Covid-19's Impact on YOUR well being....Help us help others!

[blondguy]

Hi Everyone

This is a difficult and unprecedented time we are all going through. Out of 10 how has Covid-19 impacted your well being?

Just for myself...I come in at about 8....A brief post will help us help others more effectively!

• 0 to 5 .......... Low impact...................Coping well and not really worried about Covid-19
• 5 to 7 ...........Medium Impact.............Concerned about Covid-19 yet is doesnt effect me
• 8 ................. Frequent Impact........... Very concerned and checking media/news reports
• 9 ................. High Impact..................Frequently concerned and experience some difficulty functioning daily
• 10................Very High Impact...........Difficulty sleeping...increased anxiety...loss of concentration and/or feelings of helplessness

The forums are a rock solid safe and non judgemental place for anyone to post 🙂

my kind thoughts always

Paul

[fred4761]

Hi everyone, I just checking in with how Covid is affecting me. At the moment I fluctuate between about a 3 - 6.

Some of these outbreaks in other states has caused me to have a bit of PTSD type feelings to the Vic outbreak and lockdown. Does that make me sound crazy? I keep comparing myself to other people who have been through major traumatic events - I feel as though those people have a legitimate reason to experience PTSD whereas this seems like such a trivial thing to be affecting me so much.

On a brighter note, I was able to recently travel to S.A. to visit an elderly family member! Being apart while they were going through major surgery and recovery was especially difficult these past several months. It was amazing to be able to reconnect in person.

While in Adelaide I realised just how much Covid and the Vic rules have being impacting me. Walking around in shops surrounded by people not wearing masks was challenging. I felt so anxious. My family member told me that I didn't have to wear a mask indoors as I am in S.A., not Vic, yet I wore my mask everywhere. There were 1 or 2 other people wearing masks too. Choosing not to wear a mask when indoors in public felt as reckless as choosing not to wear a seatbelt when driving. It just seemed like such a risk. A couple of weeks earlier I had been complaining about having to wear a mask, yet when I had the opportunity to choose not to wear a mask I was overcome with fear. I had no idea that masks provide me with such a feeling of safety and security.

When talking to some locals they said it must have been hard coming from Vic. A couple of people told me that they know how we must have felt in Vic because they had to wear masks when they had the six day lockdown that only ended up lasting a few days! I could feel my face reddening and my heartbeat rapidly increasing. Another person commented that their restrictions were tougher because in Vic we could leave to exercise each day whereas they couldn't (for the few days that they were in lockdown!). This infuriated me and I had to leave the conversation. I began thinking about what people in other countries are going through with their Covid experiences and how what I went through perhaps somewhat pales compared to that. I felt guilty for feeling so angry when really for those people in S.A., their lockdown affected their lives too. I keep coming back to that quote that someone else said "we are not all in the same boat, we are all in the same storm".

[blondguy]

Hi fred4761

Great to see you again and thankyou for your helpful post too!

You have made a very good point about Covid and how it impacts on our lives. Being concerned is fine as most of the population feels the way you do....me included in Vic.

The only difference is that you have the strength to talk about your feelings...whereas many dont.

Great news that you were able to visit an elderly family member in South Australia! You always post a breath of fresh air and I hope your family member is doing okay after the surgery

Having PTSD/Anxiety related feelings is more than understandable during this difficult time fred4761. If we are experiencing emotional issues it is understandable as its been 102 years since the last pandemic

you are an amazing person from speaking from the heart as well as you do!

my kind thoughts

Paul

[Guest_342]

Hi Fred,

I almost thought like I was reading about myself! I also feel like I have PTSD feelings. I actually feel a ping of anxiety when I see our premier on TV - I can't forget my feelings when he announced the return to stage 3 - and had wondered if I heard him correctly when he said 6 weeks. And then the day he announced stage 4 and the associated limitations on our basic freedoms - something akin to house arrest when none of us had done anything wrong. It was such a monotonous and groundhog-day 4.5 months with no certainty as to when it would end. Further, when we got to the pointy end, the cases stubbornly stayed around 14 or thereabouts. It also felt like such a divided country. I saw memes of Tassie taking Vic's place on the Australian map.

I had colleagues, with whom I was working on a daily basis, who live interstate - Hobart, Sydney, ACT, Perth and Brisbane. I got the sense that absolutely no one fully appreciated what we were going through. They casually talked about what they had done on the weekend - gone shopping with family, gold class cinemas, art gallery. Not one of them proactively contacted me to ask how I am, let alone ask when I called them. One even signed off on a team meeting saying jokingly, "And you Victorians, behave.".

I struggle to fathom my Brisbane colleague's comments to me on the phone on Friday that we need to bear in mind what his Brisbane team are presently dealing with. Sure, a lockdown is tough, and I certainly reached out to a number of them to see if they are ok, but there were so many times he spoke to me during the second half of last year and not once asked how I was or acknowledged my plight.

