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Dealing with COVID-19

What effect is the pandemic having on your mental health?

  • It is making it easier

    Votes: 16 24.6%

  • It is making it harder

    Votes: 49 75.4%
  • Total voters
    65
Where i live (nz) i'm allowed to go out for walks so long as i keep to myself or with people in my household. And stick to the 2m/6ft rule. The supposed "virtually corona free country" (as world news and even national geographic said, which isn't true, but the curve of cases in nz is one of the smallest in the world and the lockdowns here came down pretty heavy pretty early on. But I won't delve much further into politics here).
I've found a piece of advice very helpful in that when you have done as much precautions you are able to it's best to let go of worries about corona cos you've done and are doing your part to help prevent getting sick. It's also best to try as best as one can to be careful but not overly anxious. Of course this piece of advice may not sound good to someone who's got severe anxiety and depression...i think a couple years ago i woulda been more worried than i am now but i've spent a number of years in therapy and practicing strategies and a good routine, and i came out the other side of the woods before corona hit, so i'm more able to be comfortable with the piece of advice in face of all this. I also think another piece of advice i would give myself is that it's best to think that you're not the only one going through this...it's humans as a collective that are going through it. Before corona hit i had a support worker who I would hang out with...he's pretty much my best friend aswell. Twice a week we'd go out to the mall or to a park for a walk or on some occassions out further...so long as i provide him money for fuel. And my mum and i would go out aswell once a week. Since my country went into lockdown i haven't been able to, for obvious reasons. My support worker and I are friends on Steam so we chat on there every now and again. Although i've been finding ways to keep myself entertained enough that i'm doing really well. I've been goin for walks once a day... as well as diving down internet rabbit holes and I also have plenty of games on the backlog that still need completing. I've also found that going without my usual sushi/ramen or curry takeouts once a week doesn't really affect me much, and I've had a good amount more left to save for things. I saved for a better pair of walking shoes than the $15 budget pair i had before, so my foot doesn't hurt anymore and for days after it arrived in the post i felt like i was walking not on the ground but on pillows
 
Well it's not exactly fine furniture grade work, but in fact a common 2x4 miter cut and assembled with screws.
The tank overhung my stand by 2 inches on each end but not the sides, so Nervous Nelly decided to fully support it with a wooden framework made out of a stud:
topper.jpg

After it was assembled, I did a quick sand on it to round the corners and smooth it out, then hit it with some cherry oil stain to darken it up a little.
29 gallon or roughly 110 liters for the glowfish pond:
20200506_212240.jpg

I still need to get a blacklight tube for the hood and begin to cycle it, but that will all come together real soon!
 
I graduated early around the end of January with no job and no drivers license. I was supposed to pick up my diploma in June, but my state recently signed an order to postpone evictions and foreclosures until after July 10th so any large gathering including any 4th of July events are likely going to be canceled. I got into a disability program for my cities bus system but that's not going to be very helpful right now.
I currently make about two video chats a week both about an hour long one to my therapist and another to my church's youth group. Church is now two YouTube videos a week and my Therapist appointments went virtual after face-masks became more required. I have more or less spent the last 2 to 3 months stuck in a corner of my parents basement with nothing to do but cook my meals and do a few chores.​
 
Read, play piano, watch movies or things on youtube, go running or walking, text a friend, work (teach piano)... it's paradise! I love how long this is lasting!
 
I've been breaking down a lot and I ended up calling a psychiatrist for the first time in my life. So, I guess something good came from it. I am getting help. I know what it's like to be in your position, I was going through the same thing too post graduation in 2018, minus the corona. I did end up getting my license at 23, and finding a really good job. It will work out for you and I wish you the best of luck and happiness. I am thinking about taking up knitting.
 
This made me crave books to read, movies to watch. I also spend time cooking things that require prep. Lentils can be microwaved. Slowly. It's nice to just not spend money and not feel guilty staying home.

But if you just graduated, then congrats on that. Just realise this is a bump in the road. When you start working, you will actually miss your downtime you have right now.
 
OK before i start, this isn't just a rant but i normally complain as both of a coping mechanism and stress relief, in some parts of this thread i may sound angry or say a lot of non nonsensical rants, this is because i either don't know why i am angry or as a sign of emotional relief i guess

Normally i just vent off to myself and friends but Tcx(another user here) advised me to post here.

Jump to the "-----Now here comes the main point" if you dont want to read backstory, if you really just want a very short version jump to the end where there is the TL;DR
Also sorry if the texts seems snipped or badly constructed, as i write more i rewrite more and end up making really bad lines



I need advice, i was diagnosed(idk if its official or not) with both adhd(17) and later Asperger syndrome(18).
When i was little i had very little trouble organizing myself especially on school matters. school was easy, i waked up, got to school, and had homework.

As i grew older things like having to study for the tests and delivering projects became increasingly harder. I never was organized i just did everything when it needed to be done even though i felt a bit stressed doing it
This was all pretty much standard behavior(even for Neuro-typicals)

When i reached high-school this became noticeable because my grades suffered a lot and good grades became a matter, of whether i liked the subject or not.
I always asked myself on how did others manage to study and has a result get good grades and lets not talk about managing time

Until my psychiatrist suggested i had autism, well it wasn't immediate but i started to see some videos on youtube about autistic behavior and reasoning and one point that made me discredit the fact that i had autism was one about routines:

I felt like i wasn't autistic because "well i don't even have a fixed routine! if i had one my academic performance wouldn't be so inconsistent..." so a few months back i decided to start making a very fixed routine Minute by Minute resembling a time table(even for things like taking specific medication)

