Coping during the Coronavirus outbreak

[Sophie_M]

We recognise that many of us here in the community are feeling scared, worried and overwhelmed about Coronavirus (COVID19). 

As a result, we created this thread to allow people to come together here during those difficult times and encouraged those wanting to share or seek support to do so here in this space. 
 
It was important with this thread that we maintained perspective and supported each other as best as we could, medical, scientific and public health experts around the world have and still are working hard to contain the virus and treat those affected. 
 
The Beyond Blue Support Service is available via phone 24/7 on 1300 22 4636 or via beyondblue.org.au/get-support for online chat. 
 
There are some other helpful discussions taking place here within our forum community that you may find helpful to read or participate in: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/staying-well/hi-there-i-only-just-joined-and... 

This thread is now closed for further posting. Users are still able to read through and find support through already existing posts.  

[Ggrand]

Hello RX, and everyone.....

It is very hard in this lockdown we seem to be constantly in..

RX..Yes a lot of countries/states are going back to normal...and seemingly coping with the 1000’s per day contacting the COVID virus....

What if tomorrow the government shook there heads and removed the lockdown?...How will we feel when shopping centres, schools, churches, funerals are all open to how many people they want to attend....while this virus is running rampant..

We send our children back to school, some vaccinated.. some unvaccinated, we all go back to work...regardless if we’re all vaccinated or not...People not getting tested are in amongst these people...our children will be mixing with these people, work places and shopping centres will also have COVID positive cases working/shopping etc...So many of our children and people will become infected with COVID...then without knowing it they will pass this COVID virus onto others....Something I do not want to be a part of..because unknowingly if I contacted the virus.. I would infect someone who could pass it to their children etc..and I would be the cause of their sickness and maybe death....

Right now..being in lockdown, getting tested regularly...are indeed saving lives...our families, friends, children and strangers....

To be patient is hard...to be lockdown is hard...to be tested is annoying..but to infect anyone would be devastating to our mental health and us.....I feel all these are necessary for our country and our people to stop the virus from getting worse then it already is...

The best thing anyone can do..is to stop watching the news, listening to the radio and go of social media...and live each day the best way we can...love our family and friends..Be kind and gentle to yourselves and do lots of self care....

Everything dies...this virus will eventually die...in the mean time, let us all live the best life we can each day...Worrying or being anxious about lockdown etc...is taking the day that you are now living away from you...

My kindest thoughts everyone...

Grandy..

[Guest_1584]

Yeah there's so many angles Grandy , who bloody knows.

Well l needed more stuff for work so my 3wk plan didn't work out too well , which is near impossible at the best of times anyway let alone these.

Called 3 different hardware's, all the main names, what a load offfff. Turned out my local right here though of all places were opening the back gate only today only, trades only. l had to do 3 trips to make sure l had the lot with new things turning up at work now as they usually do butttt, l'm all sorted this time hopefully and def; good for a few wks now.

Was pretty amazed at the confusion over the phone from these places though and a def' bit of fear in 2 of them . Dunno what the authorities are instructing them privately but they were very very edgy.

Ahwell , l should be done this time and hopefully things here will be open again here by the next.

rx

[curlywhirl]

Thanks Ggrand for your kind thoughts.

We know people experience the pandemic & lockdowns differently yet I rarely find this acknowledged any more. I also finding the assertions, narrative & language used by leaders & the media increasingly unhelpful & make the situation worse.

We know lots of people find lockdowns & restrictions tough. Unequal application & impact doesn't help.

Yet some of us don't mind them. Maybe we're relieved that our government has (finally) implemented lockdown to protect us & now we feel safer. Maybe we're introverts. Maybe we like our lives being a little simpler (cos fewer options or places to be). Maybe we're enjoying extra time with family, or finally doing things around home, or catching up with friends by phone or online that we wouldn't be reaching out to if they or we weren't in lockdown, or getting more exercise than we would normally, or learning new skills, or exploring our neighbourhood. (Yes, we're privileged to feel like this - yet we do.)

Also, as you say, What if tomorrow our governments removed the lockdown before *everyone* was protected? I'm terrified with the way that some are pushing that line, especially now that so many 'prioritised' have been left behind & COVID is spreading.

The biggest threat to my mental health is people pushing to drop restrictions that protect us. Poor communication (eg complicated rules, mixed messaging, big words, long sentences, fast speaking, dividing the community) makes it worse.

If we say something 'is hard' then it will be - & people will look for ways to avoid it. Much better to say something like 'some people may find this hard' & offer the reasons why & some remedies.

I find unhelpful the push for 'opening up' sooner rather than later because lockdown 'is hard' & 'everyone finds it hard'. It isn't caring for those who will suffer because we're going too fast. It leaves out those of us who cope with it OK. And it's what is making me anxious.

So now I'm avoiding news as much as possible & am feeling much better. I also find hearing from First Ministers & experts who are clearly focussed on caring for & protecting the *whole* population, not leaving anyone behind, & explaining why - & communicating this very clearly. I'm now tuning in to the ACT media conference each day to be reminded of what caring for the whole community & good communication sounds like! (Also explains some of the detail & rationale that is missing from the other news.) Coronacast (ABC) is also good.

❤️

[Elizabeth CP]

Grandy, You have explained the situation very clearly. I am impressed with with how you really got to the important points reminding us why lockdowns are needed at the moment even though they are so difficult to endure.

To cope when I'm struggling I try to remind myself of the potential alternatives.

I really hope the experts planning how to manage this pandemic can come up with creative effective ways to manage the situation to keep us safe once enough people are vaccinated. Perhaps rapid testing for people going to hospitals or aged care facilities etc to ensure asymptomatic people don't transmit to vulnerable people. If anyone is concerned about particular aspects of the situation which can be improved email you local politician or the premier with your suggestions or concerns. I did this last year during Melbourne's long lockdown and got a good response.

