Covid-19 Community Support and Mental Wellness Thread

a reply to: Liquesence
I live in a city. Lots of conveniences within walking distance.
But my yard is very big. I have two lots and the house only takes up a quarter of it.
I have trees and bushes and lots of birds.
I lived in an apartment in NYC when I was a kid and all I ever wanted was a house.
Which my parents bought in the big 1960s real estate boom on Long island.
I see the advantages of apartment living but I prefer a private house.

a reply to: toolgal462

I'm retired. I've been at a distance since 2016. LOL

But honestly this is getting surreal.

Only two cars went by in the last five minutes.

a reply to: Sillyolme

Good morning Sillyolme.

The silence is a bit unnerving. My approach has been to turn on a stand fan near my desk on and to wear headphones while on the PC. Between the white noise, slight noise reduction from the headset and the volume from anything I watch or listen to online... It counteracts the eerie silence pretty well.

a reply to: toolgal462

I shopped yesterday and forgot coffee, and salt and now I see we need cat food.
Oy... I'm used to just going when I want to.

I set wanted to spare a thought for those on lockdown who don't have access to a garden. It's sound trivial, but the thought of being confined to an apartment block with mental illness sounds horrifying to me. ☹️

It hard to not be a little jumpier than usual right now. full lockdown in 9hrs.

originally posted by: FinallyAwake
I set wanted to spare a thought for those on lockdown who don't have access to a garden. It's sound trivial, but the thought of being confined to an apartment block with mental illness sounds horrifying to me. ☹️

The apt community I live in isn't so bad. You access your apt from outside, not from an indoor hallway. I have lived here for 10 years, since it opened, and my view is of a tree-lined street and of a small farm next door. A lot of us have big balconies and I'm on the 3rd (top) floor with a pretty view of the small city. Longhorns graze on the farm next door and it's a great place to visit and de-stress. That's the thing about Texas. There's a giant corporation next door to a farm or horse pasture. It's pretty bizarre, lol.

We can grow tomatoes in a pot, or other fruits/veggies if we want. That is something I need to try, as I don't have a green thumb. (My friend gave me an "unkillable" plant that died in 2 months, lol).

I think the residents here are doing pretty well with mental stress so it's not so bad living in an apt. At least, not with me.

a reply to: Hefficide

Our son has a Switch, but he spends less time on it than you might think. He prefers active play by far.

He has Minecraft and Smash Bros and stuff, but he still prefers to just get outside and run wild with his friends. Some of them prefer to sit inside on their consoles all day, but not ours.

I hope today we are able to keep our minds out of dark places. Keep them active and creative. Talk to the people you love, no matter how furry they are I know that for some that is easier said than done. I know that well. I believe that hope is always the last thing to die, despite a lifetime of hopelessness. I have to try again today...or I might as well be one of the dead. The only thing I can contribute today is that. A little hope.

Please, take care of yourselves, and maybe provide a little hope today for those who look into your eyes looking for it.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Hefficide

Our son has a Switch, but he spends less time on it than you might think. He prefers active play by far.

He has Minecraft and Smash Bros and stuff, but he still prefers to just get outside and run wild with his friends. Some of them prefer to sit inside on their consoles all day, but not ours.

Sounds like you have a good kid. Kudos, Ketsuko!

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: toolgal462

I shopped yesterday and forgot coffee, and salt and now I see we need cat food.
Oy... I'm used to just going when I want to.

Do you have Amazon Prime? I don't know if they are falling behind but I can get those things delivered next day. And I have all that stuff on auto delivery already

originally posted by: BoscoMoney
I hope today we are able to keep our minds out of dark places. Keep them active and creative. Talk to the people you love, no matter how furry they are

I know that for some that is easier said than done. I know that well. I believe that hope is always the last thing to die, despite a lifetime of hopelessness. I have to try again today...or I might as well be one of the dead. The only thing I can contribute today is that. A little hope.

Please, take care of yourselves, and maybe provide a little hope today for those who look into your eyes looking for it.

Here are my thoughts for today:

Stay safe, stay calm, be smart and be frugal and we will all be okay in the end!

Aside from the pandemic raging around us this slow down can be a time for us all to take a much needed rest from the constant demands of the outside world.

I dont think a lot of people canunderstand how much pressure is put on the mental side of the brain when faced with absolute truth of worthless existence. Im aware the rocking has started. the destructive thoughts are uncontrolled and race fast, ocassionly sticking long enough to cohere into soul crushing truth once again. if i wasnt so scared, if i wasnt such a coward this could be over

Day 11 of lockdown here.
I've been wearing the same sweater for three days. I'm developing an unhealthy attachment to the woman who runs the tiny market down the street. It's the only thing that has stayed open besides the pharmacy. I went there twice yesterday.

Working from home, our company dealing with a mess of problems, our team is usually really solid - we all like each other, we work well together.... but we're all getting so stressed and irritable, nasty emails are starting to fly between us. That bums me out, as they have been my only real source of community or family for the last year. But I am sure this will pass.

