Hello Dear Anne, Moonstruck...and everyone...🤗 hugs..

Please do not loose hope that things will get better with this pandemic and the world as it is today...While we are breathing their is always hope....Please keep your hope alive...so many billions of people are hoping along with us all here....hope will eventually win....

The world and it’s inhabitants...people, creatures, trees, plants the sun, moon and sky has always come through what has been thrown at it....We will get through this as well.....

Turn off your radios and TV...have a big break from social media and each day that you wake up..grab it and enjoy it the best you can...with being mindful of every thing you do...Today is your day to enjoy...today is not a day to be anxious over what COULD happen tomorrow , next week or even next month....Today you are breathing, you are alive and so is nature...enjoy the sun if you can...Why ruin today and not live it because of anxiety for tomorrow?....

We are all in this together...with the grace of Mother Nature, and spirituality we can get through this...day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.....We are all the wonder of hope...the strength of hope...the future of our hope...We are one with each and every human on the planet....We are the planet, the universe, we are one...💚🦋🌈🕊...

Today is a day to enjoy...I hope that you all can put aside your fears, find your hope and have a beautiful day....

Hugs to anyone that needs them....You are all awesome and beautiful people...

Kind thoughts to you all.

Grandy..

Dearest Grandy

Thankyou. I really needed to read that! I'll have one of your wonderful hugs thankyou... ahhh that's better lol!!

You always bring SPRING TIME to others. I really appreciate your loving words of comfort, strength and wisdom.

We're in quarantine. Just had tests. They've prioritised our tests as my family are all "essential workers".
Not that I think that;s especially fair to the people who need to leave home to buy food for themselves and their children or anyone else for that matter, everyone needs to leave home at some point. I think.

I'll let you all know what the results are.

Since lock down we've all been working extraordinary hours. I'm on a Salary so no over time which is fine.
We've gotta do what we've got to do for our Community.
I'm grateful I HAVE a job.

Many Blessings to all whatever you're going through right now.

Remember what Grandy said "Where there is breath, there is hope" and we can keep hope alive, even if it's when we save an earthworm or plant a seed. Any thing we can do, big or little, that helps us smile is worthwhile.

Love EMxxxx

Thank you Grandy for your words... sometimes I find it very hard to believe that we will get out of this and often feel very despondent about the things we are all going through... but you are right we must continue to have hope.

I suffer from health anxiety and of course covid has played right into this. My anxiety is so high with scary physical symptoms and I am sure so many are feeling similiar. My fear has stopped me getting the AZ vaccine but thankfully a local Dr has put me on his waiting list to get the Pfizer in a few weeks time. In the meantime I live in fear that I will catch the virus. I know that there are so many people with huge problems and fear throughout this time.

I'm confused EM. You mentioned not being able to get food etc while in quarantine. I'm in Vic and last year when we were in quarantine last year for 14 days the gov't had food parcels available for anyone who needed. You just rang the hotline and they would deliver essential supplies to your doorstep. I thought NSW would have something similar to make sure people are not tempted to break quarantine. You can't expect people to starve!!! Hopefully you all test negative and can get to a more normal life if there is any such thing these days.

l'm at a bit of a loss with some of the stuff they're saying.

like hospital and staff shortages. l mean it ain't good in NS but it's nothing compared to what other countries went through and only some of the cases are in hospital not all of them. And they've had 18mths, 18mths to prepare in case there were new spreads. Sweden half our population , last l looked 350,000 cases , it'd be 100k more now. They managed and there were plenty of others like Greece and others. l mean all we hear about is how good we are and Australian standards rubbish and on and on usually, yet they can't even prepare for what really , are nothing numbers compared, in 18mths. They're still squabbling about quarantine facilities l mean are you kidding me, 18,ths later. Think there's only one state that even has one and it's up in the top of the NT 4000k from nowhere. They haven't even started one in Vic yet, 18mths, or QLD, not sure about others. l mean these things should've been done 12mths ago . Business are going down left and right , peoples lives and livelihoods are on hold or kaput all over the country every 5mins, MH. Kids and school and courses,my daughters waited 2yrs by Christmas and now she doesn't even know if she'll finally be able to start it in Feb 22. No one can come and go os, we're basically still at a stand still when countries all over the world that had it 100 fold worse than us are out there and back into it living, open and done long ago and still handling 1000s of cases a day.

