I feel like crying I've had enough

[LifesTooShortYOLO]

I made a conscious decision to try and switch off from the media stories and coronavirus news and just try and get in with our lives.
I had been feeling mentally a lot better and almost forgot about covid in the sense of not seeing it in your face every where you turn on social media etc.
Now it's everywhere again 'Plans for plan c' 'lockdown imminent' 'data suggests this wave will be the worst one yet' 'modelling shows new strain could cause 75,000 feather in 5 months'
Are just some of the headlines I've seen today and I just feel so fed up.
Why are we still talking about lockdowns 2 years on?
I'm just so done with it all, it feels like there never will be a normal again, just when we start to get back to doing normal things you get taken back to square one again and told we may have to lockdown or have further restrictions brought back in. It's just so draining 😩

@Waitwhatwhy

My dh is in a rehab centre after 6 months in hospital. Today it’s announced homes are restricted to 3 named visitors. How do I choose which of me and our teenage children don’t get to see him for the foreseeable future? But nightclubs etc can have hundreds of people crammed in. I’ve had enough.

Makes no sense at all

I feel like this however I’ve told myself it’s important to continue living my life until restrictions stop me. I’ve been doing things I love again since July this year - I’ve travelled internationally a lot (I was so close to cancelling my winter break abroad after the detection of the Omicron weekends away however I decided to go anyway and so glad I did!), meeting up with friends, exercising more and generally being outdoors more.

I read the news and accept it. I just won’t worry about the “what ifs” until there is concrete evidence/government gives us restrictions. Just continue living your life - don’t read the news and dwell about it. Life has never been a guarantee with or without covid restrictions stopping us so just enjoy now.

But do agree OP, it really is shit

I feel the same as do people around me. I think it’s because last year it was so unbelievable that Christmas was ruined but at least we had hope for this year. And now clearly this year’s Christmas is falling apart for a lot of people.. things are being cancelled all over the place, there’s hints of more restrictions.. travel is fucked.. What do we really have to look forward to?

I think that’s why everyone is being rude and blunt, and there’s an underlying tension. Because we’re losing hope and we’re starting to get a bit scared that this is it, or worse.

I cried a lot over the last two weeks over missed years since this pandemic. Its truly shit.

Dh says we have too much going on right now but I literally am doing things almost every day until Christmas. I'm cramming in as much life as I can while I can. However some things I dont think will ever be the same. I was out Christmas shopping with my mate this week and looking at clothes and saying "where would I wear this?" Me and her have only been out once of of evening in the last two years together. She is too scared now I think. I miss that. Going to a few pubs or out for dinner.

@FabriqueBelgique

I feel the same as do people around me. I think it’s because last year it was so unbelievable that Christmas was ruined but at least we had hope for this year. And now clearly this year’s Christmas is falling apart for a lot of people.. things are being cancelled all over the place, there’s hints of more restrictions.. travel is fucked.. What do we really have to look forward to?

I think that’s why everyone is being rude and blunt, and there’s an underlying tension. Because we’re losing hope and we’re starting to get a bit scared that this is it, or worse.

I'm a cynic and a pessimist and even I never would have thought that things would still be this bad after so long. I never would have thought last Christmas that we could be facing the same restrictions for this Christmas, or that early 2022 could bring another lockdown.

If the virus had been able to let rip, thing would have been much, much worse. As in people dying from a burst appendix because there was simply no capacity to treat them. People bleeding to death because there was no space in A&E. Premature babies just being left to die because there were no staff to treat them. It would have been absolutely horrifying.

Would it? Sweden took a fairly laissez faire approach for most of 2020they DID end up with a fairly high death toll among the elderly and I am not defending their approach, but there was no particular suggestion of systems collapsing en masse. Most things in Sweden proceeded fairly normally. Again, I am not saying that we should have done nothing either, but I am not sure that this kind of hysterical exaggeration really helps anyone, and I think it's feeding skepticism about the very idea of restrictionsthere is a "crying wolf" feel about it.

Admittedly, it probably helped that Sweden did the hands-off bit during the spring and summer. If they had tried it during the winter, I think the toll would have been more severe.

