People who live alone - how are you getting on?

[The39thStep]

The cafes and bars , who didn’t do home delivery , opening up for takeaways has really improved my wellbeing. You can order a basic dish from a very limited menu and have two beers whilst you wait . I’ve bumped into loads of Portuguese that I know and despite my deficit language skills have had good if short chats about how am I , it must be difficult being a stranger here with the confinement etc and please let me buy you a beer or coffee. All of which makes you feel part of a community and has cheered me up. It’s the socialisation just being with people that is so important in life .

 

[The39thStep]

Tomorrow I’m off to visit my good friend and neighbour who speaks no English , bar counting . He’s had an operation for throat cancer and been in hospital for two weeks , he text me to say he was coming home yesterday afternoon. He can’t talk so communication is going to be even more limited than before , the prognosis about ever speaking is complex and difficult, but he’s a great guy and can’t wait to see him .

 

[Flavour]

Meanwhile in Italy we're back in lockdown and it's pretty dry. It all just feels endless. Like it will be like this forever now. This is what life is now. It's thoroughly depressing. Living alone is awful. I try and speak on the phone to people every day, but it's not the same. Given the slow progress of vaccination here I've no hope that it will improve much between now and autumn.

 

[existentialist]

I've had an awful two days, with a sick rabbit, and I was sitting back this afternoon and trying to get a handle on my feelings, and what came to mind was "what would be lovely, right now, would be to be doing this, dealing with the (many and complex) feelings, and sorting out the practicalities with someone alongside". I probably tend to take my self-reliance a bit far sometimes, but this is definitely one of those situations where being able to have a friend round to help, or do the support thing (it's really not the same on the phone) would be ideal.

 

[metalguru]

Still finding the weekends particularly hard. I do try to fill them with activities to try to make them stand out from weekdays, and have a nice meal etc. But it stills isolated as I don't feel safe enough to resume social activities in a way that I see some people around me doing.

I wish I could believe that things will get back to normal or near normal quickly after 19th July, but I don't see it happening,

 

[Elpenor]

I can’t tell if my isolation would have happened anyway due to covid or not. Broke up with wife last year, moved to a new area this year mates all live away, have families etc. Health issues (weight + dodgy leg) mean I can’t get out much anyway.

I do WhatsApp with mates all the time but none are within an hour.

 

[existentialist]

Today, I walked into the kitchen, and there was a fly buzzing around. I said to it, in a matter-of-fact voice, "I am going to open the window, and you can fly out. Or I will kill you."

And then heard back what I just said. And felt the fear.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

 

[Elpenor]

Oh yes I am properly talking to myself now as well

 

[kalidarkone]

Today, I walked into the kitchen, and there was a fly buzzing around. I said to it, in a matter-of-fact voice, "I am going to open the window, and you can fly out. Or I will kill you."

And then heard back what I just said. And felt the fear.

Why though? I do that kind of shit all the time.
I've always talked to myself. I'm quite agreeable!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Today, I walked into the kitchen, and there was a fly buzzing around. I said to it, in a matter-of-fact voice, "I am going to open the window, and you can fly out. Or I will kill you."

And then heard back what I just said. And felt the fear.

I agree that voicing murderous thoughts is probably crossing a line, but otherwise talking to yourself is perfectly normal.

 

[kalidarkone]

I'm much better today after hitting the peak of my isolation yesterday, where I was really grumpy, but satisfied this by fireing off petty complaint letters to ocardo Also I went to bed much earlier and slept for 9 hours.

 

[nogojones]

Today, I walked into the kitchen, and there was a fly buzzing around. I said to it, in a matter-of-fact voice, "I am going to open the window, and you can fly out. Or I will kill you."

And then heard back what I just said. And felt the fear.

I always talk to the flies that find their way in and with gentle shepherding and persuasive words they tend to leave via the door pretty quickly.

It's the cat I worry about. He listens to my wittering all day long.

 

[cybershot]

How we all doing?

 

[existentialist]

It's beginning to do my head in. I get some very brief relief from social contact, but very quickly after it's over, I've flopped back into isolation mode.

 

[Elpenor]

I’ve not seen anyone I’d call a friend for 2 months. Moving to a new place hasn’t helped, and combination of covid, wfh and now a mobility problem are making me very housebound.

Missing out on seeing a bunch of mates at a party on Friday as the host has ostracised me. But I will see one mate and my brother and nieces on Friday. I will drink deeply the draught of social interaction as it is seldom available.

 

[Aladdin]

Why though? I do that kind of shit all the time.
I've always talked to myself. I'm quite agreeable!

Yep. I do too. Sometimes just to work something out...
Other times just a general rant out loud...