[Bananie1234]

Hi Rx,

i agree with you so much, they had 18 months to prepare but they didn’t.

i work between hospitals, although it’s in Victoria but honestly, there’s so many hospitals here, I’m sure even more in nsw. Most hospitals i work at don’t deal with covid patients/vaccinations/testing. I’ve even worked in hospitals with empty ICUs yet somehow we don’t have enough beds? I think the problem lies with, most hospitals are not equipped for the pandemic hence we have such limited beds. Not necessary because there’s so many severe cases that we don’t have enough beds. This leads to me wondering why the government isn’t funding/preparing more hospitals for this during the past 18 months… but maybe im being naive and ignorant here. maybe it’s much more complicated. Also, Why didn’t we stock up on PPE over the past 18 months? Why arent we manufacturing our own PPE? Pretty much all of our facemasks are directly shipped from china…again.. maybe manufacturing our own PPE is naive thinking?

its like qld running out of quarantine facilities which boggles my mind…gold coast alone is full of empty holiday apartments and hotels… as they have no international tourists at all. With borders closed to nsw and vic i highly doubt qld visitors alone could fill up those apartments. Is there a reason why we can’t use them as quarantine facilities? Am i being naive here…

I really don’t know what’s right anymore. People overseas ask me what’s going on in aus and nz? Why are we in such a mess right now? It’s because we are the only countries that are still aiming for eradication.

Honestly, I don’t even know if i believe that the country would open up once we’ve reached 80% vax rate except for nsw. I feel like all other states will still lock us in regardless.

i feel i just live day by day and I can’t see what’s ahead of me.

[ecomama]

Hey Sleepy, yes I find things getting "blurry" too. Excuse me while I welcome our new members - hugs.

A HUGE warm welcome to Added and curlywhirl.
Thank you for joining the forums and we welcome your contributions. I hope you find this a safe space to share, feel supported and get some tips from a variety of threads.

Sleepy and everyone,
I appreciate that our Govts have multitudes of hard tasks.
More or less what I see is a "one size fits all" approach, yet I don't pretend to know alternatives.

The reality is that we EACH are experiencing our own lives in very different ways.
All being impacted by lock down in some ways or others.

Some may be under the misconception that a stay at home Order means "more time" for everyone, but in my family, it's the exact opposite.
ALL being essential workers, we are pressed to work double and triple the hours. I was getting 2 and 3 hours sleep per night at one stage. It's madness. So many of our colleagues take extended Leave because of their personal / family / health issues / fear of exposure etc (which is totally up to them and definitely their RIGHT to do this) but it's really hard on the rest of us left to carry the extra weight.

I will say it's hard because it IS extremely hard for me and my family.
Saying it's not would be invalidating our reality.

Our Covid tests returned Negative btw. That was after my daughter worked an 8h shift with a close contact of a positive case, who also turned out to contract the virus.

Some ppl have huge fears about "opening up", others not so much.
Some ppl have huge concerns about unemployment, others not so much.
Some ppl have far greater concerns for the drastic increase in MH issues, others not so much.
Some ppl believe the vaxes will "cure all", some believe the opposite.
Some ppl broadly worry about it all and everything to do with the situation, others have less anxiety.
And it goes on....

Meaning we're all different.
It doesn't matter how much we argue here or IRL with anybody UNLESS we are in positions of authority that make these types of policy changes.

If we're not in these positions, the only things we can do is our best to look after ourselves.

The only things that are "one size fits all" include self-care, doing our best to keep any mental HEALTH we have and increasing it if possible, increasing our physical health. Basically all things that helped us before Covid.

My 50c worth lol.

Love EMxxxx

[caroline_Y]

Hi I am new at this, we are experiencing locked down in the south west of Sydney and it is taking its toll on us as a family because my son cant work he is at home working but there isnt any work because we cant go out side our LGA areas so it has impacted on him; which is sad because the Premier isnt been very fair now because we are suppose to come out of this locked down on 30th September but some news bulletins said that it might be until October wow or November.

[blondguy]

Hi caroline Y and all the new members too!

Thankyou for being with the forum family during this difficult time. Im in Victoria and understand what you are going through....as many also are experiencing what you and your son are

Same rules here and they can be tiring for sure caroline Y

you are not alone here

Paul

[Guest_1584]

Hi Bananie.

Yep, still not even making our own masks. Heard Gladdy saying they're running low on ventilators too l mean wth. We could've made or brought in as many as we'd ever need in18mths, but they still don't have enough though,l just mean wt? our cases are nothing compared with OS.

lt all just boggles the mind. Ex w is a nurse too and like you she can't believe what she hears either and says all the same stuff. And they've had 18mths on all that too. And qld spot on, the whole state's accommodation.

But yeah that's actually my worry too . Bc if they still can't even handle what we've had which really is nothing, l don't logically see how their reopening works. They'll still have at least this many cases but consistently fully open, vaxed or not. Most countries are still getting 30 or 40% of what they were but most weren't so lock down crazy as us so their 30 40% will equal what we have now percentage wise with 18mths of hard lock downs.

But alas nope , moaning here or anywhere won't change a thing, l know.

Hi curly whirl. l do know what you mean l've felt a lot like that right through until just lately. The world needed to stop , to just be still,and the planet did too so badly, and so did we here. And l've actually kind of enjoyed it earlier but we do have it different here to down in Melbourne so l don't for a second take away from what they must be going through, or Sydney. But still going on and all their fumbling, and it's effects on everything now after all this time, things are really hurting people now right across the board.

rx

[CMF]

Bananie1234,

You raise interesting and valid points. Gets one thinking.

Cmf x