[Closed] What's the point? Covid related

Dude. I don't know your personal circumstances but in the last six months there have undoubtedly been opportunities to do all the things you mentioned, and I expect in the next six months opportunities will also present themselves. Carpe diem 'n all that. Control what you can, manage your risk and that of your loved ones.

Sounds like you have your physical health and well being and you make no mention of financial challenges so you might look it at from the PoV that the biggest challenge is whats in your head. Sometimes its the hardest challenge though and I'm sure there's plenty on here that can offer advice and it sounds like a good man chat with your mates or a mens mental health charity might be worth it - you do realise this is what being in your fourties is all about yeah 😉

Peace.

It'll be more than 3 months fella...

I'm afraid that you will just have to batten down the hatches and ride it out with the rest of us sensible people. The sight of all of these hammer heads carrying on like it isn't there really gets me down as I've had virtually no contact outside my household, other than work, for 6 months too.

Ride your bike. Do some Airfix kits (works for me). Stay healthy. Vote the *******s out when you get the opportunity.

What’s the point?

Would you rather have all those things if it meant that someone died?

Harry_the_Spider
Full Member
Ride your bike. Do some Airfix kits (works for me). Stay healthy. Vote the *******s out when you get the opportunity.

Wise words indeed 🙂

If you've got your health and your job you're winning Covid. Other stuff will return in good time. Eating out and a pint are great but until the great British public stop mucking about I'm not sure it works. A large percentage of people can't even wear a mask properly so I hold little faith in a return to normal anytime soon.

Hmmm. Not feeling a great deal of sympathy TBH.
You've got a job (well paying one IIRC), you've not caught covid, and by the sounds of it nobody you care deeply about has caught covid (apols if that is incorrect).

I'm in a similar boat to you and my reaction whenever anyone asks I'd something along the lines of:

"Pretty good. There's some pretty shit things happening to lots of people at present (jobs) and some extremely shit things happening to others at present (dead rellies). I am in a lucky position to be as yet unaffected by either, and so I am thankful for my privilege and feel for the people less lucky"

And TBH I'm generally a miserable ungrateful **** so if I can see the positives then surely you can?

( This is where you tell me that your son /hamster/goldfish did indeed die of Covid, in which place I'll feel like a complete heel.

Having watched some of my peers .....some of whom may be on here go from being able to run a sub 3hr marathon to being unable to walk for more than 10 minutes without a hr of 180.....for nearly 6months as a result of getting the lurgy.

I'm quite happy to stay put to not endure that.

Yeah apologies in case you had some loss that you didn't post about because you didn't want to be one of those people who harps on about REAL problems but I've not much sympathy I'm afraid. Very fortunate and happy that I dont know anyone directly who has been hurt as a result of this. I haven't seen my parents since Christmas because of all this and it doesn't look like it'll happen at all until maybe this coming Christmas and even that may not happen. Would be nice to be brave enough to go to a pub to drink or eat but being one of the many many vulnerable I wasn't even prepared to stop at tesco today for a bunch of bananas due to the amount of cars and people.

Suck it up buttercup!

I think this pandemic has made us all a little fragile mentally and indeed I understand the OPs point. How much longer can we go on like this and where is the end point?

Yes others have had it worse - a lot worse but while I have had neither money nor health issues from this it has royally ****ed up my life in all sorts of ways and the uncertainty is very hard for some folk. I am OK with the uncertainty to some extent but MrsTJ is finding that very hard. Some people need certainty and clarity in their lives.

Its also hard to keep on doing the right thing whilst others including our "leaders" do not. Its easy to then say "to heck with it, I shall do what I want as well".

As above - the key is to control the things you can and not to worry about those you cannot - easier said than done. You can also bask in a bit of self righteousness knowing you are part of the solution not part of the problem.

One thing I have done is to have video chats with pals - we set up a virtual pub night where we all sat and drank on our own but in video contact. Also did similar for my family.

There is an end in sight. its just a long way off when we consider vaccines etc.

Living alone, i get all of the above; it sucks. however, if i have 1 bad year out of X number on this planet; knowing i havent contributed to anyones death; cool..
There isn't much choice, as above, control what you can. make the most of your current situation; knowing you're not a muppet and endangering others!

I've come across as a bit of a spoiled brat in that post, and I apologise, today has not been good day.

I've no intention of making anyone feel like crap for any reply so I shall keep my personal and family experiences of Covid off the thread.

