Pandemic Mental Health - How YOU doin'?

[idleprocess]

It stands to reason that as the weather cools people tend to gather indoors more. During really hot weather the same applies. Outdoor gatherings become indoor gatherings.

Here in the DFW metromess, there are but two seasons - Summer and Not Summer, with random periods of transition between the two containing some 14 statutory days of that vanishingly rare phenomenon known as 'nice weather'. As such, outdoor gatherings occur in random spurts during the transition period. Restaurants are apt to see a slight increase in patio usage during Not Summer vs Summer thanks to the miracle of the umbrella heater rendering its immediate vicinity palatable to beings very much accustomed to inhabiting interiors refrigerated and/or heated to a consistent ~70F.

Of course, all of this is apt to be a rounding error in the face of flu season and pandemic fatigue as cases start increasing.

 

[aginthelaw]

I'm essential personnel so I haven't had a day off since this whole thing started due to COVID-19. I had a month off starting in January for surgery. I had almost a month around April due to a car accident. Took a few days off when my son died and I'm out again because of vertigo kicking my butt. My office was shut down one day for a cleaning in may and another in July. Other than that, there was no reason to take time off for COVID-19. And I still have that to look forward to before the years out. Woohoo!!!

 

[jtr1962]

Come down here to Victoria, Greta. Public anger is growing daily. In a state of just 6.5M people, directly or indirectly attributed to this stupid C19 crap, deaths due to poor mental health are approaching 1,000. More than supposed deaths from C19 in the State. Easy to say, harder to do, but STAY STRONG EVERYONE. Seek help from trusted people if you are feeling down. Family and friends are your rock. Talk and talk and talk, don't keep it to yourself.

Looking at this from the other side I would rather have had us in that situation than the reverse. When you have huge numbers of covid-19 deaths, I don't doubt that the deaths due to poor mental health per capita will vastly exceed what you're seeing in Victoria. Here in the US quite a few medical personnel have taken their own lives on account of inability to cope with what they saw. Quite a few people who lost family members doubtless have done the same. And then you have huge numbers of frightened people who feel utterly powerless in the face of our government throwing in the towel. They're afraid of what's coming. Lots of angry people also. Not angry at being in lock down as is the case where you are, but angry that we failed so completely to deal with this. So I'll trade places with you any day of the week. You may have lock down fatigue, but at least you have a very small chance of catching this dreadful virus.

As for getting back to normal, now I'm hearing even with a vaccine we might need masks and social distancing for years to come before the virus finally either disappears or mutates into a less lethal form.

 

[harro]

Looking at this from the other side I would rather have had us in that situation than the reverse. When you have huge numbers of covid-19 deaths, I don't doubt that the deaths due to poor mental health per capita will vastly exceed what you're seeing in Victoria. Here in the US quite a few medical personnel have taken their own lives on account of inability to cope with what they saw. Quite a few people who lost family members doubtless have done the same. And then you have huge numbers of frightened people who feel utterly powerless in the face of our government throwing in the towel. They're afraid of what's coming. Lots of angry people also. Not angry at being in lock down as is the case where you are, but angry that we failed so completely to deal with this. So I'll trade places with you any day of the week. You may have lock down fatigue, but at least you have a very small chance of catching this dreadful virus.

As for getting back to normal, now I'm hearing even with a vaccine we might need masks and social distancing for years to come before the virus finally either disappears or mutates into a less lethal form.

Understood. I think people here are particularly angry at having those choices made for them, rather than being able to make them themselves. Is there a right or a wrong way?, who knows, it's probably a case of the devil or the deep blue sea. Just today, measures have been taken to begin reopening the state. I think our state leaders have really lost sight of the trees, for the woods. The one thing Victorians fear above all else, is being plunged into lockdown again, at the first sign of a hotspot outbreak. The economic outcome ( I'm not forgetting the tragedy of lives lost as a direct result of C19, or indirectly, due to mental health issues and C19 as the catalyst ) looks like being roughly 200k business's out of 650k total in the state, lost due to this lockdown. Naturally, there will have been business that was marginal at best, succumb to this lockdown, but also a lot of good ones. Our state govt doesn't seem to grasp the fact that as soon as we open up, the inevitable is going to happen. The key, I think, is to learn how to properly trace and contact those hotspots, and neutralise them by iso or whatever, without lumping the whole state back into that situation. Just my $00.02 worth. Thank you for commenting.

 

[jtr1962]

Our state govt doesn't seem to grasp the fact that as soon as we open up, the inevitable is going to happen. The key, I think, is to learn how to properly trace and contact those hotspots, and neutralise them by iso or whatever, without lumping the whole state back into that situation. Just my $00.02 worth. Thank you for commenting.