No wonder people have had enough of this rubbish.

Sorry Grandy it was nice to hear a positive post and appreciated , but l'm afraid l'm just not feeling it right now.

rx

I agree with you RX. I’m finding it really difficult to be positive right now.

Tiring of people telling us what we have to be grateful for. Wake up daily feeling like I own a life not worth living and yet somehow I am supposed to feel warm and fuzzy because the sun is shining.

Doesn’t stack up from where I’m standing.

Hey Elizabeth CP, no word about any Govt food parcels here in NSW. NB: we are NOT in Sydney.
There could be, somewhere, but not heard of Govt organising anything like that here.

I asked my eldest daughter to bring food to our family yesterday, so she did.
Yes, thinking positively... WHEN our tests return negative, we can go get food ourselves again.

My Church and another one I know of, have been delivering food parcels during LD. Contactless drop offs.
These are the places I've told the families I work with to contact when they're stuck.

Rx and Rupes, it's totally understandable you feel "over it all". I think we all are tbh!

I don't pretend to have the answers but it doesn't alleviate my anxiety or depressive feelings wrangling with all that.

All I can do and encourage my kids to do is STAY out of trouble! Stay within the guidelines. Do what we're told.

Thinking positively is the ONLY thing keeping me and my kids going. I can't let my kids or clients at work down by falling in a heap - where would they all be then?

My MH can't afford to get lead away on fruitless paths.

Basically thinking positively has gotten ppl through many trials in the past. Thinking negatively is a downward spiral we have to stop, it only leads us further downwards.

Vent, let it out, do whatever you need to do.
Then realise what's WITHIN your control and focus on that.

More power to everyone!

Love and many Blessings
EMxxxx

hi everyone,

does anyone else feel blurry?

time is moving at such a weird pace

lockdowns suck, i hear u all, Rx and thinking of u EM .

ive never felt so lonely, and i haven't hugged anyone for a month

it does help me to think of what i do have, and i'm grateful to those who have gently pointed me to do that

i have safety and clothes and shops and i can still go out and walk in the park and find what i need in stores,

i'm blessed also to have choices, to live in this country where we can choose and have rights, and i'm blessed to know how to ask for what i need.

i do worry about all that is suppressed sometimes, all the tears ppl can't cry, because we want to be strong for each other.

ppl always say that in melbourne we should be used to lockdowns by now, we've done it before.

but from those i speak to, before was different. we felt we would get through it if we locked down quick and fast, we had a common goal and were egging each other on. one year later with things the same or maybe worse, we feel flat and hurt.

so although we got through it before, it's not the same situation.

i'd like to think though, much has improved since last time.

weve learnt along th way!!

the best for me that i've learnt lately is not to bottle it up. i have had renewed fears lately about covid and have sought support from my friends. As EM also remnided me earlier with her intuitive care and kindness, we can't do it on our own.

As times get tougher, I need people more.

There is a lot of pressure on some of us right now, and it is so tough! it's talking through it here and IRL that is getting me through it. Lots of ppl have found some nifty ways of coping which i'm intrigued by. sorry and listening to those who have also had enough.. what a traumatic time... sending hugs and virtual care packages, with all ur favourite treats

Yeah , sorry to come on here in a downer, people don't need it right now l know . It should be easier by now in ways l suppose not like we haven't been there. They're all just so hair trigger with these damn lock downs though and 19mths, wth.

Surely there are other ways by now, still spinning us their bs day in and out after all this time . Heart goes out to Melb and some of our regional , Sydney and NS.

