I wake up early this morning to try and get a telephone appointment with my doctor to ensure that my symptoms are what I think they are, an asthma attack. I’m rung back fairly quickly by a nurse who confirms my suspicions and gets me a second prescription for a steroidal inhaler and the usual lecture that I should use it every day and why have I not had a prescription for it since 2016. Well, because I do not need it, and it makes me cough if I take it when I don’t need it. I am assured that my prescription will be available at the chemist straight away.
With the confirmation that my cough is just asthma and medication is on the way (I really need a run more than even toilet roll or handwash right now) I hastily make plans to see another and visit my mother before either of them are told to self-isolate. I am not even sure if this is against government guidelines or not but my worry and panic that I might not actually get to see them for 12 weeks is very, very, tangible at this point. It is not a “gathering” – whatever that may be, and I do not have to travel.
I head to the chemist for my prescription, life still seems to be carrying on as normal. The roads are busy, all the small business remain open with customers inside. The chemist does not have my prescription, but it will be available tomorrow, so I head straight back home.
I do some bulk cooking to use up some ingredients in the house. I am anticipating I will be working a lot of 12 hour shifts when I go back to work as more and more people are told to self-isolate, so I will have little time to cook and it’s really important to stay healthy.
I had managed to get a click and collect order shopping order for today and was surprised to find most things were readily available or there was a well-thought out substitution provided. I had bought mainly ready meals as planning to cook without knowing what ingredients were going to be available seemed a little like an avoidable stress. I have a properly planned out delivery booked for 27th March. The earliest I could get.
I’ve been thinking about it for a while, certain comments made to me have affected my coping strategies quite badly, we’re all trying to keep our shit together the best way we can. I have many friends with mental ill health and other issues, and I worry about how negatively all this will affect them. I finally get around to writing the below post on facebook:
We are living in some unprecedented and testing times. While government measures are currently centred around protecting the most vulnerable in our society, we need to remember that vulnerability includes those with mental ill health as well as physical ill health.
Changes in routine and lack of social interaction can be extremely damaging to those with mental ill health. Therapy sessions, support groups, and other events that have been planned and looked forward and give people a reason to get up in the morning are absolute lifelines. The cancellation of these is going to have an extreme detrimental affect. The general panic, confusion, stress and worry that is going around at the moment is enough to cause the most mentally healthy of us to have increased stress and anxiety, so imagine what it can do to someone whose anxiety and stress levels are high on just a normal day.
So while it is important to look after those who are more at risk due to age or physical ill health, please, please, please look out for those members of your family and friends who have mental ill health too. This includes those people you may know who struggle with addiction, as their regular support groups may also be cancelled and the added stresses and anxieties could easily lead to a relapse. Check in with them, make sure they are ok, if you or they are also in a high risk group or have been told to self-isolate, there are other ways you can keep in contact via phone and video chat. Hearing a friendly voice and seeing a friendly face can make such a huge difference.
Most importantly LISTEN. What others are going through and how they feel may not be the same as how you are dealing with or feeling about this situation, everyone feels differently and everyone’s feelings matter and have value, even if you disagree or don’t understand them. We will all come through this with some kind of sanity intact if we are kind, compassionate and supportive of each other.
In other news, The Killers have a new single out, you should check it out!
I generally try and avoid listening to the Bimbling Idiot if I can at all help it, however, I decided to watch the press conference today.
Wednesday’s announcement: Finally an actual enforceable decision. All schools and colleges will be close for the forseeable future after Friday, with the exception of the children of keyworkers to enable those parents to continue to work, and the most vulnerable children for whom school might be their only safe place. Exams due to be taken in May and June are cancelled.
Questions are asked as to how social-distancing is to be enforced as London, the worst affected city in the UK, still appears to be running as normal with packed tubes and pubs. BI suggests that this is not the case and that people are to be trusted to follow advice, we live in a free country, blah, blah, blah, nonsense. People are clearly not following advice, people are clearly not to be trusted, they have proven that in several crucial votes since 2016.
Glastonbury is canceled. I am really having to face up to the fact The Killers’ UK tour will be cancelled, but I still can’t quite bring myself to give up all hope just yet.
Supermarkets issue a statement that they are working together to ensure the food supply remains stable. There will be enough for everyone as long as people stop being greedy. They are allocating slots of time for the elderly and vulnerable to be able to shop before supplies run out. Again, this is non-enforceable and they are trusting people to respect this. If people respected others, we would not be in this situation in the first place. Certain items will be limited to two per person, and there will be a limit of 3 per person on all other goods. The rationing has started.
I visit my friend and her gorgeous puppies and have a lovely evening.