Social distancing Megathread

growleaves wrote: »

If the global economy were to be brought to an indefinite standstill, billions of people would die. No idea of the timeline.

Even a temporary lockdown could kill more people than the disease through suicides and other stresses.

Lord TSC wrote: »

I've never massively talked about some of the mental health issues I've had over the last decade or so, but I feel this morning that it might actually help to do so. And this was the sort of topic that I was hoping for. And i'll stress starting off, I'd consider myself relatively a minor case of the sort of depression that this can cause. While I had a bad dose a few years back, I have a good support structure around me now.

I'm not much of a social creature. Probably unsurprisingly to many, while I've got some very close family, I tend to very much keep to myself. Self employed but work from home. In general, I take comfort in hobbies like watching Tv and movies, football, gaming. And, probably to an unhealthy level, I eagerly anticipate my yearly holiday as a break of how relatively boring the rest of life can be.

As a relative loner, I didn't think the idea of a few weeks at home would be a massive hit, and definitely not relative to the numbers of sick people who could be hurt so badly by this.

But a few days in, I have to admit, my head is melted, and I really don't know what sort of effect this will have over such a long period.

Sales for my business have dropped by about 60%. Just as it was finally about to hit another level, it's regressed all massively.
Tv shows and movies are wrapping up. Soccer on hiatus.
Having to cancel a short trip to London for Easter, and likely have to cancel my summer holidays because no one seems sure how long this will all last.

And I realise that this all sounds a little selfish. Because while my business has reduced, it's not dead, and thousands have actually lost their jobs. Tv and movies is so insignificant in the grander scheme of things. The holiday is a luxury, and even if it was really the only major one I afforded myself, it's still not worth going when thousands of lives are at risk.

But mentally, I'm sitting here wondering what is there to look forward too.

And I really will stress this, I'd not consider myself as someone who'd be at risk of doing anything stupid. I'll find alternatives to keep myself busy in the short term, be that through gaming or writing or whatever.

But there IS a massive elephant in the room that we've been ignoring for so long in this country. It feels like, especially in young men, mental health and suicide has been a silent epidemic that's been ignored, and which we've possibly just thrown gasoline onto.

I know of 3 men around my age in my area who have committed suicide in the last 6 months. Men with good jobs and seemingly good social lives. And as each happened, everyone would know of others who had suffered mental health issues of varying degrees too.

This was before we destroyed 150,000 jobs in 4 days. Probably with a lot more going, as shops shut and if we impose as strict a lock down as some others are. If the airline and hospitality industry collapses.

And this is before we dedicate a lot of time (rightly) to warning people of how a dangerous disease is rampaging through the world.

Again, speaking from a personal point of view, my entire family would be considered at risk. I've got mild asthma, but my mother and brother have had bad times in recent years with flus. My father is an asthmatic diabetic in poor health at the best of times. He's a taxi driver, and has bills over his head too. He's toned back his hours drastically, but he feels he simply cannot give up completly.

So we're stuck inside, and not just bored, but have a ticking time bomb over our heads too. If one of us gets this dose, the chances of of the four of us don't end up in hospital is low. The chances, being brutally honest, that it doesn't put Dad in the ICU are minimal.

Mentally, this will tip a lot of people over an edge. Having to lock yourself at home, with dwindling escapes in the short term and little to look forward to in the long term, with a medical disaster that's portrayed as an inevitability rather than a mild possibility. In Italy, by some reports, none of us would qualify for an ICU spot right now due to "underlying conditions".

And this all feels like a rather selfish set of concerns to have overall, because I do get so many people are going to get horribly sick, and that if THIS is what they think is the better option, then the disease and its effects must be so horrific. And that there are people who have lost their livelyhoods, or who are in worse health, people waiting anxiously for test results, people trapped at home with others of varying levels of civility.

And if I feel this way, if my head feels this way after 3 days, I cannot imagine how society will be in 3 weeks, let alone the possibility of three months. A society who packed the pubs 3 days after Leo's closure of the schools because they couldn't do without drinks. A society of kids who throw riots at a little snow.

Ok, I'm done. That become a little bit more vent-y than I had meant to start off with, and probably a bit rambly. Going to try and do a bit of work and see if keeping some semble of that daily routine helps a bit.