I just can't help but feel it's the goal-less, disproportionate response. And that, combined with no clue as to where we're trying to get to (anyone who says "complete elimination" is just being naive) means I really struggle.

Life goes on I guess. Thanks for shaking me out of my shell.

Edit, thanks @tjagain.

I know full well I've had it better than many others (and a whole lot worse than some too), but that still doesn't mean you can't feel crap about the situation.

OP I was starting to feel a lot like you ,but to stop myself falling in to a deep pit of despair,I cheered myself up by booking a Luxury cruise with David Icke, it's got everything.

1/ Bus trip from Scotland to Southampton with the Anti-mask league,stopping on route to tear down some 5G masts.

2/ Southampton to Brisbane cruise,Corona on tap.

3/ High altitude flight from Brisbane  to Africa with the Flat Earth society and finally put to rest this globe shaped planet debate.

4/ Overland through Africa an Europe calling at all the best UFO landing spots.

It's going to be totzamazballs

Can you rename the thread 'The ultimate first world problems thread'..... seriously one for the STW history books.

I'm at the other end of the spectrum. Wife has an autoimmune disorder (most vunerable cattagory)so we have lived seperatly since march as i run a village shop and see around 1000 different people a week. I know of 4 customers who died, multiple redundancys in the area and people who are living on the edge of bankruptcy.....

And yet the op can't visit a national trust site???

The sooner people wake up to the fact that this is potential decade long spell of inconveniences the better.

Depending on where you live you can probably still do some of those things. You might just need to do them outdoors, and stay 2 metres apart.

It sucks, but you are not the only one feeling this way. The kids haven't seen one set of grandparents this year, and between cancer and increasing dementia, may not see them again.

@monkeyboyjc, I'm the OP, I'm sorry about your wife, that's really crap.
I know I've had it easier than most.
But that doesn't mean I can't feel ropey about the whole situation, and it doesn't mean I can't reach out to a forum that has been so supportive of various issues over the year.

Not sure about the lack of sympathy here? It's not a competition to see who's had it worst. If the OP has felt the need to post about it then they aren't doing too well, whether that's backed up by the obvious physical markers (job, health, etc) or not is irrelevant IMO. Lives are complex and everyone deals with things differently, just take a moment to consider the rates of depression and suicide, especially in men (not saying the OP is there, hopefully).

Unfortunately I don't have much advice other than try to remain stoic - just worry about what you can control and live as best you can.

just can’t help but feel it’s the goal-less, disproportionate response

Agreed, I think it's goal-less. I think we're going to end up at the place Bojo started at seven months ago.... Devil take the hindmost.

aka Herd Immunity

Less and less people ( or is it fewer, I forget) are GASing about the precautions and it'll continue that trend until everyone who can get it has got it.

Then the rest will try to get back to normal life with x% of the population dead. Terrifying thought.

Hmmm. Not feeling a great deal of sympathy TBH.

Would you rather have all those things if it meant that someone died?

Except the link between those is extremely tenuous due to mixed messaging, relevance and compliance.
What can I or lunge do vs Hancock waving a hand and instructing hospitals to send Covid positive patients to nursing homes?

My kid goes into school where he is not allowed to wear a mask in lessons and in PE they are instructed to put hands on the person in front.
He comes straight home past the ones in the park meeting friends and sharing a spliff..

So now neither of us can visit grandma...

We did get away for a week, watching those we were meant to be protecting disembark from packed coaches. I had to get fuel yesterday and the Octogenarian gentleman was telling the garage guy "I'll probably pop back later" with a mask round his chin. The guy in the garage was trying to help him and pointed out it was his third time today and he should be wearing a mask not draping it round his chin...

It really seems like whatever I do personally our government can offset a million-fold

Everything comes to an end , even the universe.

