Mental health and CoVid-19

DessieJames

Might not be everyones cup of tea but i love watching chnnels like Nat Geo Wild , Eden and Sky Nature,i find them fascinating, good escapism.

you cant get any worse than the mainstream channels like RTE anyway,complete garbage.

ax530

I have been avoiding news since Christmas has helped.
Knew I'd find Jan difficult but it now Feb and evenings longer finding it as hard.
Children frustrated with school at home in finding it harder keep face for them.
Weekdays hard with juggling work and children. Weekend difficult as no structure and options so limited within 5km

fin12

Sick of this sh*t, no socializing , looking at screens all day and night. Mental health doesn’t mean sh*t to the people in charge.

Wanderer78

fin12 wrote:

Sick of this sh*t, no socializing , looking at screens all day and night. Mental health doesn’t mean sh*t to the people in charge.

Yup, but this has always been the way, many mental health services have been scaled back since last year, now that's really disturbing stuff! Services require an immediate injection of multiples of billions, but shur that's never gonna happen

poisonated

This is a good idea. As much as I like boards.ie, a lot of the posters can be very ignorant when it comes to mental health so hopefully this thread can bring out the nicer ones which it seems to have done.

Wanderer78

poisonated wrote:

This is a good idea. As much as I like boards.ie, a lot of the posters can be very ignorant when it comes to mental health so hopefully this thread can bring out the nicer ones which it seems to have done.

Arseholes be arseholes

elizunia87

Please guys help, give some ideas how to survive this horrible time.

I got a baby in april 2020. Since that time i am at home mostly alone (husband at work) with my son. Baby and lockdown and being forgein person with no other family omg. I cant cope anymore. Phonix park i know by hearth i think. I am walking or jogging with buggy in the rain. I am practicing stresful eating. I know every corner in Aldi. Cant drink alco as i am with baby (breastfeeding). What else i can do? Studying reading is though as he needs attention all the time.
Ehhhh

SnuggyBear

ShadowTech wrote: »

It’s not just the lockdown but the diminishing prospects for the future.

This was the hardest part for me, I am always working towards goals. A year out of work now with money dwindling away has put these goals back and erased some. It used to proper piss me off and frustrate me. Im just focusing on daily goals now like fitness and forming good habits etc. No point thinking of the future.

ShadowTech

SnuggyBear wrote: »

This was the hardest part for me, I am always working towards goals. A year out of work now with money dwindling away has put these goals back and erased some. It used to proper piss me off and frustrate me. Im just focusing on daily goals now like fitness and forming good habits etc. No point thinking of the future.

I was doing exactly that for most of last year. Trying to take it a day at a time, exercising, reading more to pass the time and studying a foreign language. I think that was working for me because I believed that once the vaccines arrived and we'd had time to distribute them we'd start getting back to normal; there was still something to look forward to. I feel like the government messaging has really contradicted that lately. It's really sent me into a depression. I've stopped exercising, drinking more, and just generally struggling to make myself do what I need to do every day. If it weren't for my partner I think I would've just shut down by now. I can't imagine how awful this must be for people who are on their own. But it's still really difficult and I really need to see that there is some genuinely achievable goal that gets us back to a real life and not this indefinite nothingness.

SnuggyBear

ShadowTech wrote: »

I was doing exactly that for most of last year. Trying to take it a day at a time, exercising, reading more to pass the time and studying a foreign language. I think that was working for me because I believed that once the vaccines arrived and we'd had time to distribute them we'd start getting back to normal; there was still something to look forward to. I feel like the government messaging has really contradicted that lately. It's really sent me into a depression. I've stopped exercising, drinking more, and just generally struggling to make myself do what I need to do every day. If it weren't for my partner I think I would've just shut down by now. I can't imagine how awful this must be for people who are on their own. But it's still really difficult and I really need to see that there is some genuinely achievable goal that gets us back to a real life and not this indefinite nothingness.

I live on my own and out of work. The struggle is real.

francogarbanzo

elizunia87 wrote: »

Please guys help, give some ideas how to survive this horrible time.

