How have you found this lockdown compared to the March - June one in 2020?

[daffodilsandprimroses]

In the first one I missed having my hair done but I didn’t mind other aspects. Quiet roads, wildlife, a general feeling of solidarity.

This one has been utterly horrific and really has affected my mental health, although I’m ‘lucky.’

I pray to god we will never go through another one!

Twice as hard easily.
Less of a cohesive feeling of everyone pulling together.
Just by virtue of being a whole year later - awful realisation of what we’ve been through.
Future feels more uncertain now than it did then.
Also feels more unequal in the way it is going to affect people and we already realise how unequal experience has been Re jobs/death rates/financial support/education etc etc.
Been remote from my dp for work/distance reasons. Longest time apart for 30 years and it made me very sad - it’s been tough.
Also really sick and tired of cooking and washing dishes and how filthy my home heat with me here all of the time. Some days I want nothing more than to leave the house for say 12 hours and return and no mess or dishes generated in my absence !

During the first lockdown I was spending my days enjoying the weather, drinking wine, listening to music, catching up with friends I hadn’t spoken to much for a while and enjoying being alone with my cats.

This time round I’ve been pregnant, stuck in the house because of the miserable weather, boyfriends been wfh so have been alone a lot- he was furloughed last lockdown- haven’t seen my family or friends in over a year and my mental health has suffered for the first time in my life. I wouldn’t say I’m depressed, but I’m not as positive and happy as usual, although that could of course be down to pregnancy hormones.

I’m looking forward to having freedom over summer and having a newborn. But I worry what could be to come in the winter if cases start to rise again due to restrictions being removed now.

Much easier

March - June 2029 the CEV were told not to leave their homie at all. That daily outdoors exercise was allowed in all later lockdowns made it a hell of a lot easier for our household

They’ve both been shit. Last one I was pregnant & off work due to being pregnant so I was so lonely, but at least the weather was nice enough I could sit out the back door with a book. This lockdown I’ve got a fairly new baby, partner works away & the weather is shit so I’m equally just as lonely but with a baby to look after. It’s been tough not being able to make plans with people in case the weather turns & then you have to cancel. There’s only so many fucking walks you can go on. I never realised how much I missed freedom & choices until now, it’s not like I’d be going to a pub or out for dinner much but just being able to have some friends round for a cup of tea & a chat would of sufficed

Like comparing horse shit anf donkey shit.

First time I was grieving (for want of a better word) for the things that give my life structure and purpose. Now I'm just utterly demotivated by vacuous existence until the government turns my life back on.

First time I was lonely and missed peopls beyond my household. This time I've been kept slightly sane by friends being more willing to meet for a run/ walk. I've generally gone past missing stuff. I'm empty.

First time I explored a bit more of the countryside where I run while the ground was dry. This time... mud. So much mud. I dropped a lot of running over the winter as any pleasant path was near impassable with plodding strollers, and my knees hate pavement pounding.

I've given up trying to get the kids out daily. They're still fit and are in the top 3 fastest in their class, I'm not sweating umpteen hours over tech now.

Home schooling was hideous throughout. DS1 has SENs. School don't give a shit that he did next to fuck all for 6.5 months in total. The head/ SENCO didn't even respond to my email pleading for a place in January based on his lack of engagement first time. Sitting there for 2.5 months battling daily to get the kids logged on and do fuck all was soul destroying, especially when that comsumed all the daylight.

I rapidly became quite cynical and critical in the first lockdown. Vast amounts of the fear factor and curtain twitching seemed grossly disproportionate. It's been a relief that my view of it is less of an outlying podition and more nuanced views have crept in. I felt more solidarity when other people began floundering after Christmas. I'm not a general misery loves company type and I can empathise with people in a broad range of positions. I don't want people to be miserable but there's that reassurance that I'm not the only one feeling like that which was lacking when people seemed to be delighting in baking banana bread and painting rainbows.

I think I've been teetering around depression because my emotional range is not firing properly. I miss the old me.

I have lost all trust in the Government this time. It really feels like they have lost touch with normal families and their struggles completely during this. On principle I will never vote for them again. I hope they get an absolute hammering when the time comes. Definitely in need of a new government.

@Carryonsleeping I agree, I've never trusted this government anyway but even as a lifelong labour voter I think they've been shambolic too- we've got the worst government and worst opposition that I can recall- and my mum in her 60s agrees!

I can actually understand some of the mistakes early in the pandemic but I think that's another reason why this lockdown has been worse for me- the continual fuck-ups have also taken a toll and have added to me as a woman in my 30s feeling totally disregarded and ignored.

