Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: marriage, house, contractors)

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I'm curious how people are feeling about their mental health. I searched for some studies regarding mental health, but honestly I don't think enough time has passed for a true in-depth analysis. I am not nearly as secluded as many on this board. I've tried to keep our lives as "normal" as possible given the restrictions, but I still feel on edge and stressed out every day. I am definitely going to talk with my doctor about it...I'm worried I'm becoming depressed. I'm just curious if others are feeling very overwhelmed as we head into winter? I almost booked a vacation to a warm destination because I'm desperate to give my mental state a much-needed boost!

I've been WFH since March (save for a handful of partial days here & there, at the office). I'm feeling an increasing sense of hopelessness, in terms of what I'm able to really accomplish without seeing people face/face, collaborating, and brainstorming. It has me questioning the whole purpose of my job (as much as I recognize the privilege I have), but at the same time I don't wanna make any changes during the pandemic.

Warm destination, heck...I'd be glad just to take an air trip somewhere and be halfway normal.

[bizcuit]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I'm curious how people are feeling about their mental health. I searched for some studies regarding mental health, but honestly I don't think enough time has passed for a true in-depth analysis. I am not nearly as secluded as many on this board. I've tried to keep our lives as "normal" as possible given the restrictions, but I still feel on edge and stressed out every day. I am definitely going to talk with my doctor about it...I'm worried I'm becoming depressed. I'm just curious if others are feeling very overwhelmed as we head into winter? I almost booked a vacation to a warm destination because I'm desperate to give my mental state a much-needed boost!

I can only speak for myself, but I am struggling at this point. I live alone and don't really know anyone in my town (I moved here from NH two years ago). I've been working remote since March and have not had any real person-to-person contact since then. All encounters have been video conferences, occasional texting or Facebook messaging with family and friends, except for phone calls to my father, who doesn't text (he lives in PA). The most social experiences that I've had have been a couple of appointments to get my hair cut.

It's tough, but I am also lucky that I don't have to go to an office. I am now going to the grocery store about every other week, sometimes I'll do delivery, but that's about it. For the first few months I was only doing grocery delivery, mostly because the thought of dealing with all of the rules made me anxious (now that I have been going and I've gotten used to it, I'm okay with it). By nature, I am an introvert, so that probably makes this isolation easier on me than it would be for many others, but it is still very rough at this point.

As I've stated on this thread before, my brother was critical and in the ICU on a vent with covid in the Spring and over part of the Summer, he lives in NY. My sister (who lives in NM) was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her eye a couple of months ago and had to travel to CA to the only clinic in the country that treats this particular cancer. She had to stay there for six weeks or so. She will have to go back to CA in the Spring for more treatment and to find out if this was successful.

Anyway, my point with all this is, with covid and the isolation and everything that is going on with my family, it is very hard mentally for me right now. I'm dealing with it, but I am stressed, depressed, anxious and just, frankly, sad. It was not possible to go be with my brother when he was in ICU, nor was it advisable to fly to CA to be with my sister. My 89 year-old father is isolated in PA too. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who is suffering, but this is my story.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by redplum33

I'm lying, huh?

Article from April:

Crossing State Lines During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Self-Quarantine Requirements

"The Rhode Island order also requires that any Rhode Island resident who works outside of Rhode Island and cannot work from home must self-quarantine when not at work."

Thanks for clearing that up, redplum.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I'm curious how people are feeling about their mental health. I searched for some studies regarding mental health, but honestly I don't think enough time has passed for a true in-depth analysis. I am not nearly as secluded as many on this board. I've tried to keep our lives as "normal" as possible given the restrictions, but I still feel on edge and stressed out every day. I am definitely going to talk with my doctor about it...I'm worried I'm becoming depressed. I'm just curious if others are feeling very overwhelmed as we head into winter? I almost booked a vacation to a warm destination because I'm desperate to give my mental state a much-needed boost!

My wife's been taking it worse than I have been. For her, the isolation is really taking it's toll as she's a social butterfly. She misses dinner's out with friends, going away for a weekend every couple months, big family parties and even hosting the big Xmas bash. She isn't completely isolated as she goes into school to teach, but the isolation part from family/friends is what makes her sad. Also, her mom did catch Covid back in March and was in the ICU and nobody could visit. That was the absolute worst when this first hit having your mom in the hospital unable to use the phone and being told to stay inside when desolate streets were the new normal. It was a rough few weeks back in March for us.


Me? I'm fine. I'm more of an introvert, so I know how to occupy my mind. When I was in my 20's I was a social butterfly like my wife, but as I approach 40, I prefer my space. I keep in touch with friends via electronic means, and am perfectly fine hanging around the house. I don't need vacations. Would I like to see friends and more of my family in person? Absolutely. Does not doing that bother me? Not really. I've been restoring a car since Sept '19, so I've got plenty to keep myself and my mind busy outside of normal work, home and family duties.

