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Mental health and CoVid-19

Beasty

Based on a suggestion by a poster I am starting a thread where we can share information and resources on mental health issues particularly given the stressful situations many people are finding themselves in. This virus will have adverse impacts not only on those it affects directly, but their loved ones, colleagues and friends. There will be a significant economic impact and many people will find themselves with money problems. There are also practical day to day things that people will have concerns over

This is not to discuss individual cases. It is for general discussion of mental health issues. While you can share your personal experiences, please do not request or offer specific advice on individual circumstances. I will sticky this thread

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Tell me how

Heighway61 wrote: »

We are struggling.

I'm not in good health - cancer, heart block, chronic autoimmune disease, chronic progressive neurological condition.

My wife makes between 12 and 21 house calls per day for the HSE. She is terrified she will pass the infection on to me or to her clients (who she has personally got to know). There is no PPE equipment available. She is many years at this job and is hard-nosed and experienced but at night she cries.

It's affecting my eating and my sleep. My autoimmune condition is flaring due to the stress. We are assuming my wife is carrying the virus into the house when she gets home at night and are trying to zealously clean. However, every day we see something new that we should have been doing. If there was somewhere I could isolate myself for the duration of this thing I would do that, but there isn't.

We feel it is just a matter of time.

My heart goes out to you both. Imagine it is very stressful.

Try to remind yourself that you are doing everything you can and that the wheel is always turning, as the days tick by, hopefully we are getting more and more in to a period where the benefits of social isolation and testing will be seen.

Now that the instructions on isolation have pretty much been given, maybe reduce the amount of time you spend watching the news or on social media if you can.

Know also that you are married to a genuine hero who is continuing to try to help others when your condition could be used as an argument to stay at home.

grindle

Hobgoblin11 wrote: »

Not looking for a lecture but has anyone else been drinking more than usual?

Yep!

Sher WFH makes it so much easier. No having to deal with looking at real humans the next day or having to wake up a couple of hours earlier to travel to those humans.

Has it's plusses and minuses - having a ball with friends over the internet every night vs salty head each day.

Hobgoblin11

grindle wrote: »

Yep!

Sher WFH makes it so much easier. No having to deal with looking at real humans the next day or having to wake up a couple of hours earlier to travel to those humans.

Has it's plusses and minuses - having a ball with friends over the internet every night vs salty head each day.

phew! The new normal for me , at least I'm not a weirdo though i am alone

[Deleted User]

This is only a small thing but with these covid 19 threads taking over boards, even with the best of intentions to take a break from them, it can be hard to resist travelling down that depressing rabbit hole.

So...

Forum Games guys. There's some wonderful posters over there right now, running fun little games, that will force you to disembark the corona train for a few minutes and concentrate on other, harmless, things. I highly recommend.

fryup

i honestly don't think i'd be able to hack a lockdown...i'd go total Jack Torrance within days

anewme

Aware have had to cancel their Support Group Meetings, but are still available through phone and email support.

dd973

The bloody thing is that it could be two inches or two miles away, that's the thing about it, doubts are more cruel than the worst truths, then on top of that, if you get it, how do you know if it will be asymptomatic or 'mild', something that could screw up your lungs isn't a joke.

Sober Crappy Chemis

I took a few days offline and it helped me to distance from the fearmongering and speculation in the main thread and live in the real world a bit more.

Take care all.

PTH2009

They should play this at the leaving gate for the Croke Park test centre. This song and that dreaded 'gardai and stewards end of match position' put emotions of joy/heartbreak/nervousness in my head in that very place

https://open.spotify.com/track/4o7azvfDlNonVbEnqB5K3U?si=CnXr-_akRcOS9JMlQ4Yckg

Hoping everyone is coping well. We will get through this

Xertz

To be honest, I’m not sure I can post on boards anymore. I’m finding some people extremely agressive and snappy and it’s just putting me into really dark mood.