@Kokeshi123

If the virus had been able to let rip, thing would have been much, much worse. As in people dying from a burst appendix because there was simply no capacity to treat them. People bleeding to death because there was no space in A&E. Premature babies just being left to die because there were no staff to treat them. It would have been absolutely horrifying.

Would it? Sweden took a fairly laissez faire approach for most of 2020they DID end up with a fairly high death toll among the elderly and I am not defending their approach, but there was no particular suggestion of systems collapsing en masse. Most things in Sweden proceeded fairly normally. Again, I am not saying that we should have done nothing either, but I am not sure that this kind of hysterical exaggeration really helps anyone, and I think it's feeding skepticism about the very idea of restrictionsthere is a "crying wolf" feel about it.

Admittedly, it probably helped that Sweden did the hands-off bit during the spring and summer. If they had tried it during the winter, I think the toll would have been more severe.

Sweden is nothing like the UK. It's a relatively big (for Europe) country with a tiny population.

The UK has lots of dense towns and cities very close to each other, and way more people living in a much, much smaller space.

Sweden coped because they had far less strain on their health service than we had. We could not have done what they did and come out of it well.

@megustalacerveza

Quite right. Swedes also have a social distancing rule in place outside of pandemic times. Always have and always will. They are a fantastic people but they do not want you getting near them without good reason.

Please stop comparing us to Sweden, people. We aren't them, unfortunately.

It’s been a horrible two years for a lot of people. I’ve tried to focus on the positive bits and I’m very aware we are fortunate in many ways (nice house, secure income, located near open spaces so easy to get out and do things outdoors ever since first lockdown ended). None of that has stopped my other half from falling back into severe depression having been well for a long time prior to the pandemic. He was feeling suicidal at one point and while he’s somewhat better he’s using all his energy to just get through his work days and feels totally unable to help with any decision making at home. Unfortunately having money and a nice house doesn’t make you immune from mental health issues. Personally my resilience is battered from trying to support him, trying to keep home life ticking over as normally as possible for the kids & ensure they access everything they can while it’s available and multiple bouts of working from home while caring for primary age children and trying to cover their home learning. We’ve also done fairly extensive work on the house as we needed a new roof, chimney capped, walls tied etc to fix historical lack of maintenance and it seemed a good opportunity to sort out changes we wanted. Booked it all in pre last Christmas before things got grim and eventually had it done in the spring/summer. It’s become financially stressful due to the material price changes and it was always going to be disruptive but was worse because of OH being unwell and unable to help with any of the planning. You can be very fortunate and still feel totally and utterly done. I also could cry looking at the news. I’m taking a bit of a burying my head in the sand approach. Maybe it will all be fine in a few weeks & if not at least I’ll have worried a bit less in the meantime.

In every single thread about covid is this weird black and white, all or nothing mentality. I don't get it at all. "Oh well if it's not 100% effective, there's no point in bothering" whether it's about vaccines, masks, vaccine passports, or anything else. Is critical thinking REALLY that bad in this country?

You have totally missed the point, megustalacerveza, which is that it is the media that is falsely portraying the situation as black and white with headlines such as "Booster Can Stop Omicron". Having a booster jab will not necessarily stop you being infected by Omicron.

Man down here. I'm sick. I have two young dcs and school has been closed for a week here. The stress of not knowing is the worst. Will I be able to work? Will I have to phone in due to childcare reasons? Our routine is completely messed up. Add christmas and this time of year anyway. I am shot. I can't even look at covid news anymore.

@Guacamole001

I thought Bill Gates predicted covid would be over by 2021? How can he be so wrong. I am still hoping omicron is the beginning of the end of the pandemic however ..

Since when was Bill Gates a virologist?

I never would have thought last Christmas that we could be facing the same restrictions for this Christmas, or that early 2022 could bring another lockdown.

Really? You didn’t think winter is flu season so unless the pandemic is actually over - this Christmas will likely be like last?

People seem to have disappointed themselves by not thinking rationally what was actually likely.

I really feel for those people with businesses and those that have lost their jobs.

I know this sounds frivolous but I am really hoping I can go to my hair appointment next week. I'm very isolated and lonely and it will give me something to look forward to.