I got a baby in april 2020. Since that time i am at home mostly alone (husband at work) with my son. Baby and lockdown and being forgein person with no other family omg. I cant cope anymore. Phonix park i know by hearth i think. I am walking or jogging with buggy in the rain. I am practicing stresful eating. I know every corner in Aldi. Cant drink alco as i am with baby (breastfeeding). What else i can do? Studying reading is though as he needs attention all the time.
Ehhhh

Keep going. This is temporary and you're stronger than you think.

fin12

francogarbanzo wrote: »

Keep going. This is temporary and you're stronger than you think.

Like the Winston Churchill quote if ur going through hell, keep going. Easier said than done but I do really like that quote and it does help me a bit in dark times when I say it to myself.

elizunia87

fin12 wrote: »

Like the Winston Churchill quote if ur going through hell, keep going. Easier said than done but I do really like that quote and it does help me a bit in dark times when I say it to myself.

Thank you. This is a good quote. The bad times will pass, the sun will shine again. Just patience.

PTH2009

Today's stuff from Leo has me really down. We're getting a revised living with covid plan which will be no doubt more restrictive with a lot of Social stuff been moved to level 1 (aka the impossible level) and with stuff like hairdressers etc will not open til much later after the 5th March

The_Brood

I mean this is really pushing it now, Covid and lockdown, but the weather is literally deadly and you can't go outside even for some fresh air. This is de facto house arrest.

LilacNails

I'm so fed up with the whole thing. It just feels like it's one rule for us, and another for others.

Like what good is it going to do if things do get stricter for longer??

I'm seeing people every fcukin day meeting in groups. People in and out of each other's houses. Gangs of young people meeting up in the same spot most days. People not distancing themselves. Why are they doing all this? Because their getting away with it. More guardí need to be out on streets and around towns. Fines need to be made higher and implemented.

A year of my life wasted.

hollypink

elizunia87 wrote: »

Please guys help, give some ideas how to survive this horrible time.

I got a baby in april 2020. Since that time i am at home mostly alone (husband at work) with my son. Baby and lockdown and being forgein person with no other family omg. I cant cope anymore. Phonix park i know by hearth i think. I am walking or jogging with buggy in the rain. I am practicing stresful eating. I know every corner in Aldi. Cant drink alco as i am with baby (breastfeeding). What else i can do? Studying reading is though as he needs attention all the time.
Ehhhh

That sounds tough but well done on the walking and jogging. Would an online mother's group be of any interest? Might be nice to chat with others in a similar boat. Wicklow libraries has a free zoom meet up for mothers, I don't think you have to be in Wicklow to join. https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/mothers-meet-up-tickets-140260511967?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
The Dublin libraries have online stuff too, think it sells out fairly quickly but maybe there is stuff that's of interest there
https://www.eventbrite.ie/d/ireland--dublin/library/?page=1

Audio books might be good for reading with a baby to look after - the libraries have a free app called borrowbox with access to audio books and ebooks. If you aren't a member, you can join online
https://www.librariesireland.ie/join-your-library

(I don't work for the library service or anything, I just love them!)

PTH2009

LilacNails wrote: »

I'm so fed up with the whole thing. It just feels like it's one rule for us, and another for others.

Like what good is it going to do if things do get stricter for longer??

I'm seeing people every fcukin day meeting in groups. People in and out of each other's houses. Gangs of young people meeting up in the same spot most days. People not distancing themselves. Why are they doing all this? Because their getting away with it. More guardí need to be out on streets and around towns. Fines need to be made higher and implemented.

A year of my life wasted.

very true, always seeing groups of people around with takeaway pints and as you said other groups meeting daily

Why do we have to all suffer in Ireland while we look at other countries doing everything to get back to somewhat normal

Some people who are saying 'ah sure things could be worse' etc have good jobs, no financial worries and are in relationships/have families. while some like myself are single and getting older not younger. Not feeling sorry for myself buts its impossible to try and date in covid times

Sick of it all

scamalert

PTH2009 wrote: »

very true, always seeing groups of people around with takeaway pints and as you said other groups meeting daily

Why do we have to all suffer in Ireland while we look at other countries doing everything to get back to somewhat normal

Some people who are saying 'ah sure things could be worse' etc have good jobs, no financial worries and are in relationships/have families. while some like myself are single and getting older not younger. Not feeling sorry for myself buts its impossible to try and date in covid times