At least people are getting their shots l suppose anyway , lets hope that makes a difference eventually.

Can;t really complain up where l am compared honestly , but things are just all different lately that's the thing, it's getting into everyone's minds you feel it. Even the servo up the road has given up with their mask cartoons on the window everyday. No wonder people in the hard hit areas are struggling .

But anyway yeah , l suppose we've gotta find the goods, for our own well being and psyche. My Saturday night pizzas help , with triple cheese pineapple and garlic , mannnnn. lf you can't get to a pizza shop the supermarkets have 3 pack specials, some of them aren't bad, you can take them home and load it up with your favorites and a movie. l look forward to Sat night all wk now haha.

There ya go, try the rx solution.

rx

Hello all, I am wondering if anyone can tell me how they cope with the fear and anxiety created by the virus. What sort of coping mechanisms are you using. I do breathing, journaling, and get outside as much as I can. Sometimes I simply go for a drive and park and stay in the car and look at the water. (Luckily we don't live too far from the beach)

These things usually help, but lately I am incredibly anxious and my physical anxiety symptoms are quite terrifying - sleep is suffering too.

I'd love to hear how others cope.

Thanks J

Hello RX, and everyone.....

It is very hard in this lockdown we seem to be constantly in..

RX..Yes a lot of countries/states are going back to normal...and seemingly coping with the 1000’s per day contacting the COVID virus....

What if tomorrow the government shook there heads and removed the lockdown?...How will we feel when shopping centres, schools, churches, funerals are all open to how many people they want to attend....while this virus is running rampant..

We send our children back to school, some vaccinated.. some unvaccinated, we all go back to work...regardless if we’re all vaccinated or not...People not getting tested are in amongst these people...our children will be mixing with these people, work places and shopping centres will also have COVID positive cases working/shopping etc...So many of our children and people will become infected with COVID...then without knowing it they will pass this COVID virus onto others....Something I do not want to be a part of..because unknowingly if I contacted the virus.. I would infect someone who could pass it to their children etc..and I would be the cause of their sickness and maybe death....

Right now..being in lockdown, getting tested regularly...are indeed saving lives...our families, friends, children and strangers....

To be patient is hard...to be lockdown is hard...to be tested is annoying..but to infect anyone would be devastating to our mental health and us.....I feel all these are necessary for our country and our people to stop the virus from getting worse then it already is...

The best thing anyone can do..is to stop watching the news, listening to the radio and go of social media...and live each day the best way we can...love our family and friends..Be kind and gentle to yourselves and do lots of self care....

Everything dies...this virus will eventually die...in the mean time, let us all live the best life we can each day...Worrying or being anxious about lockdown etc...is taking the day that you are now living away from you...

My kindest thoughts everyone...

Grandy..

Yeah there's so many angles Grandy , who bloody knows.

Well l needed more stuff for work so my 3wk plan didn't work out too well , which is near impossible at the best of times anyway let alone these.

Called 3 different hardware's, all the main names, what a load offfff. Turned out my local right here though of all places were opening the back gate only today only, trades only. l had to do 3 trips to make sure l had the lot with new things turning up at work now as they usually do butttt, l'm all sorted this time hopefully and def; good for a few wks now.

Was pretty amazed at the confusion over the phone from these places though and a def' bit of fear in 2 of them . Dunno what the authorities are instructing them privately but they were very very edgy.

Ahwell , l should be done this time and hopefully things here will be open again here by the next.

rx

Thanks Ggrand for your kind thoughts.

We know people experience the pandemic & lockdowns differently yet I rarely find this acknowledged any more. I also finding the assertions, narrative & language used by leaders & the media increasingly unhelpful & make the situation worse.

We know lots of people find lockdowns & restrictions tough. Unequal application & impact doesn't help.

