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Original poster

Thinking covid anxiety is just as big a problem

130 replies

EeeICouldRipATissue · 20/02/2022 19:03

I thought right from the start of the pandemic that all the lockdowns and constant stay at home messages would create a lot of mental health problems/anxiety and looking at some of the threads on here, and attitudes from some I know in real life, I think it's true.
Don't get me wrong, I have 100% stuck to all the rules right from the very beginning and always have (and will keep on doing so)
I know this isn't AIBU board, but AIBU to think covid anxiety and issues aren't being taken seriously enough or recognised?

OP posts:
HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 12:55

@SexyLittleNosferatu

This blanket shutting down of normal society, economic activity and education in order to prop up a failing health service, and people's wholesale buckling under the pressure of propaganda and nudging, must never happen again

I would like this on a t-shirt please.

A fair few of us were saying this from about mid April 2020, but were called all the names under the sun.

I take no pleasure in the fact that the things we knew would happen as a result of lockdowns and the deliberate stoking of fear did actually come to pass. It makes me very angry that we were right, and we were totally ripped apart for it at the time.

SexyLittleNosferatu · 21/02/2022 12:59

A fair few of us were saying this from about mid April 2020, but were called all the names under the sun

Oh I know, I still fondly look back on being called a pathetic weakling and a murderer on the same day!

Featuredcreature · 21/02/2022 13:01

It just illustrated to me how malleable public perception is. When the "pandemic" was being seeded online in January 2020 with videos of people in China supposedly dropping down dead, yeah OK. People who were aware were prepping and warning others, they were met with derision and ridicule. As soon as it was on mainstream media, people took notice. For the majority of people if its not on the news it doesn't exist.

For me it's cemented a complete mistrust in authority, people in general too tbh.

TheRainbow · 21/02/2022 13:10

[quote VirginMedium]@ClumpingBambooIsALie

yes exactly, in most circumstances the risk that you are anxious about isn't usually death, is it. feel the fear and do it anyway is a lot less cool, when you really might die[/quote]
Yup.

HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 13:12

@SexyLittleNosferatu

A fair few of us were saying this from about mid April 2020, but were called all the names under the sun

Oh I know, I still fondly look back on being called a pathetic weakling and a murderer on the same day!

Selfish Stupid Ignorant Lacked resilience Eugenicist (er....sorry, what?) Etc
drpet49 · 21/02/2022 13:23

** We haven’t suddenly gone from ‘ stay in or you’ll die’ to ‘ it’s fine to live as normal’.
We’ve had 2 years over which time restrictions have been adjusted as required and now that covid is relatively mild restrictions have been appropriately lifted.

I think half the people on this board are suffering from Stockholm syndrome!**

^I agree.

HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 13:29

@drpet49

** We haven’t suddenly gone from ‘ stay in or you’ll die’ to ‘ it’s fine to live as normal’. We’ve had 2 years over which time restrictions have been adjusted as required and now that covid is relatively mild restrictions have been appropriately lifted.

I think half the people on this board are suffering from Stockholm syndrome!**

^I agree.

Absolutely. All this crying of "we need to do it gradually by degrees" seems to forget the fact that this is what we actually have been doing!
makinganavalon · 21/02/2022 13:33

Yanbu
I really suffer from this, it doesn't stop me having a normal life because I push through for my girl, but I am constantly on edge and it takes a huge toll on my physical health as I'm always anxious, guilty and scared.

Wizzbangfizz · 21/02/2022 13:47

Absolutely. All this crying of "we need to do it gradually by degrees" seems to forget the fact that this is what we actually have been doing!

100 % agree with this but the fact is it will never be enough because people believe in an illusion of being safe and that no risk in life must ever be accepted when that isn't reality. We can and should look back in horror at the restrictions but there were many that took comfort from being told what to do and who benefited from it (furlough/wfh) who would rather we were back there.

HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 13:51

Sadly true. And they have become used to handing responsibility for their every move and decision over to The Rules. Fact is there are lots of people who hate making decisions - I have some sympathy because I'm not the most dynamic of people myself. But not at the price of my freedom.

alloalloallo · 21/02/2022 14:28

YANBU

My daughter has been left with horrible anxiety and a fear of going out. To the point she couldn’t actually leave her own bedroom without having a panic attack.

She has Tourette’s and masks exacerbate her tics to the point she has seizures and injures herself (has actually head butted a metal bar and knocked herself out) so she can’t wear one

Months and months of abuse, being sworn at, threatened. Told it’s her fault people are dying, that she’s the reason everything has gone on so long. Told she if she couldn’t wear a mask she shouldn’t be allowed to leave the house, that she shouldn’t be allowed to go to college, catch a bus or attend medical appointments.

Fortunately we were able to find and pay for a private therapist, and she’s now working with CAMHS but it’s a very long road.

She’s 16 and her world has become so small and she’s so isolated

Iggly · 21/02/2022 17:56

@Wizzbangfizz

Absolutely. All this crying of "we need to do it gradually by degrees" seems to forget the fact that this is what we actually have been doing!

100 % agree with this but the fact is it will never be enough because people believe in an illusion of being safe and that no risk in life must ever be accepted when that isn't reality. We can and should look back in horror at the restrictions but there were many that took comfort from being told what to do and who benefited from it (furlough/wfh) who would rather we were back there.

No we haven’t. We’ve chopped and changed.

Removing the last step is being done by ripping off a plaster. It would be better IMO to keep providing the tests for a bit longer than removing the need to isolate, so that they can gauge the impact of stripping away isolating. Now, they just won’t know.

And most importantly is not backed up the medical profession….