Sick of it all

unlike others angry and depressed but actually have a temp job, that only brings rage, idiots at work not having basic fckn decency to cover when coughing sneezing, you listen to radio all day about 350-250 likes its fckn giveaway when barely bringing that in after weeks work on top, then you sit in some stupid point to be waved trough bashing your head because apparently 7-9am and 3-5pm are people that really have f all do do in this country and drag their asses to be tortured by nonsense crap, when its tax nct check at most, few idiots aside, yet look at towns and plenty teenagers having f all to do 99% surely outside 5km radius just passing time wherever they feel like roaming.


and on top listening that there wont be hols this year, and entire vaccination joke might take until autumn, while some idiot decides if to go to US to give a shamrock - its like being that only idiot who pushes 10-12hrs a day to get by, while in your head your exposed, underpaid and rest just fckn collecting free cash and thinking what other crap to watch on netflix to pass their time.


So neither situation is perfect grind your ass risk getting this crap, or sit put and do nothing, is evenly depressing, when you have few select making **** rules that make 0 sense, just more misery in daily life doesnt seem fair.

Goldengirl

elizunia87 wrote: »

Thank you. This is a good quote. The bad times will pass, the sun will shine again. Just patience.

Yes.
Just wanted to say I think you are doing so well even trying to get out of the house with the baby exercising.. With my first, I only ever seemed to get out when it was time to come back in and make the dinner . And breastfeeding too, wow!
First year with a new baby is difficult ,never mind in the midst of a pandemic AND in a foreign country .
Try to get a break on your own even for an hour in the evenings ( daddy / baby bonding time after he has had a rest ) . You just need that headspace to find you again .
Forget study or anything too onerous until you can get this time for yourself sorted , even a few days a week, as that should come first .
Take loads of pictures of your little one to send to family and to appreciate every little change , as it happens so fast .
It is hard to tell someone that one day you will say why was I worried about so much when my babies were little , because we just do !
it's a mix of natural anxiety for our children as well as hormones , loneliness , and grieving for our pre baby freedom. Never mind Covid and lockdown .
Give yourself a break, you are doing the best, most important job in the world today , keep it
up , you're playing a blinder .

Edit . There is a phoneline with practical and appropriate advice called Parentline if you want to talk to another adult , non judgemental 1890 927 277 ,

elizunia87

Golden Girl, thank you. Thats very nice what you said. Motherhood is not easy and in the lockdown..uff. there are good days and bad..
Unfortunately i had to go to doctor for antidepresant tablets as i can not cope with Level 5 anymore. Missing my family abroad, cant do anything. So there I am... 34th birthday locked in the house with tablets. I hope Goverment will wake up soon..as mental health of people is a really big problem. Majority of my friends now are on the pills. Crazy

Away With The Fairies

The fear with every little thing that might be wrong with you. Have a bit of a stuffy nose this evening, and I'm thinking is this the start of it. Hope not but the fear is there with everything.

growleaves

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

The fear with every little thing that might be wrong with you. Have a bit of a stuffy nose this evening, and I'm thinking is this the start of it. Hope not but the fear is there with everything.

Try not to worry.

St. Philip Neri said anxiety is like a toxic vapor.

St. Francis de Sales tells us: "It will be quite enough to receive the evils that come upon us from time to time, without anticipating them by the imagination."

"Above all things, calm and tranquilize your mind, and compose your judgment and will; then quietly and gently pursue your aim, adopting suitable means."

fin12

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

The fear with every little thing that might be wrong with you. Have a bit of a stuffy nose this evening, and I'm thinking is this the start of it. Hope not but the fear is there with everything.

Don’t worry about a stuffy noise, I get one regularly, use Vick’s rub . Mine clears every time and if u have no other symptoms, def not Covid.

Parachutes

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

The fear with every little thing that might be wrong with you. Have a bit of a stuffy nose this evening, and I'm thinking is this the start of it. Hope not but the fear is there with everything.

If you have it (big if) in reality you will likely develop a little cough and have to put extra sugar in your tea for a few days. Were you always afraid of picking up illnesses and colds? Would you continue to wear a mask when going out and doing daily activities if covid was completely eliminated?

fin12

I got a cold December 2019 and took me nearly two weeks to shift, longest ever it took me to get te rid of, I’m wondering was that actually Covid. I haven’t had one bit of a cold in well over a year. I’m thinking the masks are helping to stop picking up any colds.