Feel the same as many. So Christmas 2021 shaping up to be like 2020 - what joy. We're in Scotland, so doubtless any restrictions will be doubly harsh just to show how macdifferent we are.

Did get a laugh though, my weekly online horoscope reckons this week is the perfect time to book that foreign holiday i've been looking forward to for a while .

@Hairbrush123

I feel like this however I’ve told myself it’s important to continue living my life until restrictions stop me. I’ve been doing things I love again since July this year - I’ve travelled internationally a lot (I was so close to cancelling my winter break abroad after the detection of the Omicron weekends away however I decided to go anyway and so glad I did!), meeting up with friends, exercising more and generally being outdoors more.

I read the news and accept it. I just won’t worry about the “what ifs” until there is concrete evidence/government gives us restrictions. Just continue living your life - don’t read the news and dwell about it. Life has never been a guarantee with or without covid restrictions stopping us so just enjoy now.

Your post has given me such a boost. That’s how I’m managing the situation. It’s how I hope most people are doing this. Certainly away from SM it’s how people on real life seem to be living their lives. I’ve actually had the best summer in a long time once we were let out in April as we didn’t travel around as much as we normally do. We concentrated on our area and enjoyed what was on there. We’ve just had a fabulous winter sunshine holiday.

Everything going on right now is really helping us to focus on the present and to squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of it while we can.

It’s not perfect.i don’t think it will ever be.
The government can control our actions to some extent but they can’t control our thoughts.
I’m not living in fear.
I’m choosing to live in peace and happiness as much as possible and yes the brainwash box in the corner of the room stays silent most of the time unless there’s a specific programme we want to watch.

Definitely never watch the news. It’s just inviting in doom, gloom and fear.
No thanks.

@christmaslonely

I really feel for those people with businesses and those that have lost their jobs.

I know this sounds frivolous but I am really hoping I can go to my hair appointment next week. I'm very isolated and lonely and it will give me something to look forward to.

Yes, me too. Heart breaking. We are trying to support hospitality as much as we can.

It doesn’t sound frivolous at all. It sounds necessary for your well being.

My business won’t survive another lockdown. It’s on the bare bones of its bum now!

@whatkatydid2013
It’s hard when one or both of you feels mentally unwell.
I have to keep myself in check as there’s only the two of us here and if one goes down it does put an added burden on the other.

I hope he gets back on track and you can get yourself a respite break.

@Dadhadaproton Thank you

I suppose I never expected this to be done in a couple of years. I can see some things affecting our way of life for many years - foreign travel for one.

If things improve great but I have tempered my optimism and enjoyed life whilst restrictions have been lifted. Although this is bitter sweet and reminds me of Poe's The mask of the Red Death. We will never feel truly comfortable until all countries have equal access to boosters etc.

Also it is hard to feel buoyant when certain sectors of society are struggling more than others. It is like you can only be as happy as your unhappiest child.

I suppose my advice is you would be quite odd to be coping with this right now.

In March 2020 I read up about previous pandemics. These indicate that although things tend to improve year on year, with the obvious seasonal ups and downs, it tends to be about 5 years before things are something like pre-pandemic. I've tried to keep this as my perspective - not overpromising and under-delivering to myself, while getting out, seeing friends and family and doing stuff when I can.

My heart goes out to those with businesses and those who have lost jobs. And also to all the children whose education has been disrupted and to all the babies born into this distopia , and to those living alone.

I will wear a mask when necessary, as that doesn't bother me, but I will be having all my family here for Christmas, whatever the rules say at that point.

My information comes from the Zoe podcats and from listening to what scientists are saying, not from the news, which is just media hype and over-simplification - the "black and white" referred to by others - when in reality we have just shades of grey and a lot of unknowns. We are living with uncertainty, and that's a difficult thing to do.

Yup same here, I rather have say a few months of living my life and enjoying it than years of existing and being constantly under a cloud of fear that is hard to escape because if it isn't the media is bloody ppl who keep talking about it.

I'm going to die one day that's a fact its just a case of when and how so id rather make sure I live everyday being happy doing what I do so that when it happens I'll go out knowing i had a good time.

Thanks so much. He’s definitely doing better so I hope so too.