Keep on keeping on.
There's going to be an element of entertaining ourselves for a while, the fun, social stuff won't be available.
But, that's doable. The while won't be for ever.
And vuelta soon 😀

At various times during history people have had to live through the plague, Nazis invading their countries and carting them off to death camps,Ghengis Khan and his merry men raping their way across their neighbourhood and annihilating whole cities, epidemics of cholera and typhoid fever, 20% of the population being killed in the Thirty Years War etc etc. These things happened to real people, just like you and me, not to characters in some historical fairy tale.
What I'm trying to say is that these sorts of disasters occur throughout history and if it happens to your generation, you just have to deal with it. Frankly, we've got off quite lightly so far. Could've been Ebola with a 50% death rate. It could've been global temperatures going up by a couple of degrees and making large parts of the globe largely uninhabitable... um no, that's for the next generation.

no indication of when they’ll return

It’s been a damn hard year. We’ll face further restrictions ‘till at best next summer, at worst the following summer… but I’m hoping that dealing with that may become easier for many of us than they have been… especially if we can avoid things getting anywhere near as bad as the initial peak, as regards numbers of people suffering serious illness or worse, and not having to have much of the more onerous restrictions in place for as long as we did this spring. We know enough to avoid making the same mistake twice… and that should reduce the stress for many of us.

@lunge you can feel ropey about it, your not the only one.
But if the only thing you can't do in your post is visit the national trust (you can go for a. Run, vist a pub or restaurant etc) you need to open your eyes to the wider picture. People are loosing livelihoods and loved ones, unfortunately that means i've little sympathy for missing visiting a nat trust site or a holiday.
My advise is to get ready for years, not months, of restrictions.

@imnotverygood spot on. We've had it easy for well over 60yrs, and yet have also been warning ourselves something like this will happen any time soon.

When all this kicked off in March I assumed it was going to be a long term thing. Certainly the rest of this year, probably most of next too. I steeled myself for having almost no social contact with many people for most of that time, potentially losing my job and my whole family getting ill. Christ I even mentally prepared myself for what seemed like the inevitable death of my parents (both highly vulnerable and annoyingly resistant to isolating themselves).

None of these things have happened (yet). I've ridden my bike loads with mates, I still have a job, no one I know has ended up in hospital (although some had nasty cases), none of my family got ill, and I even managed to go on holiday to Spain as planned. Yes I've missed going down the pub with my mates, I've missed going out to eat, and I've missed seeing some family, but these are small sacrifices to avoid the horrific things I imagined at the beginning. So yeah, I can do it all again, and again for as long as it takes. Maybe I won't be so lucky in future, but at least I know it's not inevitable or even likely that the awful things I imagined in March will happen.

There gonna have to release a lot more content on netflix though 🙂

I get where the op is coming from, it does suck at times....
BUT
And it’s a big but,
If foregoing life’s pleasures mean I help protect my 88 year old parents from the bug then it’s a price I’ll pay,
God knows I miss live music, trawling through racks of records, wandering round markets and shops, even crossing fingers I may get a ticket to watch the mighty whites play back in the premier league ( though that ticket was never likely, )
But since March the only folk I’ve visited are my parents,
Went shopping in Leeds only once, and that experience was enough to ensure I don’t go again this year.
At the end of the day my age makes me borderline vulnerable, my parents are very vulnerable,
So I do what I can,
Fingers crossed it’s enough 🤞🤞🤞

The OP has recognised how his post came across. Working at home for 6 months if you don't have much social contact must be tough and the prospect of several months more isn't good. You seem very goal-focused @lunge which I think is probably common in sporty people. I know without a goal to focus on my training doesn't really happen. But you can control your fitness/training etc. You have negligible control on what happens with Covid so the sooner you get your head around that and make the best of each day, the sooner you'll start feeling on top of things. Even at the height of lockdown you could still get out for a ride or a run. I really miss Parkrun but Zwift is a good substitute. Get yourself a goal to celebrate your 40th year and get saving (holiday? new bike?). It'll give you motivation for working and something to plan for. This won't be forever.

It really seems like whatever I do personally our government can offset a million-fold

Indeed - but by doing your bit you DO reduce risk even if only by a tiny amount. Not just the risk to you but more importantly the risk to others

Lunge, I hear you. Everyone's issues are personal to them, and I think the mental health aspect of all this is really extremely difficult.

There is a 'British' approach: stiff upper lip, ignore the pain, carry on.

I'm not sure that is entirely the best approach!

For the first time in my life earlier this year I experienced truly paralysing anxiety. It all worked out OK in the end, but it was quite an experience.

Good on you for vocalising it, let's hope others that feel the same way are able to do so as well.

There will be an out, who knows when it will be.

I share many of your frustrations. FWIW, what I am trying to do is focus on the things I do have some control over and maximising whatever I can within that.

Think thats going to get harder, but its about the only thing I can do!

If people are struggling they are struggling, it's not top trumps FFS.