Away With The Fairies

Parachutes wrote: »

If you have it (big if) in reality you will likely develop a little cough and have to put extra sugar in your tea for a few days. Were you always afraid of picking up illnesses and colds? Would you continue to wear a mask when going out and doing daily activities if covid was completely eliminated?

Sugar in my tea to get over covid? This virus isn't a cold, so I have every right to be afraid, so don't dismiss it.

Parachutes

fin12 wrote: »

I got a cold December 2019 and took me nearly two weeks to shift, longest ever it took me to get te rid of, I’m wondering was that actually Covid. I haven’t had one bit of a cold in well over a year. I’m thinking the masks are helping to stop picking up any colds.

I came back from a trip abroad in Jan 20 and picked up a nasty dose, lungs were in bits so I'm thinking there's a good chance it was the covid. I've been tested regularly throughout the pandemic and have never come back positive or gotten sick even though I've had to self isolate a couple of times for being in close contact with individuals who tested positive. It definitely would have been here then or I could have brought one of the first cases into Ireland. I guess we'll never know.

Away With The Fairies

fin12 wrote: »

I got a cold December 2019 and took me nearly two weeks to shift, longest ever it took me to get te rid of, I’m wondering was that actually Covid. I haven’t had one bit of a cold in well over a year. I’m thinking the masks are helping to stop picking up any colds.

November 2019 when I last had a cold as well, took 3 weeks to shift, definitely the longest as well. And nothing since then which I find very odd, with such a contagious virus.

Parachutes

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

Sugar in my tea to get over covid? This virus isn't a cold, so I have every right to be afraid, so don't dismiss it.

Vast, vast majority have no symptoms at all.

Away With The Fairies

Parachutes wrote: »

Vast, vast majority have no symptoms at all.

Ah, so you're only here to dismiss people's concerns. Grand so.

fin12

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

November 2019 when I last had a cold as well, took 3 weeks to shift, definitely the longest as well. And nothing since then which I find very odd, with such a contagious virus.

Honestly don’t worry Away with the fairies. I say it’s just a blocked nose and that’s all. If I get a very bad cold again like I did in December 2019 and lose my taste or smell well that’s when ill really start to panic and get a test.

Parachutes

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

Ah, so you're only here to dismiss people's concerns. Grand so.

I mean there's concerns and then there is being scared witless of your own shadow. I get it, the media and government are pushing the fear hard to get people to comply but if you are otherwise healthy, the worst that will happen to you is a little sickness for a few days.

Away With The Fairies

fin12 wrote: »

Honestly don’t worry Away with the fairies. I say it’s just a blocked nose and that’s all. If I get a very bad cold again like I did in December 2019 and lose my taste or smell well that’s when ill really start to panic and get a test.

Somebody came into work coughing during the week. But there's nothing I can do now, it is what it is. But any other symptoms and I'll get it checked out.

Away With The Fairies

Parachutes wrote: »

I mean there's concerns and then there is being scared witless of your own shadow. I get it, the media and government are pushing the fear hard to get people to comply but if you are otherwise healthy, the worst that will happen to you is a little sickness for a few days.

A little sickness for a few days? Yet one of the deaths reported today and they were 39 years old. How can you say such a thing with people dying and not to mention 1 in 20 end up with long covid. Those are odds, I don't like all that much.

Parachutes

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

A little sickness for a few days? Yet one of the deaths reported today and they were 39 years old. How can you say such a thing with people dying and not to mention 1 in 20 end up with long covid. Those are odds, I don't like all that much.

Died of Covid or died with covid. The way the numbers are reported that 39 year old could have been hit by a bus, but because it's within 28 days of a positive PCR = Covid stat. I guarantee that 39 year old had a serious underlying condition. Sad? unbelievably so but still not a reason to be afraid of human contact.

Chivito550

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

A little sickness for a few days? Yet one of the deaths reported today and they were 39 years old. How can you say such a thing with people dying and not to mention 1 in 20 end up with long covid. Those are odds, I don't like all that much.