I need to ignore this forum for a while, more so the main thread.

[Deleted User]

Xertz wrote: »

To be honest, I’m not sure I can post on boards anymore. I’m finding some people extremely agressive and snappy and it’s just putting me into really dark mood.

I need to ignore this forum for a while, more so the main thread.

Some threads I've found good for a brief reprieve are:

Forum Games (the sheep games especially are so easy and just simple fun!)

The Trivially Happy thread for some small bites of happiness. If you want to post there it forces you to notice the small but happy things.

Pet pictures to cheer us up (not sure if thats the exact name) for some cute boardsie pets.

Interview the person below you. Answer the quick and fun questions of the person above you.

I think there are harmless places on boards where you can take a break from all the gloom and relax your mind a little. It's just very hard to resist those coronavirus threads.

Wanderer19

https://youtu.be/RSF8z50nz70

Energy Tools

Eric Cartman

Hobgoblin11 wrote: »

Not looking for a lecture but has anyone else been drinking more than usual?

absolutely , having a beer right now working away at the desk, haven't been getting ****faced every day but 2-3 beers in the evening while working has become a thing.

gilmour

I'm doing good now compared to last week. 20 years ago i was diagnosed with Panic Disorder and spent many years learning to deal with that, but thankfully over the past 10 years i've really managed to enjoy myself whilst understanding my triggers (cognitive and behaviour) for panic attacks and anxiety in general and progressed in making a living out of something i love.

Then this hit, and despite my job going into the mist pretty much immediately i was a bit surprised at how composed i was. Every day i'd read the main thread on here, inform those around me of what was ahead but generally remained pretty calm - until i went into my hometown and was stunned at the eeriness and paranoid looks on everybody around me. On the walk home i had a blockbuster of a panic attack, a real showstopper and i honestly thought that despite the knowledge of attacks that i had built up over the years, this was it.

- I made it home and thankfully i'm now in a better place. Immediately i decided to stop reading the thread on here, and drinking every bit of news footage i could get. I would now instead watch the 6 news and keep an eye on the main trustworthy sites for a max of an hour a day.
- Restarted meditation and breathing exercises twice a day, if anyone is struggling to learn meditation just search for a Michael Sealey video on youtube, theres loads and its a really good way to wind down at night.
-For 5 minutes each day i'll take a look around me and mentally take note of the smallest things i'm grateful for, whether it be for the roof over my head, to the entertainment that i have at the click of a button - i have this fun little exercise where i pretend my 15 year old self is asking me what i can do to be entertained, and imagining his response to my answers makes me laugh and of course, be grateful at everything that i have.
- I talk to family and friends but try not to focus the conversation too much around covid, we'll express our concerns and anxieties but after a whlie just try to lighten the conversation up and try to laugh.
- And finally i do simple home exercises to just keep the body going, i fell out of an exercise regime but a few bodyweight exercises for 20 minutes and i feel great afterwards.

Take care of yourself folks and try your hardest to not get tangled up in reading every single post on here or elsewhere, it absolutely will drag you into the trenches. You're not going to find the answer you're looking for by reading so much all day, if you can manage that you will immediately feel the benefits. And once those benefits come you will hopefully start finding healthier ways of living your life in these extreme circumstances.

LoughNeagh2017

I have been socially isolated for 10 years roughly, I even ate lunch alone at school back in the day, I haven't had a friend since summer 2013 so I find it bizarre how people worry about being alone for a few weeks or months. I don't crave social contact because I also developed a dislike for humans over the years, most of them annoy me. I enjoy watching TV so in that sense I do like watching humans interact, I just don't like interacting with them myself, just like how you can enjoy watching boxing but wouldn't want to be in the ring yourself. I have no interest or motivation to form friendships, I have had the opportunity to form them but it is not possible to maintain a friendship whenever you don't enjoy speaking to people.

