Life during lockdown

Synairgen and University of  Southampton has found a working solution to COVID-19 Therapeutics.79% success rate in preliminary trials. 

Why does it feel the government is not getting involved in the success story of our country? 

The deaths occurred in hospital because the people were seriously ill with the virus. I have a close friend who is a specialist nurse at a London hospital, at the peak of the cases there was 60 deaths a day. There was no discrimination of age or health, one patient was a 27 year old man who competed in ultra marathons so super fit. Those countries where the population obeyed the lockdown have zero or very few cases, look at New Zealand, they were clear until 2 special visitors from the u.k. turned up, both were infected. Look at America, the number of cases are still rising. If there had been a reliable and simple test for the virus, then perhaps a general lockdown could have been avoided. But there is not, hospital staff have 2 blood tests a week to make sure they are clear and it still takes two days to get the results. How could you roll this out to the general population? There is just not the staff or facilities to cope with the numbers. The number of dead in the u.k. is bell above 40,000 what would it have been if lockdown had not occurred? Hopefully, a vaccine will soon be available and as they find out more about the virus conditions will get better. I sympathise will those who are suffering due to the restrictions. I lived with my sister until she died just before Christmas last year. I have a long history of depression and other mental problems, I was due to have a hip replacement in January but this was cancelled so I have great difficulty walking which means that my dog had to be re homed, so I am now completely on my own with no other family. 

Been shielding since March and am feeling OK. My spouse has spent more time at home which has made be feel less lonely than before the crisis. By being forced into using digital technology to see family has had a positive effect as we are now meeting with relatives face to face who live in different parts of the world, something that we would never thought of doing pre crisis. 

I'm working from home and my boyfriend has been furloughed but we both expect that when the furlough scheme ends he will lose his job. Its stressful to know we will probably have a big drop in income fairly soon and that there will be no jobs for him once the economy crashes. He is bored at home with nothing to do and I'm fed up of working my arse off while he gets to sit and play computer games all day.

On the plus side, I dont miss commuting and i have more free time now to exercise. I am desperate to go swimming but the pools are closed. I'm eating more junk food out of boredom but my lunches are probably healthier, as I'm not buying ready-made sandwiches/meals.  

I want to speak to a counselor about my long term mental health issues but they arent doing appointments.

Out of seven days a week, I have one day of deep and dark downs, while the other six days are fine. Mondays are the worst. I miss talking with random people and I'm sick of Zoom etc. Being an EU immigrant, I'm also very stressed by all this Brexit stories. I don't trust this Government and I have been following advice from other governments before and during the pandemic. I had a serious surgery earlier this year and I have been in forced isolation for a long time - I'm also single and gay. I'm not sure how I'm managing to cope with all of this.

My mother is 92 and lives miles away. Neighbours have been doing her shopping but certain financial matters need to be resolved. Our bank has been of no help whatsoever and I may soon have to break cover and ignore lockdown regulations in order to stop her fretting. It's a shame she lives in a council house as I could legitimately have gone to see her as a potential buyer of her property. Alternatively, I suppose I could drag up and pretend to be an au pair. Thanks to a bunch of regulations thought up by a team of idiots who don't live in the real world. I am worried sick and am becoming angry. I for one won't forget how ordinary people have been let down by our politicians. 

Content warning- self harm discussion

I have been struggling with self harm since lockdown started. With the weather now getting warmer it's become increasingly difficult to cover up my injuries and new scars when on a zoom chat, or going to buy food or pick up my prescriptions. Being unable to see my friends has been very painful. I have phone calls with my counsellor once a week, but I'm still struggling quite badly. I'm lucky I live with my partner, but not being able to work and get my mind off my worries is getting very hard. Coupled with having asthma and come down quite ill with what was suspected to be coronavirus, I'm quite frightened of catching it again and ending up in hospital. Friends' relatives are dying and I can't stop feeling sick with nerves at the thought of my relatives being in danger and not being able to see them at all before they might pass away. 