Even very privileged people (which lets face it is most of us on STW) can have their own difficulties. Yes we should try and keep perspective and realise how lucky we are but it's not always easy.

I feel for the OP, it's not about minor inconveniences, it's about the crushing feeling that after so much shit for everyone, that we might have to do it all again, and maybe what was the point of all that inconvenience, if really it was the seasonal change that drove numbers down.

Personally I lost a FIL, I suffered terribly with stress, I was equally worried about losing my job as wondering if we could keep up with the workload. My wife, on top of grieving was trying to deal with a huge workload and of course we had 2 bored kids at home. We weren't special in that, but that doesn't mean I want to do it again. I'm sure lots of people wonder if they've got the energy to do it all again.

The only solace I can offer is the vaccine IS coming, we might just see some deployment this year for Healthcare workers, and because my Wife will likely be involved in it's deployment I know the sort of effort that will going into it, it will be massive, like nothing in living memory for most of us. Many mountains, moved great distances by many people.

I think we're all feeling a bit shit at the minute - I know I am.

My birthday next week, 30th Wedding Anniversary in Oct, Daughters 18th in December. All plans down the toilet. We'll do something for each, it just won't be the same.

And it's amazing how we miss the things that used to annoy us - I never thought I'd miss jostling at a bar to get a drink!

EDIT

not going to be drawn on this

What’s the point?

The point is trying to stop people getting covid. As an early adopter of it I can confirm it is really awful. I was lucky and came out of hospital. If I was less healthy at the beginning I doubt I would have come out except in a box.

Lockdown in any form is frustrating but it’s a small price to pay. Most of use have been able to find positives out of this, new skills, more family time, less spending money. Try and flip that glass round to bring half full as it sounds like you have got reason to say it is.

Edit: I don’t want to belittle your angst, it’s real, fair and justified. It’s also shared by most people.

Guys - it really does not matter if the OPs fears and anguish feel unreasonable to you - its still real to him

I started a similar thread when this all kicked off asking other healthcare workers how they were feeling as I was struggling. The support and perspective I got from that was immensely helpful

The psychological effects of this hit different people in different ways and we are all vulnerable.

I think part of the OPs issue is that he knows he really has not had it as bad as many but is still struggling - and that then feeds back on itself as " why am I making all this fuss" the pain tho remains real and the guilt of actually not really suffering while feeling that you are is very destructive.

I'm sure we all have hours and days of concerning ourselves about 'the new norm' and what may be around the corner. We are all affected to a lesser or greater extent by this sh*t situation. If we, to date, have not been too negatively impacted, then we may worry that we will be. But then again, we may not. I do not take comfort that others are worse off than me, because others should not in that situation and I feel sh*t that folks are.

I struggle with the bombardment of negativity, indecision and, at times, what feels like a lack of data driven 'what if' decisions...given pandemic planning has - supposedly - been on the go for many years. The political spin and play-offs are wearing. FFS, get properly qualified non-politicised groups globally to work together and show we are working together. The United Kingdom, The United Nations. Aye, right!

Exactly TJ

Its an unpopular opinion, but I kind of agree with you.

I'm well aware that I had a better start in life than 95% of anyone in history, by virtue of being born white british towards the end of the 20th century.

Up until March 2019, I've enjoyed life in a way that is out of reach of many; but that doesn't make it any less upsetting to have it all taken away.

I'm in a similar position to Lunge, and have had similar thoughts.

If we can keep going through another 6 months of varying degrees of shit, the country might start to see the light at the end of the tunnel*.

* any light at the moment is almost certainly a train, keep your head down.

+1 Tj.

OP: I hear you. I think we all have some dark fears at the moment. All of us are feeling the impacts of the pandemic, and we shouldn't be comparing or competing for 'most upset / impacted / affected'.

I do count myself very fortunate in so many ways.
But I have still had some sleepless nights. And will continue to.

I was talking to my dad about COVID. He grew up in WW2, spent the summer of 1940 as a teenager on Croydon golf course by the ack ack guns watching the planes dogfighting above him.

His point was that nobody knew when the war would end, they just had to go on with their lives within the government's rules e.g. rationing, blackout etc. He was lucky, Croydon bombing was random not targeted like the docks but there were still frequent deaths amongst his school friends and neighbours.

We're lucky, there's an end in sight. We don't know exactly when but there's every sign that at least one of the vaccines under development will work and that we'll get better treatments. Perhaps not this year, probably next year.