That's how China and most other Asian countries have been dealing with this. They have massive testing and contact tracing, along with very selective shut downs when new cases are detected. The only reason for a complete shutdown is if things get so out of control that it's impossible to contact trace. Europe and the US are in this situation now. Your country isn't.

As for choices being made for people, consider this. If the strategy is to just let it spread, which seems to be the choice the US has made at this point, then the choice is being made for you that you might get sick no matter what precautions you take, unless you have 6 months or more of essentials and decide to just stay shut in for the duration. The latter is practically what I've been doing. I venture out about every 2 weeks to the local grocery store. I hit it about 20 minutes before closing so it's almost empty. I order a lot of things online also. I'm stocking up now because if we have a bad second wave in NYC I won't even feel comfortable going to the local grocery. I didn't go from mid-March through July.

I'd say a lot of those businesses would be gone, regardless. Fear is going to keep people away, no matter what the government does.

 

[harro]

Yeah, it's pretty much a case of damned if we do, and damned if we don't. I know for a fact that whatever path countries take, it will result in deaths, due all the reasons we have discussed. Very sad for those people , and their families and friends, inevitably the ones left to pick up the pieces.

As of this post, the Victorian State Govt has relented and opened up a few things. We still have a 25km ( 15 M ) travel limit, and Melbournians are not allowed to mix with country Victorians. Yesterday, the number of new recorded infections and deaths due to, was zero. I guess are a couple of ways this can be interpreted, success due to the lockdown, or failure of the system that let the virus into the wider community back in late June. That's a long story, but essentially the virus escaped quarantine hotels guarded by private ( that's right, not army or state police ) security, hired by the State govt in such a manner, it would make your hair fall out. I am a resident of rural Victoria, but a couple of CPF members are on the Melbourne side of the wall, and it's been pretty harsh for them.

I can only guess at what the US approach to the virus, is like. From what we hear, it seems to have its pro's and con's also. It appears that the ' herd immunity ' approach is also fraught with dangers. And you guys have a FAR greater population than we do. Around a quarter billion people countrywide??

 

[jtr1962]

Yeah, it's pretty much a case of damned if we do, and damned if we don't. I know for a fact that whatever path countries take, it will result in deaths, due all the reasons we have discussed. Very sad for those people , and their families and friends, inevitably the ones left to pick up the pieces.

As of this post, the Victorian State Govt has relented and opened up a few things. We still have a 25km ( 15 M ) travel limit, and Melbournians are not allowed to mix with country Victorians. Yesterday, the number of new recorded infections and deaths due to, was zero. I guess are a couple of ways this can be interpreted, success due to the lockdown, or failure of the system that let the virus into the wider community back in late June. That's a long story, but essentially the virus escaped quarantine hotels guarded by private ( that's right, not army or state police ) security, hired by the State govt in such a manner, it would make your hair fall out. I am a resident of rural Victoria, but a couple of CPF members are on the Melbourne side of the wall, and it's been pretty harsh for them.

I can only guess at what the US approach to the virus, is like. From what we hear, it seems to have its pro's and con's also. It appears that the ' herd immunity ' approach is also fraught with dangers. And you guys have a FAR greater population than we do. Around a quarter billion people countrywide??

US has 330 million people. Herd immunity is not considered a viable approach to a disease with the mortality rates of covid-19. The concept is used more to determine what percentage of a population needs to be vaccinated to eradicate a disease. Here's a good article on that. Herd immunity also relies on the assumption of long-term immunity after you get the disease. This isn't a given for covid-19. Immunity might only be months. Another problem is so many people will get sick at once that hospitals will become overwhelmed. While there's currently no real cure for covid-19, with supportive treatment the overall infection mortality rate is roughly 1% to 1.5%. Without supportive treatment it can be over 10%. Most likely trying to go for herd immunity in the US will result in 10 million deaths over the first year. If immunity wears off quickly, you might continue to have 7 figures of annual deaths going indefinitely into the future.

There's no given a vaccine will confer long-term immunity, either, but it doesn't necessarily need to. If you vaccinate enough people within the first six months, combined with mitigation measures like masks/social distancing, you could probably effectively eradicate the disease within US borders. At that point you just need to be very careful with people entering the country, perhaps impose a 14-day quarantine until the rest of the planet gets it under control.