 

[cybershot]

It's beginning to do my head in. I get some very brief relief from social contact, but very quickly after it's over, I've flopped back into isolation mode.

I’ve not been keeping up with the rules in wales. Is it still pretty strict? Or is it a case of not being close to friends?

 

[cybershot]

I’ve not seen anyone I’d call a friend for 2 months. Moving to a new place hasn’t helped, and combination of covid, wfh and now a mobility problem are making me very housebound.

Missing out on seeing a bunch of mates at a party on Friday as the host has ostracised me. But I will see one mate and my brother and nieces on Friday. I will drink deeply the draught of social interaction as it is seldom available.

Can people come to you if you can’t get to them?

 

[existentialist]

I’ve not been keeping up with the rules in wales. Is it still pretty strict? Or is it a case of not being close to friends?

It's a number of things, all coming together. The rules here are more strict, but that's not a massive problem in itself, though it does restrict my opportunities to hang out with people other than in bars...and those largely aren't my kind of people. I think that, more than anything, it's the lack of opportunities to spontaneously socialise in non-booze-related settings.

 

[Elpenor]

Can people come to you if you can’t get to them?

Mobility issue is walking. I can easily drive to people. Issue is that most of the people I know within 100 miles of me have taken the side of the person who has ostracised me

 

[editor]

Now that I'm in Covid jail for a week while folks are all out socialising, I'm really feeling the burn of living alone...

 

[existentialist]

Now that I'm in Covid jail for a week while folks are all out socialising, I'm really feeling the burn of living alone...

I get that, editor. I spent much of the early months of lockdown quite voluntarily self-isolating, but being obliged to do 10 days' quarantine with no possibility of contact nearly broke me. And that was without having to deal with the sights and sounds of people socialising outside my door. It's a big part of the reason why I flatly refused to go out to France to help the ex-Mrs (although there were many, many other reasons) - the thought of sitting in here hearing all the life going on out on the street was an unbearable one.

Hang in there.

 

[ginger_syn]

Today, I walked into the kitchen, and there was a fly buzzing around. I said to it, in a matter-of-fact voice, "I am going to open the window, and you can fly out. Or I will kill you."

And then heard back what I just said. And felt the fear.

Thats fine, its when you find yourself telling of both sides of the argument you're having with yourself. .

 

[FridgeMagnet]

It's probably the main contributing factor in my currently being off work with covid-related stress, so now I don't even get to communicate with people at work. Fucking galaxy brain move there, fridge.

 

[8ball]

It's probably the main contributing factor in my currently being off work with covid-related stress, so now I don't even get to communicate with people at work. Fucking galaxy brain move there, fridge.

Really shit, innit.

 

[weltweit]

I feel much less singular now I am back working in the office.

Working from home for about a year was quite isolating.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I spoke to the gp after the above post - I'd been waiting for a callback, I have a psych but I will probably need a sick note - and I got the impression that they see a lot of cases of people with mh issues due to isolation. He mentioned it as a significant factor and didn't seem in the slightest surprised when I said it was probably the worst aspect for me, and recognised that it wasn't something that people could necessarily do much about.

All this makes me angrier at the capitalist ratlicker brigade who tout "mental health" as a reason to just not do anything, of course. My mental health would be a lot better if the government had actually done their fucking job and not arsed about for a year plus (ongoing) so we were forced to have numerous lockdowns. No lockdown and living in plagueville would have been considerably worse. I'm just waiting for any joker who wants to bang on about "mental health" at me.

 

[RubyToogood]

I spoke to the gp after the above post - I'd been waiting for a callback, I have a psych but I will probably need a sick note - and I got the impression that they see a lot of cases of people with mh issues due to isolation. He mentioned it as a significant factor and didn't seem in the slightest surprised when I said it was probably the worst aspect for me, and recognised that it wasn't something that people could necessarily do much about.

All this makes me angrier at the capitalist ratlicker brigade who tout "mental health" as a reason to just not do anything, of course. My mental health would be a lot better if the government had actually done their fucking job and not arsed about for a year plus (ongoing) so we were forced to have numerous lockdowns. No lockdown and living in plagueville would have been considerably worse. I'm just waiting for any joker who wants to bang on about "mental health" at me.

I absolutely feel that this is a complete abuse of the term mental health. It's a term which suggests that this is a personal problem for weak individuals rather than an entirely normal and reasonable response to being put in an intolerable situation.

 

[RubyToogood]

I've always worked from home in this job but the actual amount of time I spent at home was not always that great because I used to work from cafes and co-working spaces where people I know would speak to me a lot precisely for this reason.

It is very isolating not being able to do that. Things had been improving with being able to go out socially and particularly going back swimming at the lido. Then I broke my wrist so back to square one.