We're lucky, we can sequence a novel virus in weeks. Before the 90s it took years. We built tests in months that allow us to diagnose the disease accurately. There have been problems rolling out testing but one of the side effects of this pandemic is we will be very much better prepared for the next one. In contrast, through all previous history plagues hit every 30 odd years and there was little anyone could do about them.

It's OK to feel bad. It's normal. I'm scared some of the time, pissed off with the government, worried for the future of my kids as the economy rocks but

"What cannot be cured must be endured" - we'll get through this, try not to worry about things you can't change and if you can't stop worrying don't beat yourself up about that - we've got STW for that!

Agree @tjagain , but sometimes you need to point out that things won't be "back to normal" in months,and that life could be alot worse than our westernised consumerist ways.

Regards vaccines. Say we get one that works in the next year, it'll then need manufacturing and administrating to not just us in the UK, a good proportion of the world, for it to be effective, so potentially a good few years after its initial Eureka moment.

I know everyone if finding it hard, but I wish that people would stop with the "when will it get back to normal" - it wont, learn to live with the now, a new normal will develop.

I’m fascinated to know what the plan/schedule for vaccinating the country/world is going to be.

Would you rather have all those things if it meant that someone died?

That's the kind of hyperbole/false dichotomy that made all the various lockdown threads so unpleasant the first time round.

Can we skip that this time please?

Firstly, monkeyboyjc that's humbling to read and my heart genuinely goes out to you.

My take on all this?

Full time carer for my mother with dementia but she has a pretty good quality of life and though her memory isn't great she is fully aware of the dangers of Covid etc. She's also housebound, a blessing in these times I suppose? Longest I leave home these days is for an afternoon with my partner once a week on a Sunday. I had 2 full days away over summer when I ride the sdw and peddars way. Life Line in use and son/ sister put on call in case of emergency and issued with fiefdoms if they had to come into the house. Ranitidine/masks b windows open etc. I felt guilty as hell indulging in the rides but it was my life line I suppose.

My partner works in an NHS lab and doesn't live with me so.... Irrelevant of lock down easing we haven't even held hands since the sh*t hit the fan all those months ago. Plus all the other stuff that goes with being in a relationship. She doesn't come into the house (no one does apart from me) and I don't go into her house.

That's just one implication of Covid. I've only held my baby grandson once since he was born (just before lock down) and there are many, many other ways my life has had to change.

Now,I could have just gone with the flow and not done any of the above and on probability mum would have been fine. Probably.

This is the problem though, I am the only person that comes into the house. If mum catches it, it WILL be from me. No ifs, no buts. Me.

Of course mum will pass one day as we all do, I know that, but knowing I've "wielded the knife" would utterly destroy me.

My partner and I are now contemplating how we get through autumn/winter. In summer we've been driving (different cars) to local, quiet places and been staying out all afternoon, distanced, then she goes home as do I. Workable in summer, winter? No idea how our relationship will get through the coming months. We both find out extraordinarily hard but she is hugely supportive and understands why it "has" to be this way.

I manage to delude myself sometimes but I'm crumbling to be honest.

However I'm bloody lucky and I know it compared to many, many people out there. Unlike monkeyboyjc I can basically stay in almost total isolation with mum.

I watched what happened in care homes earlier this year in horror.

Tl;dr? Op, I agree, its utterly crap, beyond words really and all I can do is thank you and so many others that have put their lives on hold basically to give my old mum and millions of others a fighting chance though all this.

Also, I kind of think we're all supposed to feel a bit like the op today.
The message changed overnight.
The media have been pushing the "fact" that we're opening up, schools are safe, we're coming through it.
Now we're not. They're pushing the "fact" that we'll be closing more, making sacrifices, enduring hardships.
BBC headline is:
"UK faces 50,000 cases a day by October without action"
We are being nudged in a different direction.

@poopscoop advice we had from drs and consultants at the start of this in March was, either both self isolate for at least a year, one of you move out, or one of you self isolate in one room, wash, sleep, eat there. Hense I moved out, luckily I was able to do this financially and had support from many locals to do so.

It's a fair point @Murray makes, as shit as the current situation is it's nothing like as bad as going through WW2 must have been. But for most of us we don't have that as a relative measure so it's not especially relevant to how many people are coping right now.