Yet some of us don't mind them. Maybe we're relieved that our government has (finally) implemented lockdown to protect us & now we feel safer. Maybe we're introverts. Maybe we like our lives being a little simpler (cos fewer options or places to be). Maybe we're enjoying extra time with family, or finally doing things around home, or catching up with friends by phone or online that we wouldn't be reaching out to if they or we weren't in lockdown, or getting more exercise than we would normally, or learning new skills, or exploring our neighbourhood. (Yes, we're privileged to feel like this - yet we do.)

Also, as you say, What if tomorrow our governments removed the lockdown before *everyone* was protected? I'm terrified with the way that some are pushing that line, especially now that so many 'prioritised' have been left behind & COVID is spreading.

The biggest threat to my mental health is people pushing to drop restrictions that protect us. Poor communication (eg complicated rules, mixed messaging, big words, long sentences, fast speaking, dividing the community) makes it worse.

If we say something 'is hard' then it will be - & people will look for ways to avoid it. Much better to say something like 'some people may find this hard' & offer the reasons why & some remedies.

I find unhelpful the push for 'opening up' sooner rather than later because lockdown 'is hard' & 'everyone finds it hard'. It isn't caring for those who will suffer because we're going too fast. It leaves out those of us who cope with it OK. And it's what is making me anxious.

So now I'm avoiding news as much as possible & am feeling much better. I also find hearing from First Ministers & experts who are clearly focussed on caring for & protecting the *whole* population, not leaving anyone behind, & explaining why - & communicating this very clearly. I'm now tuning in to the ACT media conference each day to be reminded of what caring for the whole community & good communication sounds like! (Also explains some of the detail & rationale that is missing from the other news.) Coronacast (ABC) is also good.

<3

Grandy, You have explained the situation very clearly. I am impressed with with how you really got to the important points reminding us why lockdowns are needed at the moment even though they are so difficult to endure.

To cope when I'm struggling I try to remind myself of the potential alternatives.

I really hope the experts planning how to manage this pandemic can come up with creative effective ways to manage the situation to keep us safe once enough people are vaccinated. Perhaps rapid testing for people going to hospitals or aged care facilities etc to ensure asymptomatic people don't transmit to vulnerable people. If anyone is concerned about particular aspects of the situation which can be improved email you local politician or the premier with your suggestions or concerns. I did this last year during Melbourne's long lockdown and got a good response.

Hi Rx,

i agree with you so much, they had 18 months to prepare but they didn’t.

i work between hospitals, although it’s in Victoria but honestly, there’s so many hospitals here, I’m sure even more in nsw. Most hospitals i work at don’t deal with covid patients/vaccinations/testing. I’ve even worked in hospitals with empty ICUs yet somehow we don’t have enough beds? I think the problem lies with, most hospitals are not equipped for the pandemic hence we have such limited beds. Not necessary because there’s so many severe cases that we don’t have enough beds. This leads to me wondering why the government isn’t funding/preparing more hospitals for this during the past 18 months… but maybe im being naive and ignorant here. maybe it’s much more complicated. Also, Why didn’t we stock up on PPE over the past 18 months? Why arent we manufacturing our own PPE? Pretty much all of our facemasks are directly shipped from china…again.. maybe manufacturing our own PPE is naive thinking?

its like qld running out of quarantine facilities which boggles my mind…gold coast alone is full of empty holiday apartments and hotels… as they have no international tourists at all. With borders closed to nsw and vic i highly doubt qld visitors alone could fill up those apartments. Is there a reason why we can’t use them as quarantine facilities? Am i being naive here…

I really don’t know what’s right anymore. People overseas ask me what’s going on in aus and nz? Why are we in such a mess right now? It’s because we are the only countries that are still aiming for eradication.

Honestly, I don’t even know if i believe that the country would open up once we’ve reached 80% vax rate except for nsw. I feel like all other states will still lock us in regardless.

i feel i just live day by day and I can’t see what’s ahead of me.

Hey Sleepy, yes I find things getting "blurry" too. Excuse me while I welcome our new members - hugs.