 

[harro]

US has 330 million people. Herd immunity is not considered a viable approach to a disease with the mortality rates of covid-19. The concept is used more to determine what percentage of a population needs to be vaccinated to eradicate a disease. Here's a good article on that. Herd immunity also relies on the assumption of long-term immunity after you get the disease. This isn't a given for covid-19. Immunity might only be months. Another problem is so many people will get sick at once that hospitals will become overwhelmed. While there's currently no real cure for covid-19, with supportive treatment the overall infection mortality rate is roughly 1% to 1.5%. Without supportive treatment it can be over 10%. Most likely trying to go for herd immunity in the US will result in 10 million deaths over the first year. If immunity wears off quickly, you might continue to have 7 figures of annual deaths going indefinitely into the future.

There's no given a vaccine will confer long-term immunity, either, but it doesn't necessarily need to. If you vaccinate enough people within the first six months, combined with mitigation measures like masks/social distancing, you could probably effectively eradicate the disease within US borders. At that point you just need to be very careful with people entering the country, perhaps impose a 14-day quarantine until the rest of the planet gets it under control.

A truly and mind numbingly sobering set of figures. I read your infection figures over the last couple of days to be in the order of some 140,000 people. Tough times coming, if not already. I guess we are probably a bit lucky here also, approaching the Southern Hemisphere Summer. With those sorts of new infection numbers and approaching a generally miserable time of year, it's a double whammy for sure.

 

[Greta]

Back on topic ladies and gentlemen. Discussion of the pandemic itself is for the other thread.

Reminder of the name of this thread:
Pandemic Mental Health - How YOU doin'?

 

[raggie33]

ive been better thats for sure . i dont leave the house any more till after dark so i can play with my lights in park.and can avoid humans. im germ phobic . i was going to put a sign on door claming to have covid so people will quit knocking on door. but then my luck lady gaga would be knocking lol. or nadia g

 

[Kestrel]

Honestly raggie, this is pretty much the only year I haven't used /any/ sick time, for any reason (bar covid, of course);
I would be concerned of quarantine temptations / administrative response from management: "What /kind/ of sick ??"

A few times in a normal year, I confess to taking a 'mental health day'; "Out sick today" email, *coughcough* :ironic:
Not this year, no thank you. :duh2:

 

[bigburly912]

Honestly raggie, this is pretty much the only year I haven't used /any/ sick time, for any reason (bar covid, of course);
I would be concerned of quarantine temptations / administrative response from management: "What /kind/ of sick ??"

A few times in a normal year, I confess to taking a 'mental health day'; "Out sick today" email, *coughcough* :ironic:
Not this year, no thank you. :duh2:

Same boat. If we even exhibit symptoms at all we can be put in a quarantine and unable to cross state lines for over a month.

 

[wacbzz]

^^Is this a work thing? The "unable to cross state lines for over a month" thing...

 

[Poppy]

raggie33 and all,
This weekend we turn the clocks back, so darkness will come an hour earlier.
Honestly I hate that, but if you are into playing with your flashlights, it's good news!

We gain two minutes of darkness each night, until what? December 22nd?

I guess it is the middle or end of January that I start to appreciate the fact that the days are getting longer.

 

[raggie33]

raggie33 and all,
This weekend we turn the clocks back, so darkness will come an hour earlier.
Honestly I hate that, but if you are into playing with your flashlights, it's good news!

We gain two minutes of darkness each night, until what? December 22nd?

I guess it is the middle or end of January that I start to appreciate the fact that the days are getting longer.

im so happy its fall.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

From an Associated Press article:

According to one anthropologist, Americans already lack a healthy relationship with death, associating it with medical failure rather than a natural part of life. Here are some examples from a variety of different perspectives of how to take care of yourself and not get too stressed out during a stressful and sometimes tragic time.

___
THE PSYCHIATRIST:
Dr. Joan Anzia is a psychiatrist and professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She recommends taking care of yourself physically — getting at least seven or eight hours of a sleep a night, going to bed and getting up around the same time every day.
"Stay hydrated, eat well, avoid having more than one or two alcoholic drinks a day,"she says. She also recommends getting outside and doing things you enjoy: "It can be an opportunity … to think about what you really value in your own life and what you want to do with the rest of your life."
___
THE ANTHROPOLOGIST:
Anita Hanning, an associate anthropology professor at Brandeis University, says generally we push "awareness of our mortality to the basement of our consciousness."
She has this recommendation:
"Being aware of our mortality can make us live more intentionally. That means not postponing important conversations and decisions, and not wasting time on things that don't nurture us. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, so what would happen if we truly lived our lives with that knowledge? We would become much more present to the here and now, instead of constantly making plans for a future that lies beyond our control. We would invest more in our relationships than in our careers, and each day would seem like a gift rather than something we need to muscle through on our way to a better, happier place. "
___
THE PSYCHOLOGIST:
Dr. Elyssa Barbash, a psychologist in Tampa, Florida, says not to focus on "the potential of death."
"It isn't realistic to say that death is more around us now than it was before," she says. She says the death potential has stayed relatively steady, in terms of the many ways a person could get sick or have an accident. "We can't live our lives in a constant state of fear or engage in extreme behavioral avoidance simply out of self-preservation."