I’m interested to hear what happens when vaccines wear off. We never thought we’d need three fucking jabs.

And why do we have to pay privately for testing? They’re effectively privatising any access to covid treatments.

VikingOnTheFridge · 21/02/2022 18:10

@HesterShaw1

It's a massive problem.

And I'm not having a go OP, but I find it interesting that you were very quick to reassure us you had stuck to all the rules and will continue to do so.

There's been a massive amount of this - people wanting to be seen to do the right thing even though they know in their logical brain that lots of these rules were utter bullshit. That's very worrying.

This blanket shutting down of normal society, economic activity and education in order to prop up a failing health service, and people's wholesale buckling under the pressure of propaganda and nudging, must never happen again.

YES.
UnmentionedElephantDildo · 21/02/2022 18:20

I don't think anyone is suggesting blanket restrictions.

But another month wouid have seen us out if the winter virus season and cases down to under 300 per 100k. Those are both important factors.

I think the timing and is premature, and the totality also wrong right now

Itsnotover · 21/02/2022 18:41

Well mental health concerns are never taken seriously. Most people in the Conservative party think MH problems don't exist.

PlanetNormal · 21/02/2022 18:48

YANBU.

I’m asthmatic, so I was very worried about covid and extremely cautious until I had my second vaccine. I basically put my life on hold for 15 months.

I have had to bully myself into going places, meeting people and getting back to normal life. It has been a slow process, but I have flown, used the tube and been to the cinema. On Saturday night I even went to a busy city centre pub to watch the boxing. The anxiety is still there, and probably always will be, but I do now have my life back and I agree with the decisions the government have announced today. We have to learn to live with covid.

Wizzbangfizz · 21/02/2022 18:53

And why do we have to pay privately for testing? They’re effectively privatising any access to covid treatments.

Testing is not a treatment so sorry this is an absolute load of bullshit - if you are poorly enough to require medical treatment you will get it. We are one of the few places in the world handing out free tests like confetti.

HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 19:04

Iggly since Christmas, the course (in England) has been very steady in response to the way the Omicron wave gas run. Like several other countries, in fact.

I'm not saying the pandemic was handled well at all in this country in the first 12 months. Yes there was chopping and changing then. The Christmas debacle, for instance. And the clinging to draconian senseless rules, and the continued closure of schools during early summer 2020 were appalling.

However the route since last July has been pretty sensible and responsive to the actual threat - again, in England at least. And I'm satisfied with the way they didn't cave in at Christmas 2021. (Shame they bottled it in June ).

I know some people will disagree. I know some people are CV. I know some people are allowing their anxiety to rule them. I know some people say we should "follow the science" as though science was a set of answers all sensible right minded intelligent folk all agree on.

SickAndTiredAgain · 21/02/2022 19:08

@alloalloallo

YANBU

My daughter has been left with horrible anxiety and a fear of going out. To the point she couldn’t actually leave her own bedroom without having a panic attack.

She has Tourette’s and masks exacerbate her tics to the point she has seizures and injures herself (has actually head butted a metal bar and knocked herself out) so she can’t wear one

Months and months of abuse, being sworn at, threatened. Told it’s her fault people are dying, that she’s the reason everything has gone on so long. Told she if she couldn’t wear a mask she shouldn’t be allowed to leave the house, that she shouldn’t be allowed to go to college, catch a bus or attend medical appointments.

Fortunately we were able to find and pay for a private therapist, and she’s now working with CAMHS but it’s a very long road.

She’s 16 and her world has become so small and she’s so isolated

Covid has really allowed some awful people to feel morally superior when actually they’re just a small minded bully threatening a teenager. Hideous.
labyrinthlaziness · 21/02/2022 19:12

The mental health aspect is bad, but I wouldn't be keen to have the blood clots that come with 'mild' Omicron infection either.

HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 19:14

In fact this is what Chris Whitty just said. This is slow and steady and gradual change.

Juno22 · 21/02/2022 19:23

On the contrary, I've actually been amazed how resilient human beings are. If you look around you the majority of people of all ages are embracing normal life as if the last 2 years never happened. If we look back to March 2020 it seems surreal, the level of terror so many of us were feeling.

Yes, there's no doubt there are people who are suffering from mental issues from the covid restrictions. I know a healthy couple in their early forties who still won't go out and don't let their children socialise. It's very worrying.

I had an anxiety condition before covid that has been made massively worse. I know I need to address it, I'm not dismissing people who are suffering.

HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 19:27

@Juno22

On the contrary, I've actually been amazed how resilient human beings are. If you look around you the majority of people of all ages are embracing normal life as if the last 2 years never happened. If we look back to March 2020 it seems surreal, the level of terror so many of us were feeling.

Yes, there's no doubt there are people who are suffering from mental issues from the covid restrictions. I know a healthy couple in their early forties who still won't go out and don't let their children socialise. It's very worrying.

I had an anxiety condition before covid that has been made massively worse. I know I need to address it, I'm not dismissing people who are suffering.

There will be a lot of trauma which is released slowly over time, or suddenly a while later. I'm generally a steady kind of person but completely fell apart at new year as the last couple of years suddenly took their toll.

People always throw themselves into life asap after widespread upheaval. It doesn't mean they're absolutely fine.

DuesToTheDirt · 21/02/2022 19:29

We're still getting ads on the radio (in Scotland) advising us that if we are meeting friends it's safer outside. FFS it's bloody February. No chance. But if you are an anxious sort of person I guess you take this stuff in.

HesterShaw1 · 21/02/2022 19:31

I've not listened to the radio for a while (England). Are we still getting adverts about the DEATH PARTICLES?