As at the 29th January, just 26 people aged 44 and under had died with Covid, out of 117,000 cases. Most had underlying conditions too.

The odds are in your favour.

Parachutes

Parachutes wrote: »

Died of Covid or died with covid. The way the numbers are reported that 39 year old could have been hit by a bus, but because it's within 28 days of a positive PCR = Covid stat. I guarantee that 39 year old had a serious underlying condition. Sad? unbelievably so but still not a reason to be afraid of human contact.

My aunt died last week, she caught covid-19 in hospital even though she went in with extreme underlying conditions and dementia..she died and they put it down as covid, it's an absolute scare mongering farce.

In America alone 10% of the population are old aged "senior citizens" that 10% take 30% of all the medicines and take up 50% off all hospital beds!!

Ellie2008

I’m not aiming this comment at anyone in particular. As a general comment I do think the way COVID has caused people in general to talk about older people dying is unfortunate. Yes death is a fact of life but does all life not have value, does a 78 year old, for example, not deserve a good shot at a few extra years? I’ve found a lot of people have dismissed all older people’s deaths with ah shure they were dying anyways. Some like the lady mentioned above probably were but not all.

Bigfatmichael

Ellie2008 wrote: »

I’m not aiming this comment at anyone in particular. As a general comment I do think the way COVID has caused people in general to talk about older people dying is unfortunate. Yes death is a fact of life but does all life not have value, does a 78 year old, for example, not deserve a good shot at a few extra years? I’ve found a lot of people have dismissed all older people’s deaths with ah shure they were dying anyways. Some like the lady mentioned above probably were but not all.

Yes they do but unfortunately it's generally older people with other conditions and the average age of death is 84.

I wish the government did more with nursing homes and people catching it in hospitals but a lot of deaths are caused by people visiting hospitals and catching it there with other underlying conditions.

You also have the idiots arriving home from abroad and then staying with their elderly parents and people think who it is a hoak who visit their elderly relatives regardless. Also a lot of older people just want to see their family member and hug their grand kids and don't think about the severity of catching it.

If there was any significant risk to people under 70 schools would not be open.

Baggly

Mod

I sympathise with anyone and everyone who lost a loved one, especially at the moment, but can we please all stay on topic in this thread.

Thanks

nigeldaniel

I have managed to pull myself up from the booth straps over the last 2 weeks and now I have a plan for my rose garden. I am actually looking forward to digging the place up. Not sure yet if I will opt for new shrubs or the old ones might still be savable. I have kind of neglected the old ones for the last year.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Been feeling a bit meh the last few days. Generally I have it good but getting tired of the Groundhog Day vibe recently. Feels like an age since Christmas and hard to identify things to look forward to.

So I decided to take today off and chill out, watch some of a TV series and then went for a good walk when the weather improved. It has certainly helped. Just hoping the numbers reduce down to a level where some restrictions can be lifted - be great to have the parents able to visit us and maybe even go out for a meal with the wife.

Onwards and upwards.

Tchaikovsky

Solomon Delicious Simpleton wrote: »

Been feeling a bit meh the last few days. Generally I have it good but getting tired of the Groundhog Day vibe recently. Feels like an age since Christmas and hard to identify things to look forward to.

So I decided to take today off and chill out, watch some of a TV series and then went for a good walk when the weather improved. It has certainly helped. Just hoping the numbers reduce down to a level where some restrictions can be lifted - be great to have the parents able to visit us and maybe even go out for a meal with the wife.

Onwards and upwards.

The improving weather is helping for sure. Living beside the M50 and hearing the amount of traffic going by is quite dispiriting though. Seems like a lot of people have lost interest.

JDD

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

The improving weather is helping for sure. Living beside the M50 and hearing the amount of traffic going by is quite dispiriting though. Seems like a lot of people have lost interest.

To be honest though, there's more people working on site now than there was during the first lockdown (childcare workers etc). Also, I think people are not putting off urgent issues this time around. People are going to the dentist and the doctor, plumbers and electricians are coming to houses etc. I do know some people that break the 5km to go for a walk along the pier, or up the mountains, and that I'm sort of okay with. All of this is contributing to more traffic on the road than last April.

