Anyone else getting tired of it all?

[bobbysmithy]

Tyre Smoke said:

I
Anyway, I don't want to derail this thread, it's providing some excellent ideas and self help advice.

On that note - I feel like the following article for us all

Some simple steps but hard to follow them all, all of the time: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55264224 , I will do my best!

[omniflow]

AI1601 said:

With regards to the pandemic; I’ve coped fairly well so far mentally but right now it’s just a sense of bad news after bad news. Case numbers increasing to record levels daily, new strains being identified, hospitals overwhelmed, repeated lockdowns, when will it end? Doesn’t help that we’re in the thick of winter also. Appreciate any tips on how to boost mental health

You are definitely not alone - I am getting massively fed up with all of the pandemic related stuff.

Lots of helpful stuff already posted - a few more from me (some may be repeats).

Don't watch / read the news - if you need to, then once a day max.
Put some effort into what you're eating - maybe have a theme night once a week - e.g. Mexican, Thai, Spanish etc. Research recipes and then source specialist ingredients - from real shops if you can - but Amazon is also a great source. My most recent triumph is Vietnamese fried spring rolls - they're actually really easy to make if you have the right ingredients and they're really tasty.
Get out of the house every day for a walk
Do food shopping little and often
Read fiction - get an e-reader - it's then very easy and fairly cheap to try a book from an author you've never read before - if you're lucky it will be someone who's written loads - Michael Connelly and John Sandford are two of my favourites
Find a box-set on TV that you can watch with your household - don't binge it - just one or two episodes every evening. We've just discovered Shameless and are extremely grateful it's remained undiscovered to us until now.
And finally......Check the weather forecast for your postcode on the BBC website - scroll as far to the right as you can and then cheer yourself up by seeing that in two weeks time sunrise is only just after 8am and it won't be getting dark until 4:20

I find the last one really does help. The evenings are starting to get lighter and as the days get longer and we move towards spring, then the worst of the pandemic will be behind us. The movement is quite slow at the moment - but it does start to speed up and become more noticeable. Check out timeanddate.com if you want the full picture.

[M22s]

Thanks for your thoughts @Tyre Smoke and agree entirely.

Following on from @Omniflow -

We started Gusto during the first lockdown and were surprised what a difference having some real variety and freshly cooked food made, so really good suggestion.

I also find when working from home, blocking time out in my diary for exercise makes a big difference. The time between starting and finishing work may be longer, but I feel so much better for it.

[mcelliott]

bobbysmithy said:

Tyre Smoke said:

It also upsets me how 'angry' people get on here. There are areas of this forum now that I consciously avoid even though the thread title might interest me.

I suppose they are venting their own frustration at constant restrictions and lockdowns. This used to be a much more lighthearted place.

Yeah - have you seen the 'cure worse than the disease crowd'?

Yup didn't realise how many selfish pricks there are on PH.

[AI1601]

Thanks all some good tips and pointers, appreciated. Think I will definitely limit checking the news, once a day should be fine. Everyones mood should be better come March I think the impact of the cold dark winter months is underestimated.

[Munter]

AI1601 said:

Thanks all some good tips and pointers, appreciated. Think I will definitely limit checking the news, once a day should be fine. Everyones mood should be better come March I think the impact of the cold dark winter months is underestimated.

I think lunchtime's about right for news.

Breakfast news, immediately puts the day on a downer.
Evening news leaves you thinking about stuff just before you go to bed, thus stopping sleep.

Lunchtime, you've enjoyed (hopefully) doing something in the morning, so you have a bit of perspective on life*. You still have time to sort through the news in the afternoon before bed.

(*we live in a first world country, with average health provision, access to pornography and alcohol, and nobody is actively trying to kill you for a bag of rice. So life's pretty good really.)

[GloverMart]

I'm another one that would agree with the long walking as being a source of improved mental health feelings.

I live near Bristol and struggle with life generally, particularly though finances and keeping the house up together. Three months ago, I read on here that a simple four mile walk each day will take you from your troubles and lead to you feeling better.

I have to say it works. Four months on, I'm just outside Glasgow now and have forgotten how st life is!!

