Covid related agoraphobia

[friendofdorothy]

They seem to all now have a screen between driver and passengers plus windows in the back can be open

useful to know

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

thank you that is helpful - urbz on other threads have got me thinking about upgrading my masks. At the beginning of lockdown I had some good ones I had recieved at work (K95s?) But I can only wear them for a short time before the slight extra effort of breathing in them gave me an asthma or a panic attack, so I was reluctant to buy more. I am going to look for some FFP2/3s.

FFP2 are the same as KN95s I'm afraid.
They do make me short of breath when I am active but that is due to decades of heavy smoking and would happens without the mask. I know my friend did get panic attacks from wearing the surgical ones at times in supermarkets, but she got used to them in the end.

 

[friendofdorothy]

ok new therapist starting soon. I'm going to buy some new masks to readiness of going somewhere.

Thank you everybody

 

[Ms T]

Sorry to hear you’re still suffering so badly with anxiety. I hope your therapist can help.

 

[RubyToogood]

I wondered if you would consider medication as it was suggested for menopause for you. I totally understand your concerns about that but there are reasons why antidepressants can work to alleviate things like hot flushes and they do have the bonus of helping with mood.

I say this as I'm on a very mild AD for a balance disorder which it's definitely helped with and I've stayed on it because I was not otherwise coping with Everything.

 

[pseudonarcissus]

friendofdorothy i just saw this on the DLR and I thought of you…I’ve not been in U.K. since before c-19, so sorry if it’s common knowledge

 

[friendofdorothy]

friendofdorothy i just saw this on the DLR and I thought of you…I’ve not been in U.K. since before c-19, so sorry if it’s common knowledge View attachment 329375

Thanks.

 

[mango5]

How is everyone doing now?
I had tickets for a couple of large indoor things but they've been postponed again (and again and again) until December and next June. I'm quite pleased about delaying the decision about whether to go.
I'm still limiting what I do but do take public transport in the hope that I'm unlikely to covid-adjacent to anyone for long. My ill-informed fantasy is that the viral load will not be significant. Seems to have worked so far.
Bit concerned about teaching next term. I've been allocated a tiny room.

 

[Steel Icarus]

It's weird, my anxiety does not feel directly related to Covid, though it's undoubtedly been a cause of a lot of stress and worry the last couple of years. Although I've had Covid, travel on public transport (buses) to work where I deal with and have even been to a gig, I'm very nervous about going anywhere outside of my usual "bubbles". I skipped an old friend's civil partnership last week as the thought of it made me anxious though it didn't feel like it was the prospect of getting Covid that was worrying me, just the effort of being near people (some of whom I know, many more unfamiliar) in a place outside those bubbles. Weirdly though work is where I caught Covid and where I'm overwhelmingly more likely than anywhere else to catch it, returning a week on Monday is only being dreaded because, you know, it's work.

 

[friendofdorothy]

It's been a long time that we have been told to act weird and avoid things, and now we have forgotten how to feel safe

 

[8ball]

It's been a long time that we have been told to act weird and avoid things, and now we have forgotten how to feel safe

There was a massive effort to make people feel unsafe tbf.

Can hardly be surprising that when they gauge it to affect almost everybody, then some people are going to be more affected by it.

Should be some support available, seems the least they could do.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

It's weird, my anxiety does not feel directly related to Covid, though it's undoubtedly been a cause of a lot of stress and worry the last couple of years. Although I've had Covid, travel on public transport (buses) to work where I deal with and have even been to a gig, I'm very nervous about going anywhere outside of my usual "bubbles". I skipped an old friend's civil partnership last week as the thought of it made me anxious though it didn't feel like it was the prospect of getting Covid that was worrying me, just the effort of being near people (some of whom I know, many more unfamiliar) in a place outside those bubbles. Weirdly though work is where I caught Covid and where I'm overwhelmingly more likely than anywhere else to catch it, returning a week on Monday is only being dreaded because, you know, it's work.

If you have social anxiety, it's weird getting back into the swing of things. Much as I sort of enjoyed lockdown, I think my confidence slipped a lot during it. I'm starting to feel slightly better at work and being around people (I think) - though still glad it's only two days a week I'm in the office.

 

[8ball]

I think if there was pressure to take public transport into the office several days a week I’d feel a bit iffy. As it is, I have driven in each day this week to a near empty air-conditioned office.

 

[mango5]

That's nice.

I take the bus to an under-ventilated office that is entirely empty or wildly crowded. Morale is well below sea level and the whole back end of the work is riddled with holes. Loads of people are gone and no-one knows how anything student-facing stuff works, the lines of workplace accountability and office politics are murkey at best. Public transport is the least of my work-related chances of catching covid. Thousands of people sharing corridors, food and sanitation facilities will be be a petri-dish, a germ factory. I'll be there 30-50 hours a week over the next few months.

Anyway. This job is my least-worst option right now.

I think I feel a bit like Steel Icarus and I'm not trying to nail down why I'm inconsistent. That is a rabbit hole to avoid.

 

[spanglechick]

It's weird, my anxiety does not feel directly related to Covid, though it's undoubtedly been a cause of a lot of stress and worry the last couple of years. Although I've had Covid, travel on public transport (buses) to work where I deal with and have even been to a gig, I'm very nervous about going anywhere outside of my usual "bubbles". I skipped an old friend's civil partnership last week as the thought of it made me anxious though it didn't feel like it was the prospect of getting Covid that was worrying me, just the effort of being near people (some of whom I know, many more unfamiliar) in a place outside those bubbles. Weirdly though work is where I caught Covid and where I'm overwhelmingly more likely than anywhere else to catch it, returning a week on Monday is only being dreaded because, you know, it's work.

Forgive me if I’m stretching too far, but it seems from the outside that your specific “work being covid cess pit anxiety” hit a watershed once you actually had covid. Does that seem right? So what perhaps seemed to be a very specific bogeyman lost its teeth, but the underlying reactions and emotions have remained?

 

[Steel Icarus]

Forgive me if I’m stretching too far, but it seems from the outside that your specific “work being covid cess pit anxiety” hit a watershed once you actually had covid. Does that seem right? So what perhaps seemed to be a very specific bogeyman lost its teeth, but the underlying reactions and emotions have remained?

This is a good way of putting it, yes. And I'm sorry I've only just seen this; I hope you didn't think I didn't answer out of huffiness or disagreement spanglechick

 

[friendofdorothy]

Just wanted to say that after a lot of therapy I feel ok now no more panicks. I'm still a bit nervous about med appoints in small rooms and I'm not sure if I'll ever feel ok about long journeys on trains or planes. But local transport is ok now, and hugging people is ok too.

Think it's given me a lot more understanding and sympathy for people with social anxiety, phobias and panic attacks.

It was good to have random people to turn to. Thank you all for the support on this thread.