I'm fortunate in the sense I'm an introvert who had virtually no social life pre-pandemic so I'm not really missing that side of things. My job's pretty safe (I hope...) and I can WFH easily. That said if lockdown restrictions (rule of 6 etc.) last beyond Christmas (which it looks likely they will) it's still going to be pretty tough to deal with but I know I'm a whole lot better off than a lot of people.

I think there's also a lot of overly optimistic timeframes for this ending, I can see it being a year before there's an effective vaccine that's widely available (in the UK, god know how long for developing countries 🙁 ). And then what about SARS-CoV-2 mutating, how long will that first vaccine be effective? Hopefully as it seems to mutate less quickly than other similar viruses it's not going to end up like the seasonal flu jab with mutations meaning scientists having to make a best guess on the vaccine we need for it each year

TJ

Indeed – but by doing your bit you DO reduce risk even if only by a tiny amount. Not just the risk to you but more importantly the risk to others

I know that but it still seems pointless.

I spent months ... completely isolating. Any outdoors exercise was before other people got up and meticulously planned so as not to touch ANYTHING.... or be within 10m of anyone.

It’s about the crushing feeling that after so much shit for everyone, that we might have to do it all again

Well, its about not doing it properly the first time and having zero confidence or government will do anything until 2 weeks AFTER they needed to the 2nd time.

I want to go to the garden centre, pubs and the coaches and plead the people I'm isolating myself to protect to please go home.

My Dad's 73. He has some lung problem whose name I forget that's asbestos related so he gets out of breath moving around he has arthritis, and he's just finished radiotherapy for prostate cancer, which involved a fortnight of intense diarrhoea. He hasn't left the house since March, we've seen him a few times and he had to eat in another room whilst we all socialised.

I think you can deal with not going out to eat, can't you? By all means be grumpy about it (I know I have been) but count your blessings, and just get on with it.

The end goal, btw, is R < 1.

And that, combined with no clue as to where we’re trying to get to

I guess saying "we are just trying to slow the death rate so that hospitals dont overflow" is a hard sell politically!

There is no point, the fact that we exist is bonkers, mind blowing.
Modern capitalism life has brainwashed us into living in the future, the problem with this is when the sh1t hits the fan we fall apart.

monkeyboyjc
Full Member
@poopscoop advice we had from drs and consultants at the start of this in March was, either both self isolate for at least a year, one of you move out, or one of you self isolate in one room, wash, sleep, eat there. Hense I moved out, luckily I was able to do this financially and had support from many locals to do so.

I can imagine that, that was a day and conversion you will never forget my friend. Absolutely no "good" choice amongst those.

Guys – it really does not matter if the OPs fears and anguish feel unreasonable to you – its still real to him

This.

There's also a lot wisdom in the glass half full stuff as well. If you're already dreading something youre prone to the effects of the negative framing. So your experience will be shitter than it needs to be just because of the frame youre applying. It takes a huge effort to reframe stuff but it can help.

That’s the kind of hyperbole/false dichotomy that made all the various lockdown threads so unpleasant the first time round.

Mostly aimed at people blatantly and wontonly exhibiting "I'm ok jack government can't tell me what to do I've deemed it safe so up yours"

So while on the subject of telling others how to act if you wouldn't mind that this time round please or at least keep your plans to do what ever you feel like to your self it would be appreciated. Make those who are doing Thier part feel less shit about not doing the stuff they want when others feel it's above them to not toe the line.

Mostly aimed at people blatantly and wontonly exhibiting “I’m ok jack government can’t tell me what to do I’ve deemed it safe so up yours”

Members of the jury, I rest my case.

I can imagine that, that was a day and conversion you will never forget my friend. Absolutely no “good” choice amongst those.

One of the TA's at OH's school had to send her 9yr old daughter away to live with her aunt and uncle who are of a different culture.

sounds like it could be time to find religion or to investigate your spiritual side.

Members of the jury, I rest my case.

Merely pointing out that those in glass houses should not throw stones.

Covid will be around for 100 years said a scientist on the radio today.

Just as I’m reading this thread there’s a report on the news that dementia research is at risk because of coronavirus. Reading through these threads it seems that’s a sacrifice that a lot of people are willing to make in order that Covid is beaten?

I’ve seen similar reports about mental health, cancer, heart problems etc, over the last few months. How much of this are we willing to forego while we stay locked down?