[paulguitar]

GloverMart said:

I'm another one that would agree with the long walking as being a source of improved mental health feelings.

I live near Bristol and struggle with life generally, particularly though finances and keeping the house up together. Three months ago, I read on here that a simple four mile walk each day will take you from your troubles and lead to you feeling better.

I have to say it works. Four months on, I'm just outside Glasgow now and have forgotten how st life is!!

[Welshbeef]

AI1601 said:

With regards to the pandemic; I’ve coped fairly well so far mentally but right now it’s just a sense of bad news after bad news. Case numbers increasing to record levels daily, new strains being identified, hospitals overwhelmed, repeated lockdowns, when will it end? Doesn’t help that we’re in the thick of winter also. Appreciate any tips on how to boost mental health

It’s rubbish isn’t it.
Focus on what you can control - the controllable - stay fit eat healthy go out for walks /fresh air.
Plan ahead ideas for say June half term summer weekends
Cut down on the booze - I’ve had times pre covid where my drinking got really out of hand but I throttled it back to a level I’m comfortable with where it’s at now and I’m pushing it down further too next year.

Life is a bit Groundhog Day this year and it’s hard to comprehend the situation.

It will end hopefully we may see life start to ease a little back to what we used to do & then in time more and more and it will be “over”.

Create a support group be it work friends family neighbours whoever as most of them will be in the same situation be it they bottle it up over sharing. Sharing emotions does take a huge weight off of you. They might share ideas they used to get to a better place.

[Richtea1970]

Terminator X said:

New variants tend to be weaker so interesting to hear the media say "no more dangerous"; suggests to me that yes you may more likely catch it but a weaker version. More cases and less or even deaths is the thing to watch for.

TX.

Don't underestimate this. Every day this infection is mutating and becoming less of a risk to us all, as well as our immune systems are evolving to recognise and protect us from the worst aspects of the infection. Along with the vaccine progress, everyday we are getting closer to being back to normal.
It may not seem like it watching the news, but it is getting easier everyday, don't forget that.

[bitchstewie]

AI1601 said:

Thanks all some good tips and pointers, appreciated. Think I will definitely limit checking the news, once a day should be fine. Everyones mood should be better come March I think the impact of the cold dark winter months is underestimated.

I think it's easy to overlook the impact that the unexpected warm spell had on many people earlier this year too.

It almost made lockdown and work for those of us who could work from home seem like a bit of an extended holiday with nice long lunchtime walks etc.

Winter is a different beast.

Just a suggestion but perhaps look at SAD lamps.

You really can't underestimate the impact that the lack of sunshine has on mood.

[Pothole]

Tyre Smoke said:

mybrainhurts said:

Everything's going downhill these days. In the early days of pistonheads, the solution quickly offered up would be furious wking.

This is so true!

I must confess I'm fed up with all the doom on the news. I try to read from news apps now avoiding anything covid related.

More people testing positive because we are testing more people, a fair few false positives too. Hospital admissions up, but fewer ICU admissions and fewer on ventilation. Agree or not with this paragraph, but a sense of perspective is needed. Otherwise you'd read articles on social media and the news and quite frankly, reach for the whiskey and paracetamol. For instance, I read the other say that mobile phone roaming charges may return after Thursday night, and travellers abroad might face bills of hundreds of pounds on their return. Except there is written into law that you cannot exceed £45 unless you agree, and all four major networks say they have no plans to introduce roaming charges in future. So the whole article was a non event designed to ramp up fear and stress. And that's the problem with 24/7 news, they have to provide a shock and awe angle to get you to read.

TL;DR

Choose what you watch and read very carefully. Read some fiction or biographies, and take some long walks.

Filter out all stories which say things MAY or COULD happen. While that's true, often it's highly unlikely, as the article went on to say. Also, if they do happen, there won't be anything we can do about it, so unless you're then going to plan to save up "hundreds of pounds" to pay your new charges, why should you give two hoots?

[Turn7]

Definitely.

Sick of watching my industry getting flushed down the stter.

Currently stuck in no mans land as in the middle of buying/selling housing.

Having to put up with the worst/noisiest/scummiest neigbours Ive ever had.

Crap weather means no fun time or even daylight hours.