My cat used to being alone all day is totally surprised to learn he is not welcome to destroy my furniture. I think he is resentful of me invading his territory. He's gotten used to getting into the cupboards and burying his head in the sac of catfood, but now I can ration his food, and he's becoming less obese, waddling less- so that's a plus!

Took out my knitting again after a a couple years of not touching it. No idea what I am knitting, but it keeps my fingers busy at night in front of Netflix.

I have a lot of paint here, that I keep for the grandkids. Thinking of doing some painting. Putting a big peice of cardboard on the floor and putting paint on my body and rolling around on it.

One thing that is sort of helping me get a sense of security is having rituals. Each morning making my bed, having a specific order of chores I do each day so I feel that I am keeping myself together. Ritual and order really helps, I've found in the last year, when coping with emotional struggles.

Good luck and courage to us all!

a reply to: FinallyAwake

It really sucks.

Right before this lockdown, I got super sick for a while. I went through 3 days of such high fever I was delirious and drifting in and out of sleep. I might have had the Corona virus, my boss had just come back from Asia and caught something on a plane from the Philippines to Japan, coming back to work sick. The news of this virus had just started to come out at the time, and though we joked it could be that, nobody took it seriously yet.

But during that time I was sick, I had the awful realization that I could die in my appartment and nobody would know. It would only be months later when the neighbors complained of the smell that I might be discovered.

Living alone in an appartment (and not having family in touch) has that weird mix of feeling extremely close, yet extremely cut off from others.

People putting up pictures on Facebook of them lounging in their backyards in the sun sort of pisses me off.

As has been the case since day one on this thread, I'm reading every word posted, starring every post. Hopefully I haven't missed any. It probably goes without saying but it's a bit scary how hectic IRL can get when nothing is happening and nobody has anything to do. I'm accessing ATS on four different devices, sometimes on multiple devices at once, and keeping up can be difficult in those fleeting, chaotic moments.

Through it all y'all have made me laugh, smile, think, see things through new perspectives... And a few times y'all have broken my heart a little as well. Mostly y'all have reminded me that we're all in this together and that, when it matters, we can come together in empathy, respect and mutual concern.

We're all a little worse for wear right now, and I suspect we'll have to endure a bit more before we see land on the horizon - but we'll get there. This will pass.

Hang in there everyone. You matter more than you realize.

originally posted by: Bluesma
a reply to: FinallyAwake

It really sucks.

Right before this lockdown, I got super sick for a while. I went through 3 days of such high fever I was delirious and drifting in and out of sleep. I might have had the Corona virus, my boss had just come back from Asia and caught something on a plane from the Philippines to Japan, coming back to work sick. The news of this virus had just started to come out at the time, and though we joked it could be that, nobody took it seriously yet.

But during that time I was sick, I had the awful realization that I could die in my appartment and nobody would know. It would only be months later when the neighbors complained of the smell that I might be discovered.

Living alone in an appartment (and not having family in touch) has that weird mix of feeling extremely close, yet extremely cut off from others.

People putting up pictures on Facebook of them lounging in their backyards in the sun sort of pisses me off.

I implemented a system where, if I or we became sick, I would have to check in daily with my niece. If she didn't hear from me in 48 hrs, she was to contact a vet here, maybe my husband's brother. We've got cats. I wouldn't want them to die with us if they could be kept alive. Anyway, I thought it was a good idea to have checkins with someone. BTW, she lives in another state and we're really not all that close. But she's a good human being who knows something about duty. Maybe you have someone like that too?

I don't get upset at people in their own yards, if it's just with their family, but boy....the pictures of people packed into the tube in London. Hearing that the Mayor had intentionally cut lines. I'd be thinking about hanging him in effigy.

a reply to: Bluesma

That's what we did. Husband and I are pretty well fine. He's more social than I am, but I could live in the house and not get upset about it.

Our kiddo is crumbling around the edges though.

We just instituted the old routine as much as possible.

We get up like normal, have breakfast, his morning practice all like we would if he was getting ready to get on the school bus.

Then instead of him getting on the bus, he spends 30 to 40 minutes reading for school while husband and I check in with work.

By then, the teachers should have started dropping in his school assignments for the day. At that point, we sit down and review them and come up with a plan of attack. We put down an order of assignments adding in a break for lunch and a 45 minute free period where he can do whatever he wants. Then we get down to work, and husband and I swap off helping him.

By the time all that's done, it's usually between 2 and 3 in the afternoon.

These last two days, the other parents in the neighborhood have relaxed their restrictions and the kids have been outside playing until 5 or 6. Kiddo has had his tae kwon do practices via Zoom, and those have been at 7. I've been joining him so he doesn't feel alone and because so long as I'm careful with what I actually do, they're good for my shoulder at this point.

Then we all eat dinner together, and he showers, hits the bed with established bedtime routine.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

a reply to: drussell41

We have the family call chain.

Sister and I are calling mom and dad every day. Cousins call my aunt. Mom and aunt call each other.

Usually his parodies are far more polished, but he's set himself a challenge to try to come up with a new one every day of this mess.

But this one sort of fits the theme of the thread right now.