This one has been worse I think

The first one, I was on furlough for 6 weeks and then went back to work - for the 6 weeks we had lovely weather, I embraced Joe Wicks, gardening, cups of tea with the neighbours on our respective driveways and Zoom quizzes and it was a bit of a novelty. We have horses so I still had to go out twice a day to see to them so it didn’t feel too isolating.

My area was tier 1 up until Christmas so it felt relatively normal

This time it’s just cold and dark and wet. The goalposts keep changing, vaccinations for my age group have stalled and i just feel quite blah about it all this time. I’m at work, still got to see to my horses, walk the dog, etc so it feels like it’s all slog and no nice stuff and no real light at the end of the tunnel

strawberry anything has to be better than our current government. I feel completely disillusioned by them. And no way will that be ‘fixed’ when they throw a few favourable policies my way when the next election arrives. I voted Conservative last time, but I won’t again. Many people I know feel the same.
I’ve felt ‘left to it’, kids off school for the best part of a year. So much missed, constant changing of goalposts, contracts for their friends. Mental health of so many completely messed up. We seem to have had one of the worst and longest lockdowns in Europe.

Colder!
But also much less like a lockdown because
a) I have worked throughout this one
b) I am in a support bubble with my parents and so travelling to see them every couple of weeks.

It’s the lies and media spin - this government has been dire compared to Israel, New Zealand etc. The contracts to mates etc is horrific.

Vaccine success has happened due to scientific entrepreneurs and a brilliant nhs - not the government

On the other hand @Carryonsleeping, for me I actually feel that the only politicians who have represented my viewpoint when it comes to lockdowns and restrictions are back-bench Tory MPs- I have seen nothing from anyone associated with labour who seem to be considering the harmful effects of lockdowns. That's purely on my viewpoint though. I honestly feel that they are all as useless as each other in various ways and I wouldn't want to vote for any of them right now.

strawberry I agree. The backbench Tory mps seem to represent my views, but they haven’t had much success.
I feel quite angry at many of the decisions made by the government. I don’t think I have ever felt so low as I have the last year. I have never experienced mental health issues beyond the normal stresses of life. I think I have bookmarked these feelings to ensure they never get my vote again.
I am willing to vote for any other party just to get them out. You are right, this is the worst government and opposition party I have ever known. I had hopes for Starmer but he seems invisible to me. Almost like he’s lying low until it all passes! I’d still vote for him over the Tory party though.

It's awful. My DS is sat bored in the kitchen while DH is WFH. Nothing is open. He tried to meet a friend outside the other day and it was snowing and freezing.

Some people don’t mind sitting on a bench outside. It’s so cold and windy here. Would be utterly miserable. The weather forecast for next week is rain. Was hoping to sit outside a cafe! Is this what our life now is.
Unless it happens I just don’t believe it anymore. An awful place to be in mentally.

@Carryonsleeping I've very much felt the same as you over the past year- my mental health has never been worse. I don't think I will ever be the person I once was, I don't care whether I live or die other than wanting to be there for my DC.

I had hopes for starmer too but think he has been utterly useless. I couldn't vote for either party at the moment.

Actually, as incompetent as he is, I've almost been grateful it has been Boris as PM for the fact that he has far more libertarian inclinations certainly than some within his own party thank god Priti Patel or Michael Gove aren't PM and I felt earlier on that he would be a bit more balanced at least to all the harms of the pandemic and not just the virus itself but when Boris himself seems to be swayed towards vaccine passports etc, I've lost all hope and very much worry for the future. People have been sleepwalking into a police state, it's dangerous. I'd have joined a kill the bill protest if I'd been near one. This latest lockdown has made me very fearful for our rights and the rights of our children.

The first lockdown was a bizarre combination of good ( nice weather, everyone home, not much schooling to be done, novelty of zoom calls) and horrible ( genuine fear about how bad would it get, would I catch it, should I wash my shopping/ quarantine my post, what if I can't get enough food, what if both DH and I are I'll at the same time, really terrifying thoughts).

This last lockdown just feels normal, numb, flat. I'm not extremely worried like I was a year ago but any good feelings have gone as well.

The hardest time for me was the 6 weeks before Christmas when my 3 DC were in and out of self isolation, covid was running rampant at their schools and I felt totally helpless and out of control.

The vaccination passports worry me greatly. I can’t quite believe they can happen. People either manipulated into having them for the ‘greater good’ when they probably don’t need them or being forced to have them to access normal life again. It’s not a society I want to live in where people are forced to participate in that way. And I am pro vaccination.

Is there much support for these passports? Is this what most people want? What comes after?