I will say that this Covid thing is getting old and i'm ready to move on.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I'm curious how people are feeling about their mental health. I searched for some studies regarding mental health, but honestly I don't think enough time has passed for a true in-depth analysis. I am not nearly as secluded as many on this board. I've tried to keep our lives as "normal" as possible given the restrictions, but I still feel on edge and stressed out every day. I am definitely going to talk with my doctor about it...I'm worried I'm becoming depressed. I'm just curious if others are feeling very overwhelmed as we head into winter? I almost booked a vacation to a warm destination because I'm desperate to give my mental state a much-needed boost!

You're not alone. This is an interesting article I read recently that you may find useful.


https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article...ial.link.email

[mdovell]

I'd say the biggest difference for mental health at least for me is that at least in western Mass they seem to always be some type of festival or event on a pretty consistent basis. For example in Holyoke this is St Patrick's Day Parade in March that didn't happen is the Mattoon Street Art Festival in early September that didn't happen. The Puerto Rican parade didn't happen. There was no real fireworks on the 4th. AHL was canceled shortly and there has been no real music concerts around for the most part.

It's sort of felt like I was a little bit ahead of everybody else. I already had a bike. I half-ass making a mask out of a T-shirt in April, I already had a bread machine with making bread beforehand, I already had plenty of toilet paper at a time, I already had 90% rubbing alcohol, I already had a laptop although the Webcam was on back order for months, already had a ring light.

Music helps. I find some really different overseas music. Plenty of YouTube channels. Working out helps. Eventually I'd like to make a home gym.

I expect to move mid to late January. After that I'll be pretty busy with the house and probably WFH.

[sawyer2]

On a positive note, the UK has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - first doses available from next week

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55145696


And the FDA advisory committee meetings have been scheduled for Dec. 10th to review data and discuss emergency use authorization of Pfizer/BioNTech and ModeRNA vaccines.

....one step closer.

[BostonMike7]

Looks like medical community in nursing home residents may be first in line, which makes sense.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I'm curious how people are feeling about their mental health. I searched for some studies regarding mental health, but honestly I don't think enough time has passed for a true in-depth analysis. I am not nearly as secluded as many on this board. I've tried to keep our lives as "normal" as possible given the restrictions, but I still feel on edge and stressed out every day. I am definitely going to talk with my doctor about it...I'm worried I'm becoming depressed. I'm just curious if others are feeling very overwhelmed as we head into winter? I almost booked a vacation to a warm destination because I'm desperate to give my mental state a much-needed boost!

In my job, I work with people conducting research on this front. My girlfriend actually does too (on the IP/patent law end). Essentially, there's a clear widespread impact on mental health; but the depth of the impact won't be known for some time. Feelings of isolation are on the rise, particularly for those who live alone and/or are higher risk. Many people who have existing mental health conditions are struggling with the shakeup of their support networks - both going virtual in terms of clinical supports and the disconnect with social support networks. Depression and anxiety are on the rise and crisis/emergency behavioral health calls are drastically higher than they were pre-pandemic. But again, these last 9 months or so are essentially one long, drawn out trauma and the long-term effects will take years to see.

Personally, I think I'm in a similar boat to you. I live with my significant other, I've seen friends and family intermittently (with frequent testing), I still have job security and a steady income, I can work remotely and so can my girlfriend (so we can essentially seal off our household), we've been able to do things like hiking, boating, and (hopefully) skiing to keep us occupied, and we're not in a high risk category and are fairly healthy. So relative to the rest of the population, we're in pretty good shape. And that actually makes me feel guilty about not feeling OK all the time. It seems like every time I don't respond to "How are you?" with something more positive than "I'm OK," I have to follow up with a "but it could be a lot worse." In my field, we've had it drilled into our heads that it's "Ok to acknowledge you're not doing great, even if others have it worse," but it's still not easy to do.

We're not ready to book a tropical vacation over the next several months yet (though the temptation is admittedly there), but we're trying to set things up to look forward to. I think that's important for everyone. It can be a vacation (we're looking at options for Fall 2021), but it could be something as simple as planning on ordering takeout from a favorite restaurant next week. It's not a fix-all by any means, but setting some things up to look forward to can help counter the sustained hopelessness that often accompanies depression. Anyway, if you're feeling depressed, not sleeping, etc. you're certainly not alone.

[msRB311]

I've been having a rough time since early October I'd say mostly because of homeschooling and working and DH and I have different opinions on the virus. It was fine last spring and over the summer, but kind of hit me in October and has become more stressful watching the numbers go up knowing that things aren't going to change for a while. I like not having to commute into the office, but it's hard having two small kids to deal with. We just aren't doing much. We try to go for hikes and walks when we can. I think Thanksgiving threw me over the edge a bit. I didn't appreciate my mom inviting my aunt and my brother (brother didnt come) and then DH invited his brother also (he didn't come either). I was like ok people this is my damn house too. I imagine Xmas will be the same. Just so over this.