A HUGE warm welcome to Added and curlywhirl.
Thank you for joining the forums and we welcome your contributions. I hope you find this a safe space to share, feel supported and get some tips from a variety of threads.

Sleepy and everyone,
I appreciate that our Govts have multitudes of hard tasks.
More or less what I see is a "one size fits all" approach, yet I don't pretend to know alternatives.

The reality is that we EACH are experiencing our own lives in very different ways.
All being impacted by lock down in some ways or others.

Some may be under the misconception that a stay at home Order means "more time" for everyone, but in my family, it's the exact opposite.
ALL being essential workers, we are pressed to work double and triple the hours. I was getting 2 and 3 hours sleep per night at one stage. It's madness. So many of our colleagues take extended Leave because of their personal / family / health issues / fear of exposure etc (which is totally up to them and definitely their RIGHT to do this) but it's really hard on the rest of us left to carry the extra weight.

I will say it's hard because it IS extremely hard for me and my family.
Saying it's not would be invalidating our reality.

Our Covid tests returned Negative btw. That was after my daughter worked an 8h shift with a close contact of a positive case, who also turned out to contract the virus.

Some ppl have huge fears about "opening up", others not so much.
Some ppl have huge concerns about unemployment, others not so much.
Some ppl have far greater concerns for the drastic increase in MH issues, others not so much.
Some ppl believe the vaxes will "cure all", some believe the opposite.
Some ppl broadly worry about it all and everything to do with the situation, others have less anxiety.
And it goes on....

Meaning we're all different.
It doesn't matter how much we argue here or IRL with anybody UNLESS we are in positions of authority that make these types of policy changes.

If we're not in these positions, the only things we can do is our best to look after ourselves.

The only things that are "one size fits all" include self-care, doing our best to keep any mental HEALTH we have and increasing it if possible, increasing our physical health. Basically all things that helped us before Covid.

My 50c worth lol.

Love EMxxxx

Hi I am new at this, we are experiencing locked down in the south west of Sydney and it is taking its toll on us as a family because my son cant work he is at home working but there isnt any work because we cant go out side our LGA areas so it has impacted on him; which is sad because the Premier isnt been very fair now because we are suppose to come out of this locked down on 30th September but some news bulletins said that it might be until October wow or November.

Hi caroline Y and all the new members too!

Thankyou for being with the forum family during this difficult time. Im in Victoria and understand what you are going through....as many also are experiencing what you and your son are

Same rules here and they can be tiring for sure caroline Y

you are not alone here

Paul

Hi Bananie.

Yep, still not even making our own masks. Heard Gladdy saying they're running low on ventilators too l mean wth. We could've made or brought in as many as we'd ever need in18mths, but they still don't have enough though,l just mean wt? our cases are nothing compared with OS.

lt all just boggles the mind. Ex w is a nurse too and like you she can't believe what she hears either and says all the same stuff. And they've had 18mths on all that too. And qld spot on, the whole state's accommodation.

But yeah that's actually my worry too . Bc if they still can't even handle what we've had which really is nothing, l don't logically see how their reopening works. They'll still have at least this many cases but consistently fully open, vaxed or not. Most countries are still getting 30 or 40% of what they were but most weren't so lock down crazy as us so their 30 40% will equal what we have now percentage wise with 18mths of hard lock downs.

But alas nope , moaning here or anywhere won't change a thing, l know.

Hi curly whirl. l do know what you mean l've felt a lot like that right through until just lately. The world needed to stop , to just be still,and the planet did too so badly, and so did we here. And l've actually kind of enjoyed it earlier but we do have it different here to down in Melbourne so l don't for a second take away from what they must be going through, or Sydney. But still going on and all their fumbling, and it's effects on everything now after all this time, things are really hurting people now right across the board.

rx

Bananie1234,

You raise interesting and valid points. Gets one thinking.

Cmf x

I love this advice Grandy, thank you xx

Another very helpful post - thank you xx

Caroline and everyone

I am in the lock down too and I don’t focus on dates as they keep changing.