Lyan

I'm pretty much the same LoughNeagh2017. Kinda funny really to see a good portion of the population struggling to survive a small taste of what is normal for me. Daily torrents of experts, articles, and advice on how to tolerate my daily life. I'm sort of enjoying this pandemic for the world-wide crackdown on socialising. Less bother for me.

Xertz

I haven't been able to sleep properly at all since this started.

I'm going a little stir crazy though.

Also I had some relatively mild symptoms - wasn't sure if they were psychosomatic or real, but I had a 'head cold' and then some coughing and I wouldn't call it 'shortness of breath' but I was very aware of my breathing and my chest still feels a little odd but rapidly improving.I contacted GP and they seemed to think I just had a cold a couple of weeks ago, so I guess I should contact again and book a test. I have been 100% self-isolating since the very first symptoms and intend to stay doing so for another couple of weeks until I'm 100% clear.

I'll give a buzz tomorrow though and see if I can get tested, but I think I'm fine. If I did have it was very mild. It would be useful to know though!

The main concern I have is to ensure I don't pass anything on to anyone else, I feel pretty much back to normal, but I'm not setting foot outside the door and I'll disinfect the entire house when I'm up to it - clean every surface with some kind of mild but bleachy solution. Boilwash anything that I've been sleeping on. Not sure what to do with soft furnishings. I have a carpet shampooer so maybe that might be useful. I could clean all the sofas and so on. I've nothing else to do anyway.

I can work from home normally anyway, so I just completely isolated myself from the first symptoms as I'm a tad paranoid about it to put it mildly.

I just won't let anyone into the house for a month anyway.

The main issue now is I can't sleep. I just keep wondering about how this situation's going to end and I'm sort of not wanting to go outside at all even after this. Right now, I could quite happily just stay in my bedroom and just work online until 2021.

dd973

Irish Times website bellyaching about 'Ooh, there's going to be a Recession'.

Yeah, like that's the big issue now, screw that for the time being, let's worry about this first.

is_that_so

Posted this on one of the big threads. Might be of use to some people posted in a much slower-moving thread. Some great stuff here. Enjoy!

If anyone is looking for some quality classical concerts and all free.

https://www.berliner-philharmoniker....-concert-hall/

fishy_fishy

dd973 wrote: »

Irish Times website bellyaching about 'Ooh, there's going to be a Recession'.

Yeah, like that's the big issue now, screw that for the time being, let's worry about this first.

Unfortunately that's at the forefront of a lot of peoples worries and it's not fair of you to belittle that. Many people, myself included (plus a lot of acquaintances of my age, finally getting permanent jobs etc), were just back to normal after the last one. Staring down the barrel of another round is very worrying and very disheartening.

Yes, people will get this virus and die, others will be permanently weakened from it. That doesn't negate the concern about whether we'll have a salvageable economy at the end of this.

Raconteuse

Yeah I saw that: "Recession likely". Tell us something we don't know. Preferably something less gloomy.

fishy_fishy

I'm not coping at all. I dunno what to do. It's too much

ITman88

fishy_fishy wrote: »

Unfortunately that's at the forefront of a lot of peoples worries and it's not fair of you to belittle that. Many people, myself included (plus a lot of acquaintances of my age, finally getting permanent jobs etc), were just back to normal after the last one. Staring down the barrel of another round is very worrying and very disheartening.

Yes, people will get this virus and die, others will be permanently weakened from it. That doesn't negate the concern about whether we'll have a salvageable economy at the end of this.

Yeah there is a portion of the population with one eye on the incoming recession and the virus.
Those in the early stages of mortgages with young kids etc, having recently invested in education, training etc.
A lot of issues at present with the virus and economy

Xertz

Just to inject a slight tone of optimism, because every country is in the same boat on this, particularly all of our EU and Eurozone neighbours, there will have to be a massive intervention by the EU to kick start the economy and get things going again.