 

[bykfixer]

I am way more afraid of the morning commute than I am covid-19 right now. Each morning for the time being my destination is to one of those locations you hear "there's a crash blocking the interstate" when listening to traffic reports.

I just keep my head on a swivel, drive defensively and cross my fingers each day it's not my turn to be the pinball.

To drive past the location seems pretty normal after a few decades but to exit at "that location" felt like I would imagine bunjee jumping over pavement must feel like. Like you got away with something. Life goes on and the next week everybody commuting will have had an extra hour of sleep. Help or hurt? We'll see.

Once at work it's the usual stay 6 feet apart, wear protection just in case and try not to get run over by the traffic whizzing past all day as the contractor works on a very busy intersection improvement.

 

[scout24]

I'm essential personnel so I haven't had a day off since this whole thing started due to COVID-19. I had a month off starting in January for surgery. I had almost a month around April due to a car accident. Took a few days off when my son died and I'm out again because of vertigo kicking my butt. My office was shut down one day for a cleaning in may and another in July. Other than that, there was no reason to take time off for COVID-19. And I still have that to look forward to before the years out. Woohoo!!!

Jesus, it sounds like you've gotta be on auto pilot at this point. Hang in there...

 

[knucklegary]

Weary... :sigh:

Funny... "as the weather gets colder... gatherings in homes...". It's just the opposite here. The temps have finally dropped into the low 90's/high 80's and we are finally getting to bust OUT! We can finally shake the cobwebs out of our hoodies for those 60's evenings and get out for hiking, disc golf, regular golf, off roading, etc. We haven't had any measurable rainfall since April (true story!). It is DRY! Tough on the sinuses and eyeballs.

I did have a "normal" day this past week... the OLD normal! Finally got to go to champagne brunch with my girlfriend again and then spend the day visiting and catching up at the cigar bar. People came and went and we all got to catch up on our lives and I won $40 in a poker game! It was truly an awesome day!

The next day, Honey got into an accident with the Slingshot - totaled the Slingshot. Honey is fine... a little bit of a sore neck and back but otherwise unharmed. Totally not his fault! This 82 year old dude driving a pickup towing two jet skis on a trailer took a right turn from the left lane in front of Honey. Literally ran over the Slingshot. Now Dude refuses to give a statement to our insurance company and completely lied to his own. So fight is on. Fortunately, it's not my first rodeo taking accident photos so I took lots... and video too. Those along with the police report tell the REAL story. It will all come out right in the end but will now take more time than it should. Why can't people just do what's right from the beginning? :shakehead So I suppose that event was OLD normal too. Life goes on. :shrug:

Although I intensely abhor the term "new normal", there are a few things I doubt I will ever go back to once the coast is clear. I doubt I'll ever just go out for the day and browse around grocery stores and retail stores and home improvement stores. Now I just get everything delivered. The good news is I'm saving a lot of money! I've been so turned off by all of the mask-Karens out there and those activities that I used to enjoy have been completely ruined for me. I feel like all of the plexiglass is here to stay forever and honestly... I just don't want to see it.

So the only time I go out anymore is to meet up with friends at the cigar bar for a poker game or two or a trivia tournament, and to get my nails done every three weeks (a girl has to stay classy... even during a pandemic ). Some of our friends have gotten the covids and recovered just fine. Some got it bad, most had few symptoms. None have died or even know anyone who has died. We are fortunate.

I am still weary though. I feel beat down and locked down and not really motivated to get out there and resume "normal"... because I don't even know what that is anymore. I know what the OLD normal is and when I can, I will try to experience that. But for now... beat down and locked down... and my new 2020 tattoo...

Be well, my friends. :grouphug:

Greta's new Tattoo is scary (henna?) It looks like Betty Boop in a straight jacket :shrug:

I hope things improve for all of us in 2021!

 

[Poppy]

I'm essential personnel so I haven't had a day off since this whole thing started due to COVID-19. I had a month off starting in January for surgery. I had almost a month around April due to a car accident. Took a few days off when my son died and I'm out again because of vertigo kicking my butt. My office was shut down one day for a cleaning in may and another in July. Other than that, there was no reason to take time off for COVID-19. And I still have that to look forward to before the years out. Woohoo!!!

Oh MY! I am sorry to hear of your loss. I hadn't read your whole post when I saw it.
Sorry.