I went to Sydney at the start of December and also found it totally strange not wearing a mask inside and felt strange with how closely other people walked past me. I don't think I felt strange because I felt unsafe - rather, it was a habit that I was breaking. Much like how I still feel to this day when I water my garden - even 20 or so years after our water restrictions - I still get that guilty feeling, even though we no longer have those restrictions. It brought me to tears seeing how freely people in Sydney had been living.

Anyway, just wanted to share my feelings and show you that you're experience bears a resemblance to mine.

Best wishes.

[Guest_342]

9

[blondguy]

Hi Gelati

Thankyou for being a part of the discussion and yes lockdowns are horrible to go through for sure. The country has felt divided with the border closures for sure Gelati. I hear you loud and clear!

I understand your feelings when your interstate colleague mentioned ' And you Victorians, behave'...in a team meeting. I am sad not one of your team asked how you were going during the lockdowns. No wonder I got out of corporate!

Thankyou for sharing your lived experience Gelati

my kind thoughts and respect

Paul

[Guest_342]

Thanks so much, Paul!

[SD0102]

Hi all, I currently sitting around an 8 sometimes a 9.

The recent outbreaks in Sydney have really elevated my anxiety lately.

Although I live in regional NSW we have so many Sydney visitors to our town, I feel like I am constantly on edge.

We have a small business in town and the number of visitors really heightens my worry and anxiety. All it would take is for one person to visit our store who is infected and we would have to shut for 14 days. The thought of the mental & financial impact this would have really overwhelms me.

I like the comment fred4761 referred to

"we are not all in the same boat, we are all in the same storm".

I think this is quite right in the respect that although we are experiencing the same storm Covid, it all affects us differently.

I hope that my boat in strong enough to get me through the storm, I just wish I could let it not worry me so much.

SD

[blondguy]

Hi Gelati...No worries at all! Its great to have you on the forums. When its convenient , I really hope you can stick around the forums

Hi SD0102....thankyou for being a part of the discussion and for your post too! Being worried about Covid is okay as most of us feel the same way and yes it can bring on some anxiety feelings too. I understand after spending months in lockdown in Victoria last year. Being an 8 - 9 would be common with the recent northern beaches cases yet these are small numbers

Some good news! Regional NSW is and has been a low/zero risk area for a long time. The greater Sydney area still has very low newly acquired cases...You also have the best contact tracing team in Australia

Its been 102 years since the last pandemic and yes its something we havent been though before...

You speak from the heart.....and that takes strength and courage to do. Always great to see you on the forums

my kind thoughts......Paul

[fred4761]

It's been months since I've written on this thread but it seems like a good time to revive it seeing as though Covid has been really affecting my mental health this past week!

I have gone through a whole range of emotions these past few days of the Vic lockdown - I was about 5 or 6 last Tuesday/Wednesday when I heard news of the recent cases and then as the lockdown began again I have been floating between a 7-10.

The first day of lockdown I felt like 'hey, we've done this before, we can do it again, it is only 7 days, etc'. The increasing Covid cases have worried me a lot and I have such a heavy sinking feeling in my chest and stomach that this lockdown will continue. Even more worrying is that at the rate people are getting vaccinated, it feels like we are going to be susceptible to further outbreaks and I am just so so so over it all.

I feel frustrated that I have only just started feeling comfortable returning to grocery shopping in supermarkets - I developed a lot of anxiety about being in supermarkets and having people in my personal space when the lockdowns happened last year. I had resorted to online click and collect shopping as it felt safer. And now all of this fear and anxiety has come flooding back into my life.

Tonight I am feeling angry. Angry that we are in lockdown yet again. Angry that the number of community cases is still increasing (albeit at a much slower rate than last year). I am having a hard time accepting the fact that we are in another lockdown due to hotel quaratine failures. When it first happened last year it was unfortunate, but I felt like we were all dealing with an unknown virus and while mistakes were made I kind of gave people the benefit of the doubt. This is the 3rd time now that Victorians have had to lockdown because of other people coming into the country. I am angry because we have all had to sacrifice so much and make all of these changes only to have others bring the virus back into the community. I am not so much angry with the returned travellers but with the hotel quarantine system which seems to have a lot of flaws. I don't understand why so many states continue to have hotel quarantine breaches. Can we really not come up with a better system for preventing the virus spread?

I am feeling very disheartened with the current situation. I am grateful that my family and I have been safe during this virus. I almost feel guilty for these anguished feelings when other countries are doing much worse.

[blondguy]

Hey fred4761!

Thankyou for bumping up this thread topic.....Im also at a 7-10 with the same speeches as we heard last year in Victoria....I understand how you feel as we didnt expect to go through another lockdown

You mentioned... 'Tonight I am feeling angry. Angry that we are in lockdown yet again'.

You are entitled to be angry as many Victorians are, after being told to do the right thing 12 months ago...same press conference....same spin.....ugh!

my kind thoughts

Paul