Bad enough waiting for Mortgage offers, let alone Soliciitors doing stuff, when you genuinely arent confident, that come March, the company that pays the wages will be able to open the doors, much less actually have a customer base to service.

Pretty dark place if I actually dare to look into it.....

Desperate to buy our first ever Detached place, but this could all go up in smoke.

Its tough.

[Shuvi McTupya]

Turn7 said:

Definitely.
Having to put up with the worst/noisiest/scummiest neigbours Ive ever had.

Jesus, at a time like this that is all you bloody need.

I have only had bad neighbours once and it is a nightmare, your home is supposed to be a sanctuary.

Good luck with the move!

[Turn7]

Shuvi McTupya said:

Turn7 said:

Definitely.
Having to put up with the worst/noisiest/scummiest neigbours Ive ever had.

Jesus, at a time like this that is all you bloody need.

I have only had bad neighbours once and it is a nightmare, your home is supposed to be a sanctuary.

Good luck with the move!

Exactly....

Cant decide if Im now being brave or stupid, but I know I cant live here anymore.......20 years we have been here.....

Its a bit of a holy grail move, but Im desperate for it to to happen.

A Mortgage offer would right now take some huuge pressure off, as its neither my Vendor or Purchaser need funds.....

Edited by Turn7 on Thursday 31st December 01:52

[Drive it fix it repeat]

Yep, totally. I gave up on the news a couple of months ago as it was too depressing, I now don’t seek out any current affairs news and probably better off for it.

The last getting on for a year now has been hard. I’m pretty introverted but still value seeing friends to unwind sometimes. Clearly that’s disappeared basically. I’ve always struggled a-bit with the mental side of things and this has only made it worse. Seems like all the things I used to do to cope and unwind have vanished. Combined with various other struggles at the moment life feels like an impossible challenge with zero point at all and I’m increasingly often finding myself just thinking why bother. Especially if this lifestyle is going to continue. I’m not normally this open about how I really feel but as I say I’m caring less and less about basically everything. Life will either pick up or it won’t, if It’s going to though it had better get on with it.

[Evoluzione]

You're not on your own, I think pretty much the whole World would agree with you right now.

[Turn7]

Drive it fix it repeat said:

Yep, totally. I gave up on the news a couple of months ago as it was too depressing, I now don’t seek out any current affairs news and probably better off for it.

The last getting on for a year now has been hard. I’m pretty introverted but still value seeing friends to unwind sometimes. Clearly that’s disappeared basically. I’ve always struggled a-bit with the mental side of things and this has only made it worse. Seems like all the things I used to do to cope and unwind have vanished. Combined with various other struggles at the moment life feels like an impossible challenge with zero point at all and I’m increasingly often finding myself just thinking why bother. Especially if this lifestyle is going to continue. I’m not normally this open about how I really feel but as I say I’m caring less and less about basically everything. Life will either pick up or it won’t, if It’s going to though it had better get on with it.

Pretty much exactly where Im at tbh,,,,,

Cannot make any plans whatsoever, have absolutley NOTHING to look forward to, aim for or even actaully bother living for.

Alcohol is the only thing that eases my pain......

[craigjm]

Munter said:

nobody is actively trying to kill you for a bag of rice. So life's pretty good really.)

Well that definitely made me laugh

[Tyre Smoke]

I have NZ Citizenship, which looks mighty appealing now. However, I can't just up sticks and go. I have a business and family here and it's not like I'm 21. Otherwise I'd be off like a dirty shirt.

This will get better, I know. But it's hard to see when you don't know from one day to the next whether you will have a business this time next month, what is happening with what tier you are in this week and what new diktat will come from Westminster. It's all well and good saying 50k a day are testing positive, and 1000 a day are dying, but in real terms that's minute numbers and the Government are trying to legislate against a virus. Something they have no idea about. Being led by idiots who cry on TV. I don't want to see my Health Minister in tears, FFS man, you are a senior politician! Or Van Tam or whatever he's called crying from his priviledged Civil Service six figure salary. Try employing a few people and waking up worrying about where you are going to find their wages from next week. Or where the work for them is coming from. You're out of touch with the rest of us.

Sorry. Rant over.