I don’t know anyone who died of Covid. I did, however, have a friend who died of cancer during lockdown. Would he have survived with a fully functioning cancer treatment? Who knows. I did, however, work with someone for a brief period who walked out of work one day. I saw him stumbling past my house last week and mentioned it to my colleagues. Turns out that he’s always had a problem with anxiety and alcohol, and lockdown was the last straw. He’s now not capable of working because of his alcoholism. Is it fair to sacrifice people like him while we all stay safe?

Are we all happy to accept the increase in suicides and domestic violence?

Being locked down doesn’t just mean that we are missing the pub, our friends and family and can’t go on holiday. There are significant problems happening within society because of it.

Covid will be around for 100 years said a scientist on the radio today.

In that case these so-called scientists should have called it Covid-2019. Just imagine the confusion this is going to cause at the start of the next century! Bloody experts, wasn’t like this in my day, etc. etc. etc.
RM.

while we stay locked down?

We havent been locked down for ages, if really ever

Merely pointing out that those in glass houses should not throw stones.

I don't understand that comment. I've never entered into that kind of hyperbolic/demonisation of other's decisions argument, are you sure you're not confusing me with someone else?. My line throughout this crisis has been that people making different choices or holding different views doesn't automatically make them entitled arseholes as some on here would have you believe.

I went to work in February thinking I would be home six weeks later, I got home last week. In that time I have been on site working, being thankful for having a good job but missing the family. I got home 5 days ago and got to give the kids a big hug. Focus on the positives no matter how small they are and try not to dwell on the negatives.

I am 57 and i think my generation and the following ones have taken this quite badly, we are conditioned to having a reasonably safe,secure life with freedom of movement.

Previous Generations did not experience this and we sometimes forget there was only 21 years between 2 world wars and the spanish flu and the great depression. Added to that serious rationing until the 1950s.

My generation was probably the last to see mass unemployment and the destruction of various communities so we have a little of that in us.

Also death is not common place as it was in the first half of the century and we expect to live to a good old age.

So getting pissed off about not being able to do all the things you want to do is understandable. However this thing kills old people and ruins young peoples health.

So we have to dig in and it is sure as shit not WW2 levels of destruction ,(yet)

Oh and if we need any metric of the "price point" to risk infection it was £2 for a Mcdonalds snd £10 off at yhe local gastro pub.

I do despair at the average human being..

I wonder how many people will die due to Rishis meal deal?

Just as I’m reading this thread there’s a report on the news that dementia research is at risk because of coronavirus. Reading through these threads it seems that’s a sacrifice that a lot of people are willing to make in order that Covid is beaten?

This logical fallacy again. Let this virus let rip, and it will effect ______* far more than measures to control the virus will.

[ * in this case it’s dementia research, but there are hundreds of other important medical considerations this applies to ]

The original post demonstrated that the OP, like many, struggles with uncertainty. There's always some uncertainty in our lives but the various lockdown measures have also introduced uncertainty into our relationships between our nearest and dearest and that's very unsettling for many. We are social animals, it's defined our development as a species and shaped, in good ways and bad, how our history has unfolded.

Some need those interactions to thrive, others like myself, not so much. I might feel differently if I'd spent March and April cooped up in an inner-city flat or even a house in some large town.

It's not helped that the government message(s) and measures have been so haphazard and inconsistent so even the new social rules are prone to uncertainty. Basically you've no solid bedrock from which to build anything.

Idlejohn

There are no good answers only the least worst ones.

No covid controls means huge deaths from it and clogged NHS leading to those types of deaths because of no cancer treatment etc. Tight covid controls and we massively reduce covid deaths but as you point out increase others and all sorts of other issues

Try to find a middle road and it all drags on longer

All we can do is hope are politicians listen to the science and make good judgements about what path reduces the impact

I agree with OPs sentiment.

It's something my mum, who's in her 80s, mentioned recently. She's still really active but obviously knows that her time is limited. Having to cancel all of her activities and spend months sat on her own in a large empty house has done nothing for her mental or physical health.

What needs to happen, but is impossible within the UK, is a public conversation that weighs up the relative risks and benefits of various strategies. That should look at health and mortality but also the social and psychological impact of becoming a society in which everyone is perceived as a potential danger.

I’m sorry if I’m being repetitive but I haven’t read all the posts.   I went through this last week, my two outcomes were “shit happens” and “the goalposts have moved”.

We have a family, health, can ride a bike, and have a beer and a pizza at the weekend.  One day this’ll all be of lower proportions and we can start to do other things.  Until then let’s just do our best to protect each other and enjoy the smaller world we move in.