This one was much easier for me as I was able to take 2 months off work to spend with dd. With playgrounds open and less feeling I was going to be reported for spending more than an hour out of the house with her, she was happy so I was mostly too. We’ve always been out in all weathers so the winter didn’t make it too bad for us.

In the first one, both of us working shifts and looking after dd felt awful, so stressful. At first we genuinely thought we were only allowed out for an hour a day and that just wasn’t enough for our energetic preschooler. I was so worried about her learning too as she was on the cusp of reading and writing but I didn’t feel I knew how to teach her. She was also very sad and confused about not seeing friends and zooms with her friends just made her feel sad and angry.

This time round we didn’t bother that much with zoom for her and she seemed more content as she’d experienced it before. We had school work to give a bit of purpose to the day and support me to help her learn.

I think knowing it would end, knowing we’d done it before and the ability to be out more really helped me this time round.

I've coped much less with this one. Dark, rainy, constant building works next door, wfh so no escape, teen home schooling as a Lone child, nothing social for any of us. Mr woh but his job is shit.
Holidays cancelled. Cannot afford June and resent ridiculous UK prices.
Depressed at how low people's bars are set in terms of the crap crumbs the Boris brigade toss us and expect us to be grateful. I'm disgusted with our basic rights being stolen.
Whoopee we can shiver over a coffee with a friend thanks Boris you da man. 🙄🙄🙄

I’m also starting to have complete apathy for the situation too. Getting to the point of not caring anymore. The boring monotony of life as it currently is and not having much hope things will return to normal anytime soon.
June was presented as ‘freedom’ but in my head I just can’t imagine people going to festivals, weddings, birthday parties etc in a few months time.

This one has been worse (and it's only second for me as we didn't have the November one). The first time was partly a novelty and it felt like everyone was in the same boat, plus the weather was nice (although that was a bit of a killer stuck indoors working while the furloughed neighbours were out sunbathing!). This time everyone is done with zoom chats and quizzes, the weather has been pretty awful and until the clocks changed opportunities to get out in daylight were few and far between if you work "9-5". It's not really been lockdown in the same way either, there's so much more traffic on the roads than there was last year. And now we're back in that situation of rules changing every few weeks and every part of the "united" kingdom having their own rules that all just gets a bit messy and confusing.

TBH I haven't really noticed this one.

DC had to work online at home rather than go to school/ college but last time very little was provided.

The only things I haven't been able to to are things you can't do if you don't have much money anyway - in the past there have been times when I haven't had much money, so no gym or meals out or holidays or buying new clothes (I can still buy on Vinted/eBay) I'm used to not seeing my family due to distance. The first one was strange, but I think this is my life now.

I can't believe the support for vaccination passports, thankfully there are plenty of dissenting voices on here and in real life too which gives me some hope. I think anyone who believes it's fair to allow freedom back to the vaccinated, whilst mainly the young who haven't yet the opportunity to be vaccinated are still restricted, should be ashamed of themselves. Just who are we trying to protect at this point? The young have always been low risk for the virus, even when unvaccinated, yet have been restricted just as everyone else was throughout lockdowns. The treatment of young people is as disgusting as the way the elderly in care homes have have been treated but there's never much sympathy for them. I'm not saying that the young should have been allowed freedoms throughout the lockdowns because of being low risk but to suggest they should continue to be restricted whilst their parents/grandparents can get back to actually 'living' as opposed to merely existing is horrible.

I say this as someone who again is very pro-vaccination. But why vaccine passports for coronavirus? Why is everything only about this one specific virus now? Why is it ok for my vaccinated children to go to school with unvaccinated children? More so, why is it ok for children who can't have vaccines for medical reasons to have to attend school with children who are unvaccinated for no good reason? Im using this to illustrate my point- As stupid as I think anti-vaxxers are, I don't believe anyone should be forced to accept a vaccination they don't want, for whatever reason. That's a basic part of living in a free society for me. I've seen posts on Mumsnet about 'protecting the vaccinated from the unvaccinated'- I mean WTAF? Fucking ludicrous and disgusting attitude, especially when some of us would love to have the vaccine but have not yet had the opportunity.

I’ve also felt annoyed at seeing tv presenters with haircuts etc. They’re permitted for their job. I’d have much preferred them to have grown out styles and colour like the rest of us. A unity. But it feels like I’m watching a society I’m not part of.
The same goes for professional sports etc being allowed to take place. When kids weren’t allowed to kick a football around the park together.
When some things are only permitted for the ‘elite’, who is left to put the pressure on the government when those in influence can carry on getting what they want regardless.