All in this together, some are coping, some are not..

[suey]

Public Health Agency of Sweden - see here folkhalsomyndigheten have published guidelines for the country, not as strict as here but with a population of 10 million Swedes don’t live quite so cheek by jowl as we do here in the UK.  Swedes for the most part are listening to advice and more importantly following advice.  Unlike some mindless plonkers in this country.
I agree numbers in Sweden seem to be dropping as of today, but they had a sharp drop as of 3rd April  followed by a sharp increase, taking them back where they started. I don’t think we can compare ourselves to Sweden.

Time will tell.

I for one am not ready to go out into the world just yet thank you.

[candleflame]

Amandria, you are not alone in feeling stressed. If we were all honest, we will all have been stressed to a lesser or greater degree at some point during this situation.
My latest wobble was when someone who I had expected might keep in touch more during this crisis, but hadn't, suddenly got in touch but wasn't very kind and it made me wobble and want to retreat back into the safety of my own thoughts ( I'm an introvert who bottles stuff up.)  Before someone says I'd expected the someone to keep in touch more wasn't a one sided thing, I'd been texting them every day or every other day to them with a cheery morning how are you doing and any 'news'  such as it was. I'd also offered to FaceTime them but they hadn't sounded keen so I hadn't wanted to intrude if I wasn't wanted.
So when I had my wobble it lasted into the following morning , so to break the cycle, I changed my routine and actually went and did the weekly shop including eye drops at the chemist a day earlier than I would have done. Driving out and standing in the queues in the fresh air and getting what I needed, just broke the cycle, so I felt stronger when I got back.
My anxiety over this person and the next texts still persists, but it's back at a manageable level. They admitted they'd been thoughtless so it's onwards and upwards. All of our feelings are a bit heightened at the minute I think.
Take care - from a fellow North East of Englander , so I can picture James Cook Hospital and it's awful car park-  experienced when my late Father was in there many years ago!!!

[louisa maud]

"They admitted they'd been thoughtless so it's onwards and upwards."

I think this is because they are worried, my husband has been awful over the last few days,  towards me as it happens because I think he is concerned, luckily I have kept quiet about it, he does have a few health issues but nothing major, in fact we are not deemed to be vulnerable , couldn't get a shopping slot,  he is 80

My husband has a blood test in a local hospital tomorrow,  have offered to make him a mask, " they wear masks" he says, but what about Joe Bloggs we might pass on the way, I have made myself one this morning, no sewing involved, will I feel silly, well yes I will because it is bright red and white, but I don't really care, he might walk 2 meters behind me !!

Louisa Maud

[candleflame]

My husband has a blood test in a local hospital tomorrow,
Louisa Maud

A different friend of mine had to go for a blood test and had to travel to what the doctors called ' the clean surgery'. They had split their sites and only one was doing all the normal medical things . She was worried that she'd be stopped by the police for the distance she had to drive! So even when it's for a good reason and is a permitted reason to go out, it still causes the human part of us to worry.
Hope your hospital trip goes well LM.

[ThrelfallYorky]

We're mostly putting up with all the restrictions because there really doesn't seem a safe alternative, does there? A day out by the seaside might well cost quite a few lives in the long run, as the thin end of the wedge.
I'm lucky, we have a decent sized garden, and I've been going to the supermarket just once a week, and the temptation to whizz off somewhere just for the hell of it is strong, but not too strong to resist.

Because I really do want to come through the other side of all this, with all the people who are important to me and mine. so I'm trying to keep the news in proportion, and watching a lot of old "Poirot"s for light relief ... he always sorts it out in the end .... when I emerge from gardening, housework and reading.

We're all probably more worried than we want to let on, because there are no right answers or clear paths through it all. So let's keep ******ing on, and cope. As usual.

[louisa maud]

Candleflame, I expect I will go with my husband and  pick him up, otherwise it is a £3 car park charge, I have made myself a mask, will use it if I have to

Popped to our local shops today, so many are wearing masks, lots are different but don't appear to be home made, a lot seemed to be the same as hospital ones, I wonder where they can be bought from?, mine, well I had a neckerchief I must have bought on holiday years ago,  it will be a case of seeing me coming, red and white

After all this does down and we get back to some sort of normality we won't have anything to talk about, or will we ?



Louisa Maud

[Roobarb]

Yes, I do need to leave the job, but it’s not a very good time to be looking now 

Of course not.  I hope you manage to find something where they treat you better when all this is over.

Louisa Maud, I'm sure we'll manage to find a few things to talk about after this is over. Who knows, it might even be family history! 

[River Tyne Lass]

sonofthom, regarding your post 9, I do agree with you that those responsible for handling/presenting the news have been/are 'relentlessly negative and often outrageously over the top'. 

I do wonder about why they are doing this?  Is it to terrorise/demoralise the public so much that those who might be tempted to disobey our lockdown strategies will be less likely to do so? 
However, I am concerned about the negative impact that this will likely be having on the general public.  Surely it will be counterproductive to the NHS to have larger  numbers of people than usual descend into clinical depression/nervous exhaustion or to worsen the condition of people who have existing mental health problems .. all through worry and anxiety instilled from news presentation.

I also agree that for own mental well-being there might be times when it might be better for us to either limit our news intake or even avoid this altogether.

Before the libraries shut down I used to do voluntary Great War & WW2 history research.  I must say that I feel there is a huge difference in which war news was presented back then compared to how the coronavirus news is being presented.  It seems to me that back in the days of the Great War and during WW2, news was much more balanced and positive slants/stories sought out and emphasised.  I think this is what helped give the people the strength to survive and be enabled to 'keep calm and carry on.' 

Consider if the immensely successful 'Dig for Victory' campaign had been entitled 'Dig or Die of Starvation' instead?  Just words, but the second phrase immediately helps engender a despondent, defeatist mindset, wouldn't you agree? 

I am not suggesting that people responsible for the news now should withhold anything negative or not encourage us to keep safe.  It is just I think they should try to make a better job of it - a constant, top heavy parading of doom and gloom, despair and scaremongering is not good for any of us.

[Crumblie]

What is happening now cannot really be compared to WW1/WW2 because during both wars the news was censored and delayed to avoid the enemy finding out things like which targets had been hit, how many casualities there were etc.  The news at the moment should be accurate instead of speculative or scaremongering. At the same the government should be very careful about they say, for instance they said at the beginning that elderly people and those with pre-existing conditions were most at risk. Consequently teenagers and those in their 20s think they are immune and therefore the rules do not apply to them. The government is now denying that there is a problem with things like gowns, masks etc. when it is quite clear to everyone not in the government that there is. Someone needs to stand up and say "I/we got it wrong".