom calls and restrictions but optimistic that things will start to get better very soon ...

Pissed off with the whole thing. Sick of screens, nostalgic for simpler times and wondering how we can get those back.

I think the whole thing has been so badly handled by Western countries. There's been a clear divide between 1st world and 3rd world countries, let's face it, the sick, fat West have had more deaths. Should be a huge wake up call really.

Very fortunate tbh.We did nt get ill despite d's working In a pharmacy.
I work in hospitality so a complete life change and less income for dh and myself.
I've used the time for DIY and kept a structure of cooking and cleaning and exercise.
I've decided my life of getting home at 1030 pm is too late for a 54 yr old and just landed a new job with more money better work life balance.
I'm v lucky in that I didn't go out much before with social anxiety and ridiculous work hours so haven't missed anything.
I had my jab yesterday and I am so grateful.
I'm looking forward to whatever we can do next.I know I will look back on jan and Feb as dark days with little to look forward to and the heating off for fear of large bills.
Spring puts a new spin on life.I feel bad for anyone who has struggled like the elderly or parents with young dc.
Life has been so difficult for many.

Still terrified I'll catch it. I'm now pregnant so can't be vaccinated. In used to lockdown now and can't imagine going to big gatherings again.

I think we all thought it would be short term last year but now we know it will never go.

Furious, because of the lies and mismanagement of the whole thing, the politics, the experimental vaccines

@PersimmonTree what do you mean, the “experimental” vaccines?

Not as terrified as I was in the beginning but I dont think thats due to less fear but more auto pilot mode kicking in. Unfit and untidy. All the rainbows and the positivity seems like years ago now, everyone just seems tired

@IPokeBadgers Tired and on autopilot. Not feeling very much of anything now that the crisis and associated adrenaline response of the early pandemic has long passed and we are now in this chronic ongoing situation.

Exactly this. We were looking at some old holiday photos the other day and it was genuinely and bizarrely stimulating to see somewhere completely different from here. I just feel like everything has been dulled/numbed.

Completely deflated.

A good proportion of younger people will not be fully vaccinated until the end of the summer, yet will want to be mixing and socialising at large events before then. They still very vulnerable to catching the virus and becoming seriously unwell with it.

I don’t feel confident to book any breaks away, UK or overseas because of this. I don’t want to get our hopes up for them to be dashed again.

So we’re keeping things very low key. Hopefully the kids return to school will go well and their clubs can get going safely again, that’ll do us nicely for now.

I feel optimistic and very grateful.

My life hasn't been very different, I don't know anyone that's suffered badly at all with Covid (but I have very few family) and unlike friends, my financial security has been absolutely fine.

I've been trying for a baby (fertility issues) for a long time and for the first time ever I've felt somewhat relieved I haven't yet managed to have DC, after seeing my friends mental and physical health utterly decline as they try to cope with working from home and home schooling.

I'm looking forward to lockdown easing and establishing what the new normal will be, going forward.

Tired of the words 'Covid' and 'Coronavirus' - if I never hear them again it'll be too soon! It does feel like a marathon at the moment, just got to keep going for those last miles. And I'm eating too much chocolate!

Demotivated,bored,sick of working from home.

Utterly sick fed up, a year lost of seeing no one, not seen family in over a year, lost my job, and been diagnosed with depression ...feel like it’s an existence to be honest. Angry, sad and totally deflated ...would like to start a new life away from U.K. as very disillusioned with everything...

I just can’t believe we are still dealing with all of this a year on. Imagine if we had been told a year ago that this would last this long.

I had a baby during all this and I remember people telling me, it would all be fine before she was born and now she’s 8 months old. She loves looking at people but all she has ever known is masked faces - what will that be doing for her development?

I’m so worried about the fall out from all this. I wonder how our actions and the damage from all this will be viewed in years to come.

I do think we’ve done all we can. The vaccine roll out is nothing short of miraculous. Once all the over 50’s have had their first dose surely we have to accept that we have to live and that just existing isn’t good enough or quite frankly worth it?

*sorry once the over 50’s have had both doses

I feel like I’m just existing.

And l don’t really see an end....

I have had covid and the vaccine.

Have hardly left the house all year.

I am very surprised that I have survived, I have health conditions but I am very down and depressed about the state that the world is in and not sure that I want to be here anymore.

I had decided a few months ago that if the vaccine did not work I would end it all but here I am , I have had the vaccine but the state of the economy, and the world is seriously depressing me.

There feels like there is just no future.

Dongdingdong "experimental vaccines" and "vaccine trials end in 2022/23" are favoured phrases of the anti-vax crowd.

I was quite low in January, but feeling much better now. I had my vaccine a week ago, I started to decorate the house about 3 weeks ago and I've picked up the family history again. That all means that I don't spend so long online reading depressing news and conspiracy theorists that make my blood boil. I feel much better for making the effort to fill my time more constructively.

I do genuinely feel more positive about the future, but I would kill for a meal out or a trip to somewhere other than where we live.

I feel better than I did last year. When things started to close I had a sense of dread. My anxiety went through the roof and I was close to being hospitalised for a breakdown. I have slowly turned it around. I’ve lost weight and taken more care of myself.

I’m devastated that my children missed out on exams, prom, nights out, festivals. But it did bring us closer together. I have enjoyed the slower pace of life and it’s made us put some permanent changes in place.

But everything I have been doing comes from a place of privilege. Our jobs were fully secure and we had no financial worries. I wasn’t working and trying to homeschool. We didn’t have the threat of losing our jobs and thankfully we didn’t have covid. I admire every single one of you who have had to cope with difficult times.

I miss my family terribly and I’m looking forward to going to visit when we can. I am so thankful to have had the vaccine. For the first time in a long time I see a tiny rag of light at the end of the tunnel.

It’s a difficult one for me to assess because I have polar opposite feelings for a few reasons.

I lost several family members to Covid last year so I am acutely aware of how horrific the virus itself is and the effects restrictions have had on people’s livelihoods and mental health is a catastrophe.

Now, do I mind the lockdowns myself? Not at all, in fact aside from losing out on four holidays, the chance to work less and invest my time in building a better future for myself has been invaluable. My social life hasn’t changed too drastically since the restrictions, I live in a city so I have all the conveniences needed and the quieter streets due to no revellers and tourists is wonderful.

Lockdown has ignited the need for me to change my career and move to the coast, I love the ease of city living I just don’t love the people and relentless pace.

Full of rage every single day.

Not at the virus but at the stupidity, judgmentalness, lack of critical thought, government by twitter, curtain twitching, unquestioning acceptance of "authority", high handed policing, and meanness it has brought to the fore.

@HesterShaw1 totally agree with you and all the reasons you list...it's grim and I'm so p'd off with it all...

@HesterShaw1

Full of rage every single day.

Not at the virus but at the stupidity, judgmentalness, lack of critical thought, government by twitter, curtain twitching, unquestioning acceptance of "authority", high handed policing, and meanness it has brought to the fore.

You should loosen up, that rage you have will do you no good, especially as this keeps rolling on.

@Averyslover my experience has been very similar to this all in all.

I don't feel a lot different to how I did a year ago. I suppose I've just got used to the restrictions which don't affect me much, I like being on my own.