I have grandchild who is a couple of months old andI I may not see them until they are much older.
each day I try to do something new or something that challenges me.

@Benanie: i'll post back our old thread.

Hi Bananie, thanks for your post, u raise important points.

i often worry about about accessibility of ppe... I also worry that ppl who need supplies and care won't get it.... that's always been a big stress.

I really miss hugs and connection

Although I'm entitled to a bubble friend and visitors, as someone who is vulnerable nee rable, friends don't come, because they are scared it's an offence to do so, eventhough it's okay. I am t dry ING to reach out more and find safe ways to connect to others or I'm athigh risk. Being alone shut in all days no life. Have tried two zooms recently and it did help. Working up to showing my face on screen...think I'm getting there. Much love to yoj uall

Hey Bananie

We must have been posting at the same time. Sorry I missed your post.

You bring up really relevant points and indeed the mind boggles.

Having friends overseas really puts a spotlight on what's going on here, doesn't it?
My BF is in the U.S. and he keeps reading about articles on Oz and asks me far too many questions I can't answer.

More questions than answers.

Tbh it feels creepy now, maybe because even on a MH forum we see more going on or NOT going on than we're happy with.

And to think in March 2020 my BF thought we'd be able to visit in Dec 2020... tell 'im he's dreaming.
I cancelled our trip in March.
Writing was on the wall.

a mess.

EMxxxx

Hi everyone. Hope you are in a safe place ( physically and mentally) ❤️. Today I had my first AZ vax. I had thought it was tomorrow but my calendar reminded me yesterday - one less day of stress I suppose. Just going to share how it went. This is long but selfishly I need to write it. No need to read it all though. It’s relaxing me just to write it .

As you know I’ve said I am stressed by everything medical. The blood clots of the vaccine scare me incredibly. I think too often about what will kill me. But having said that I don’t even get tests cause it’s like the knowing causes the escalation of the issue. *shrug*

Anyway arrived for my appt and was taken into the nurses room. I don’t handle this well. I see all the pamphlets and posters on the walls about body organs, tests etc. The nurse was delightful and as I told her my medical anxieties I didn’t feel she was judging or rolling her eyes. The dr was with a patient and I had to wait- ended up being 25 mins- I felt the room greying, my mouth was dry behind my mask as I tried to concentrated on a ph game app. Finally the dr arrived ( my own dr of near 30 years). She said to the nurse we had discussed this all on Monday ( which we had cause I braved an appt cause I didn’t think I could listen to the blood clot stuff in the day).
The nurse did it fast ( needles don’t bother me - just the vaccine in the tube - so I’m truly grateful for that.
Had to sit and wait for 15 mins after. Luckily my husband had driven me so I could sit outside the surgery with him watching me as no way could I sit inside for 15 mins.
Now I will be vigilant for 42 days at least for blood clots. I’m trying focusing on the end of lockdown and it’s rewards.
Oh, they opened Pfizer to 16-39s in NSW so my son has managed to get an appt for that instead of AZ. His choice and he will now be fully vaccinated earlier.
If you read this all thanks. It was a long read but I feel a tad calmer for writing it.

needleina

Thanks for your honest post which will reassure pthers reading.

I had no side effects for either jab.

I am glad the nurse was helpful.

Hi Needleina

Thank you so much for writing about your experience. I have the same anxious feelings about anything to do with health - exactly the same and that is why it was comforting for me to hear about your experience. Writing things down helps me feel to calmer as well. Take care and I would love to read how things go for you if you feel you would like to write more. xxJ

I find medical anxiety such a conundrum, being anxious about that which can actually help the health that make us anxious. Vicious circle but that’s the nature of the beast.
I will write more as I go. As an anxious person I already know my 42 days vigilance is til the 24th October.
My concern is that if I get symptoms and present at hospital and it isn’t the clots, I won’t feel right about going again if I get symptoms. The nurse and dr said to just go everytime. They