I have decided that I'm going to see a therapist when things improve enough that you can have face to face therapy. I've never suffered from any kind of mental health issues before. In fact I'd consider myself a really optimistic, go with the flow, it'll all turn out alright in the end sort of person. And I have a great life, don't get me wrong. But the lack of interaction with my wider support group outside of my immediate family, the incessant bad news on the radio/television/newspapers and the effort to balance home working and home schooling is finally starting to take its toll. I have quite a few...what I can only call "sad" days over the past six weeks.

I don't see a point of starting therapy now. It's like starting physio for a broken arm, when your arm continues to get broken every week. Apart from the fact that I can't see how Zoom sessions would work, when I have no privacy in the house and hate zoom anyway. I just have to drive on through the next nine (jesus...) weeks and hope that with improving weather and the kids back in school, I can achieve some sort of mental equilibrium.

Dr. Em

elizunia87 wrote: »

Please guys help, give some ideas how to survive this horrible time.

I got a baby in april 2020. Since that time i am at home mostly alone (husband at work) with my son. Baby and lockdown and being forgein person with no other family omg. I cant cope anymore. Phonix park i know by hearth i think. I am walking or jogging with buggy in the rain. I am practicing stresful eating. I know every corner in Aldi. Cant drink alco as i am with baby (breastfeeding). What else i can do? Studying reading is though as he needs attention all the time.
Ehhhh

Audiobooks keep your hands free and are good for letting one temporarily escape into a story. Librivox and the Gutenberg Project have free recordings of older books that are out of copyright. They have the 'classics' and a wide range of genres from Aesop's Fables for children, to frontier tales of Glacier National Park; from Tolstoy to PG Wodehouse, or Jane Austen to Jules Verne. Some of them are also on YouTube. Most all of the books are in English, but there are a few in other languages.



If you aren't into reading, you could try listening to podcasts on a subject that interests you, or set yourself some sort of a minor challenge (entering a photo competition, or a poetry competition, or building a cushion maze for the wee one, or making a video documentary of your child to embarrass him/her later in life, lifting weights, charity walk, etc.)
If you know anyone else with small children, maybe they might be in the same situation and want to hang out digitally during the day.
Best of luck.

Lisha

I fully appreciate that people have bigger and more real problems than me. I know that I get too upset when people think badly of me. And that technically I’m in the right but still I’m sad.
My siblings children had a sleep over, my parents are next door so the three house holds mixed. I didnt call with my children. I couldn’t see the point in 4 houses mixing. I know our kids haven’t been anywhere but all the parents work, children have childcare etc. I want my normal life back. And as much as it sucks we have to stay apart to achieve that. So I didn’t call. I didn’t break the 5km rule. Now I’m getting the cold shoulder. I feel so sad they are thick with me and I feel sad cos the cousins were sad cos they missed my children. But in all conscience I couldn’t risk it.

I find it hard to decipher if my anxiety makes me too careful at times. I’m anxious by nature and couldn’t bear to put anyone at risk of Covid. But people tell me that’s the anxiety talking and I should let family meet ups happen. But I can’t but now I’m devastated that I caused sadness and I feel like sh*t.

Lisha

Loueze, I’m sorry you are finding things hard. It is difficult to see an end to this. But we have to hope and trust in the vaccine, it will have to get better.

I’m so sorry for the loss of your mother. Not being able to complete the headstone is v tough. It’s like grieving as well as living is on hold. All our normal supports and ways of dealing with things have been taken from us. I wish you peace.

hesaidshesaid

Lisha wrote: »

I find it hard to decipher if my anxiety makes me too careful at times. I’m anxious by nature and couldn’t bear to put anyone at risk of Covid. But people tell me that’s the anxiety talking and I should let family meet ups happen. But I can’t but now I’m devastated that I caused sadness and I feel like sh*t.

You are doing the best that you can do. That's enough. It's all any of us can do really.

Lisha

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

You are doing the best that you can do. That's enough. It's all any of us can do really.

Thank you. While logically I know you are right, it hurts that family members don’t see it this way and think I’m just being arkward in keeping the cousins apart. I don’t have a great relationship with my siblings and normally I go out of way to get the cousins together but I just feel that the current ph rules are too important.