To say we’ve had a rough couple of years is an understatement. Following these difficult times, it feels difficult to get back to normality, so how do we get back to pre-pandemic times? We explore navigating life after these troubling times.
A Reflection
Since the beginning of COVID-19, life has gotten rough, emotional, and shocking to say the least. The beginning of lockdown had us thinking COVID would be under control in a few months. It’s been 2 years. We are currently overwhelmed with the variants, cases and deaths that we’re seeing.
So many people have lost their lives to COVID and so many families are mourning. As 2021 comes to a close, I’m trying to reflect on these past 2 years. Many of us who have lost a loved one are struggling, especially as the holidays come closer. With new regulations coming into place, it’s completely valid to feel a sense of anger for those who aren’t listening to them.
I vividly remember, after losing my grandad to COVID, the anger I felt when no one was listening to regulations. In particular, we were on a zoom call for revision and a few people joined the call separately, a few minutes later one of their cameras turned one and they were hanging out, at the height of the first pandemic when the regulations were at their peak. I lost my calm and went off on a tangent about how irresponsible and ignorant they were being. All I’m trying to say is, everything you feel is utterly valid. We’ve lost more than we ever thought we would to COVID, don’t let anyone try and tell you that what you feel is too much or too little. We all process differently.
Festivities During COVID times
I love the holidays, seeing London all decorated in the festivities is gorgeous. It’s the one thing about university I’ve been looking forward to for as long as I can remember, as this year comes to an end, my desire to indulge in the festivities has dissipated, and I don’t celebrate Christmas, so I cannot imagine how those who’ve lost someone and do celebrate are feeling. I could correlate it with Eid, and so the family’s first Eid without Grandad was overwhelming. Although the night ended with us letting floating lanterns into the night sky in remembrance, getting through the day was a series of all family members excusing ourselves to hide the tears that overwhelmed us. No matter what you celebrate, sometimes all you can do is get through the day, and that is completely okay. These big celebrations seem forever tainted. I don’t think they will be though, although it won’t be anytime soon, there will be a day where we can celebrate these events without it being overwhelmingly painful.
It’s significant to note that while countless people were dying in hospital beds, without their families beside them and having to attend their funerals over a zoom call, our government was partying away, mocking how the public would not find out about it.
How it’s affected everyone
I asked some individuals (some who have asked to remain anonymous) questions about their experience with COVID. Here are some responses:
Individual One:
How has COVID affected you the most?
I’m somebody with OCD, and so when COVID started it really heightened my OCD and I felt that I wasn’t able to do stuff I wanted to do (even though I knew I could do it following the government’s measures), I still had this fear and my OCD skyrocketed. I was too scared to go out and if I did go out I would get paranoid and worried, and ultimately that whole fear was about loss, because it was a virus and there isn’t a cure, and people were dying.
In January, I lost my dad to COVID. When he passed it was more hurt that it was COVID that took him because you begin overthinking everything, questioning what we did wrong. But I found comfort in my religion. After losing my dad, my fear of COVID, and loss grew. It’s made it so we can never forget COVID, it’s forever become a part of our lives, and in that respect, it’s completely changed my outlook on life. As a person, I feel like I’ve changed, not necessarily for the better
In which ways did lockdown affect you and your mental health?
I quite enjoyed lockdown because I liked being at home. It affected my mental health in terms of the fear; not letting myself and those with me go out, and so in that respect, it had a negative impact. However, at the same time, it was nice to be at home and not going to work. The essence of why we were in lockdown wasn’t great because there was this constant fear. Sitting at home and watching the news wasn’t good either because it really heightened my fear.
How do you feel about COVID, the regulations, the lockdown, irresponsibility and the emotions felt?
As a whole, I feel like the regulations have let us down. As a nation, I feel like the whole world wasn’t prepared for this, but with developed countries, I have some anger towards why borders were not closed earlier. There was a prominent feeling of losing control. I feel like the lockdowns were good, I felt they could’ve occurred earlier and been longer to help decrease cases. I don’t think that the government has shown enough care towards the elderly and the vulnerable.
Individual Two:
How has COVID affected you the most?
I was lucky enough to be in a position where the lockdown didn’t affect me financially, nor were there any losses in my family. So I was able to enjoy the lockdown more than other people but it definitely did affect me in ways I didn’t think it would. I think in the first lockdown I didn’t really have a chance to really stop and think about what was going on because it just all felt so surreal. But once we got back to a semi-normal life and then went back into the tier system and then eventually lockdown I realised how detrimental it really was to be deprived of the normal, mundane things we take for granted. Even now, I’m taking every opportunity I get to enjoy my time with my friends and family, even just going to uni and out to shop. I definitely appreciate these little things more so I think that’s the main takeaway from covid for me.
In which ways did lockdown affect you and your mental health?
The first lockdown was honestly great for my mental health. It felt like time had stopped and I could just catch up with everything. I was also able to reconnect with my religion and that’s one thing I’ll never forget about that first lockdown.
However, the lockdowns after that did affect my mental health negatively. I was more nervous to go out, especially before the vaccine as I didn’t want to risk being ill myself but also bringing it back to my family. I was nervous about seeing friends and family and going back to school after such a long time. Everything was so up in the air, exams were cancelled and it felt like we were getting back to some sort of normality only to get that stripped away from us so suddenly, at a time where the government were constantly reassuring us that those regulations wouldn’t be brought back. Whilst the situation is very different now, with vaccines, the fact that people are so tired of and complacent with the virus now scares me about the future and what will happen if the situation does become more dangerous. So overall, my mental health has fluctuated during covid, but I’m grateful to have been in the position I was and am in now, and for the support system I have around me.
How do you feel about COVID, the regulations, the lockdown, the irresponsibility and the emotions you felt?
I feel the lockdowns and regulations were definitely needed but it’s the incompetency of the government and how they’ve handled the issue that has made it so much worse than it could’ve been. Even now, news is coming out that Boris Johnson and MPs attended Christmas parties whilst imposing restrictions for everyone else across the country, as well as after recently imposing a mask mandate to combat the omicron variant, various Conservative MPs turning up to parliament with no masks. This sends a mixed message to the public and is hypocritical; one rule for the nation, another for elites. This is how the whole period of COVID has occurred, with the Dominic Cummings scandal kicking it off.
This has spurred many of us to feel frustration and anger that those imposing the rules aren’t following their own rules, also a lack of trust in the government in the handling of the virus, as came out in the 2016 pandemic reports that show the mishandling of pandemic planning that could’ve prevented so many deaths. So, overall this period has shown the incompetency of those in charge, not only in England but around the world, and has created an environment where false information can be so easily spread, and polarised people into taking one side or the other in a time where we should come together in collective interest of safety and security from a life-threatening virus.
Navigating Life
To wrap it all up, it has been a very difficult few years for everyone. Navigating life seems difficult, but slowly I truly believe that we will all get to a point where we are comfortable. It’s not a weakness to need to speak to someone about what’s going on. Some ways to do so: Emailing Student Support, reaching out to a loved one, using websites/apps where you can talk to a licensed therapist anonymously.