I’m shortly going to read “Everything is ****ed, a book about hope “ by Mark Manson, based on nothing more than my prior experience of the guy and the preface, which essentially states that just because everything around you feels hopeless, doesn’t mean you have to - i suspect that’s an aka of how you think is how you feel turned to modern psychology.

Copa
Sturgeons presses have tried to outline the pros and cons of the measures and explain the reasoning

I'm in a similar position Lunge (and others). If it's getting you down, that's nothing to be ashamed of and it's good for you to talk to others about it.

I've revived an old hobby which has helped, but not having anything to look forward to is getting to me a little. I am very aware how lucky I am compared to others though, and talking to MsBeej about what she is exposed to at the surgery where she works (clinical pharmacist) helps ground me.

Keep talking about how you feel, and you can do daily Giro threads for us in a few weeks.

Is it fair to sacrifice people like him while we all stay safe?

Are we all happy to accept the increase in suicides and domestic violence?

I take your point but blaming lockdown for this is the wrong target. The lack of social support for people in need is a much longer term problem and it's caused by Tory politics.

Firstly.... it's OK to not be OK. Acknowledging it is half the battle. Recognising the good things that are available to you and using them is the other half.

I'm feeling down at the moment too. I've been unemployed for over a year now. I have to live with my incredibly vulnerable father because the council don't believe my doctor who says I can't manage my bi-polar whilst I live here. As much as I love my dad the doc is right. I am lucky if I get to see my daughter for a few hours twice a week without having my own place. The only time all of that goes away is when I get on my bike or see my girl.

Make the most of what you can do and forget the things you can't. For the time being we all have a responsibility to protect each other however we can.

I think those that are saying it's going to be better or over in 6 months we just need to wait it out are a little naive, the virus is never going away, even with a vaccine. It'll just get less effective at killing the less vulnerable which isn't going to happen in the near future, and if you have underlying issues you'll always be at risk. Exactly the same as the flu virus.

Sorry but it's here to stay as are restrictions for the foreseeable.

The thing about anxiety/depression is that those that suffer from it 'lose perspective' to a large extent. So just saying to oneself "I really am selfish/crap being like this, there are millions worse off than me" (or having someone say it to you) doesn't help. It just adds to the self-loathing.

I hope that the people who have had a pop at the OP genuinely feel better as a result. At least, by diminishing someone else's happiness, they will have evened up the net happiness in the world. But scoring points off of someone who is down in the dumps does not do that, even if the person having a go is more entitled on the face of it. Kicking someone who is already on the ground doesn't do anyone any good.

I feel similar to the OP. I have suffered little tangible damage so far, although with two kids in school and my wife patient-facing NHS it is probably only a matter of time for us. However, I have been getting a bit down about it all. Not getting away on holiday with the kids, riding trips cancelled, kept job but endured a pay cut and am now working >25% longer hours in a job I hate.....

First world problems? Definitely. But realising it doesn't actually help.

At least you didn’t buy Rolls Royce stock a few weeks back 😂

In all seriousness, try and stay strong mentally. The mental damage is just as serious as the physical damage and doesn’t get much thought from press / gov.

Prob worth throwing a few ideas round if people have them.

I’ve been:

Playing stock market: Bad idea unless you invested in Zoom 6 months ago. See my 1st point.

Trying to ride: awesome / no sh*t but I wonder how many are riding less for no good reason? Trying to find a power meter within budget so I have something to focus on as things get worse. If I can come out of this winter fit enough for enduro I’ll be happy.

Fiddling with cheap vintage and latest tech in hifi: frustrating to fantastic.

Trying to replicate Michelin star dishes at home. Good fun - lots of cost at restaurants is in work rather than ingredients so it’s very accessible. Try starting with Tom Kerridge Michelin star chips vid on YouTube to start for under a £1.

Reading this and a few other posts I’m going to try to stay sane:
Airfix
Maybe revive a mini rc

Looking at everyone I know the old seem to be taking it in their stride. The young and middle aged seem to be going mad worrying about the old who just want the young to calm down. Not sure what my point is but maybe there is something to be learnt from them somewhere.

If I offended the op or yourself dannyh with my earlier comments I apologize. I'm generally quite blunt when I speak to customers in my shop about covid and the internet tends to have a way of making blunt speak even blunter.