The comparison with 2008 may not be accurate, given that it was a handful of countries impacted far more dramatically than others and there was a whole lot of finger pointing and discussion of 'moral hazards' and so on. All that's probably irrelevant now. I would say you'll just see an unprecedented coordinated central bank move in a few months across the whole "west" and beyond.

I think you could be looking at something on scale of the Marshall Plan and Bretton Woods.

I would be wary of getting too gloomy on this. These are utterly unprecedented times in many ways.

Raconteuse

Heighway61 wrote: »

We are struggling.

I'm not in good health - cancer, heart block, chronic autoimmune disease, chronic progressive neurological condition.

My wife makes between 12 and 21 house calls per day for the HSE. She is terrified she will pass the infection on to me or to her clients (who she has personally got to know). There is no PPE equipment available. She is many years at this job and is hard-nosed and experienced but at night she cries.

It's affecting my eating and my sleep. My autoimmune condition is flaring due to the stress. We are assuming my wife is carrying the virus into the house when she gets home at night and are trying to zealously clean. However, every day we see something new that we should have been doing. If there was somewhere I could isolate myself for the duration of this thing I would do that, but there isn't.

We feel it is just a matter of time.

My heart really goes out to ye.

[Deleted User]

fishy_fishy wrote: »

I'm not coping at all. I dunno what to do. It's too much

Fishy, it's so hard

Are you living alone? Self isolating? Is there anything you can think of that will help you feel a little better?

My own mental health is taking a hit but this week I'm doing better. Staying away from the main thread here and the AMA helps me. There is something unhealthy in going around the same circle of doom. We all know this is serious.

Other things I do that is helping me is keeping in touch with people. Not everyone however is willing to talk and that can add to the loneliness. I told a close friend I was afraid and was met with "more people die in car accidents everyday". I guess that's her way of coping.

We need to try take every day as it comes even though looking ahead is so tempting. Practising gratitude is helpful too. Not easy either but it helps to keep the head. Tell yourself that you will get through this one step at a time.

DisneyLover

I was contacted by the psychiatric hospital I was in last year for anxiety to see how I was which was so nice.

I think a huge thing aswell is you can end up on your laptop phone etc all day.. try go out into the garden of even paint

fishy_fishy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Fishy, it's so hard Are you living alone? Self isolating? Is there anything you can think of that will help you feel a little better?

My own mental health is taking a hit but this week I'm doing better. Staying away from the main thread here and the AMA helps me. There is something unhealthy in going around the same circle of doom. We all know this is serious.

Other things I do that is helping me is keeping in touch with people. Not everyone however is willing to talk and that can add to the loneliness. I told a close friend I was afraid and was met with "more people die in car accidents everyday". I guess that's her way of coping.

We need to try take every day as it comes even though looking ahead is so tempting. Practising gratitude is helpful too. Not easy either but it helps to keep the head. Tell yourself that you will get through this one step at a time.

Thanks, living with OH so not too isolated. Feeling a lot better this evening. I can't handle the main thread at all here.

I think I just miss my routine, miss the social aspect of working with a team in the office. Going to have to do as you say, take each day as it comes. I'm naturally too prone to be in the future.

Tell me how

DisneyLover wrote: »

I was contacted by the psychiatric hospital I was in last year for anxiety to see how I was which was so nice.

I think a huge thing aswell is you can end up on your laptop phone etc all day.. try go out into the garden of even paint

That was a really thoughtful thing for the hospital to do.

fin12

lucalux wrote: »

Good news moment and posting here as it might suit some people who are self isolating and struggling with the lack of normal activities.

Drive-in movie theatre at Leopardstown.
They just had a feature on RTE Radio 1.

Book online, no contact with anyone outside your own car. Tune in your radio for audio!

Shows at 12, 3, 6 and 9pm.

Seems like a great initiative for the times, fair play to them

https://www.retrodrivein.ie/

Any drive through movie theatres in Cork?