I am finding it very difficult to manage my Mental health issues and I have 3 different types.. I have a video call every week with my therapist and i also have a group video call once week but they arent helping. I am having to shield due to being extremely vulnerable and i live in a tower block and only have a very small balcony to exercise on. My balcony is 6ft by 3ft so doesnt provide me with a lot of space to exercise. I am a HCA in a nursing home and i am used to working 12 hours a day 5 days a week so struggling with the lack of routine.

I went from having regular mental health support (multiple appts a week) for my complex disorders to not seeing anyone at all for the past 9 weeks. The community mental health team in my area are still not seeing patients for the indefinite future. Their advice is to go to a&e or call 999 if it reaches crisis point, which makes no sense as a hospital environment is going to be far riskier and I don't want further burden emergency services. I want to prevent it from reaching life-threatening crisis point. I know I'm not well right now and I'm really struggling by myself to try prevent crisis. I hope those with severe enduring mental health disorders like me will be able to access the vital help we all need soon. 

Feeling OK atm but with significant ups and (particularly) downs. Running online groups four times a week mainly for older people living on their own and maybe with come mental health issues has been great for my self worth and for keeping things together.

I have really loved the empty streets and especially skies and the cleaner air and can see all of these disappearing pretty quickly. Having seen what London could be like I hope that the Mayor will encourage more working from home, stamp down on polluting traffic and noisy motorcycles and encourage active travel.

I really hope we don't go back to the way it was before and rejoice that (hopefully) the LHR expansion threat at least has disappeared.

Really difficult to remain in a coping frame of mind when this current government are not providing basic communication in a pandemic. 

As examples in the last 24 hours with the first phase of getting out of lockdown so confusing and not approved by sage and without TTI in place or the R no low enough to move. 

The train carriages are non SD this morning. Only a few have face masks on because it's not been communicated. Top down arrogance without full national support breeds insecurity. 

It's chaos and making everyone feel very concerned for our health, our children and our future. 

This country needs to be run by capable people with ethics that can deliver the basics and not make mistakes that's literally killing people. 

As for prevention...the first fail: Noah built the arc before the storm not during it. They were warned years ago. 

Sick of it. Unnecessary anxiety because of it. I want the new Zealand priminster please, immediatly. 

Granted it's a seriously difficult mission but there needs to be someone who can do the job basics at the very least...and more. 

Prior to the pandemic, I got my sense of 'worthiness' from being able to visit and take care of some matters for my elderly mum; and take part in activities of a vibrant large city. Over the past months, without those elements in my life, it has forced me to take a look at myself and what I need to focus on which I don't think have been doing very successfully. Also, in some ways have felt less lonely due to the significant increase in conversations (albeit virtual) but for the most part and although they have been enjoyable, feel even more isolated given that I am not in a relationship or have children and that I do not have a career or even a job (have been seeking employment since last year). I don't know a single person in my fairly wide circle of friends who fall in this category. This makes me feel very isolated, alone and ashamed about the choices I've made that have taken me to where I am now. 

As somebody working in the adult entertainment industry who still lives with my parents,I have not only lost my job (as a dancer in a striptease club), but now have difficulty bringing my work online due to my living situation. As a creative person it is difficult for me, as somebody who has many ideas of how I can bring my work online but not being able to deliver it due to stigma in my household, such as performing at virtual parties or whatever else. It has always been hard living at home with my job but isolation has made it even harder, living in a household that stigmatises my (completely legal) job , it has definitely had an impact on my mental health. I'm sure it's similar for anyone else who has to deal with stigma in their household.

London NHS Trusts are not offering elective surgery because of the COVID pandemic.  Only the most urgent life threatening cases are being treated.  Patients will not necessarily die if they don't receive it but being denied elective surgery can be disabling physically and mentally.

I think there should be places in the community where people can go to access talking therapies e.g. pods or a room which is cleaned often. Many people are experiencing MH issues exacerbated by their living situation, and are being put off by the idea that any phone or video call talking therapy - in which they would have to talk about the issues with their living situation and how that is impacting their MH - would take place in the very space (and with the same people) they might end up talking about.