The new routine had many virtues.
I no longer felt so tired(even waking up ultra early) and things like doing my bed(that previously would take 30 minutes), only took 3-5 minutes with the new timetable
Sadly the routine was flawed due to other people existing
And everytime my routine failed i got stressed out and angry(or it accumulated) so i kinda slipped off, and for a few months i failed in achieving all the times in the timetable, in parts that were my responsibility

I also noticed that i had a routine to my surprise.
when i changed showering to the morning and to take 5 minutes i started noticing that after dinner(the time when i previously had a shower) now felt like i was missing something from completing my day sometimes i even showered unconsciously, to the point where in many days i showered twice to feel good, and in one day, showered three times(in the morning after lunch and after dinner, it was hot although the third time was unnecessary)


-----Now here comes the main point
I decided to force myself into doing the routine i had written by choosing the 8 am college timetable(meaning almost every day i would have class's at 8 and leave by 1 pm) which my parents laughed at me, because i do not own a car and i always arrived late everywhere
Not only that i was relying on my dads car ride(which was unreliable and meant arriving late almost every day)
The first day of the semester came in and everything i did seemed like magic in my fingers it seemed like as long as i put a time to start and a time to end for each individual task(like coding in a imperative language) i would do it without a problem regardless of the time i displaced to do it
Unfortunately planning takes a long time because i have to seek out a lot of variables and things that previously "just showed up" so i ended up just planning the morning and gathering ideas for the evening
and ill admit that the days after that weren't so perfect as the first but i was doing some progress
AND THE QUARANTINE DESTROYED EVERYTHING
lets start with the rant(without any curses)
So the simpletons that are our teachers decided to absolutely destroy any coherence with the teaching system

As i say to describe the problem to a friend when venting off "Students dont forget to install: Skype, microsoft teams, discord, mumble, overtone, raid call, whatsapp, messenger, steam chat, and dont forget to install all the software that is specific to each of the subjects"

In the first day, i get like 9 messages each with 4-5 long paragraphs bloated with details that werent needed that previously wouldve taken less than a minute to say (look like this thread) since normally i just run through blocks of text(which i am expecting you to do rn)
this was too new for me
From the idiotic different ways each subject provided the information and teaching necessary to learn the subject, to the paranoic attitude of the teachers related to exams and tests(WE ARE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE... RECORDING OUR IP WONT DO ANYTHING AND THEN THERES THAT STUPID CONFUSING AND PERPLEXING IMAGE WE HAVE TO TAKE, even a naked picture of ourselves with a timestamp would be better because at least it would prove we werent cheating but it would be easy to ask for it because i REALLY dont understand what they wanted me to deliver i dont care if i have a 0 on the exam) to the constant and delicious spam of urgent notifications, mails, and work we've gotta deliver
Every time i go to study I just get really angry and stressed, and the only two explanations are: either im lazy and feel like im being cheated on, like the germans after losing the first world war(Except they weren't lazy), or the routine of normal schoolwork(which frankly was ultra easy) was severed and im forced to adapt to this wonky different routine(which im failing miserably at)

Even the neurotipicals are failing to attend to class's and do work yet i seem like the only one who feels stressed and angry over it... Is there any one feeling more stressed with the change of work environment?
Today was the first time I actually waked early to study and i failed miserably because i missed so many class's and the powerpoints/slides are so mediocre that i spent 40 minutes trying to understand what an indian on youtube explained in 1:37 minutes. I also failed due to other people requesting things to me when i was on a timetable

TL;DR The quarantine destroyed my routine and consequently my workload, I need help on how can i better adapt to the problem, and how do autistic people avoid "major breaches" on the routine
 
To the above post. I kind of felt the same way. I had perfect routine. A job l really liked. And boom. It blew up in my face. Anger, disappointment, sad, these are things l am dealing with now. And l am doing my best not to irritate anybody around me with this. And l can't volunteer. But l think l have done pretty well. I have my brain on emotional quarantine- it's working. Just spaz out on my ex and my mom. That's it. And l deal with what's on my desktop and windshield of life. All we can do at this forum is view this as a campout that went too long and sing kumbiya. Anybody got marshmallows?
 
The only thing that is any different for me personally is that I do not occasionally eat inside of a restaurant, which is no great loss.

One place I like the most is a downtown NY pizza place. Which is way too crowded whenever there is an event going on. Of course there have been no events for weeks and I can still eat at one of the outside picnic benches (weather permitting). So that has been a win.

I do miss the weekend family get togethers with aunt uncle and cousins. I miss my uncles (dad's brothers) and my grandparents especially my grandpa (dad's dad). I guess I am into male bonding.
 
For socialising & to learn something new, I joined a Bridge class (cards) after relocating & was playing 2-3 times a week till C19 restrictions stopped that.

I'm lucky to have an allotment where I grow flowers & veg; the other plot holders are quite friendly; shared interests helps & I visit most days.

Not much changed for me under C19 restriction; I keep a journal, do colouring in, watch download/ streamed & read.

The local economy is Tourism-based & this is the quietest season in decades, so that's quite unique.

I'm angry at our Govt much of the time but try to let go what I cannot change.
 
My state, Wisconsin, USA, recently re-opened its bars (some say prematurely).
Corona Extra
full


full
(Check out the sign in the background...)​
 
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After a bit of a speed wobble caused from investigation of the pandemics rabbit hole I am dealing with things ok. Keeping contact with friends, have made the odd garden visit (2m distance kept) lol breaking the law? not sure, though I am fortunate enough to be living in a rural area of the UK with a very low infection rate so far. We are all being careful about this thing, I just hope that the virus doesn't linger within asymptomatic cases so that this thing can burn out & we can get on with living. Seriously considering an Open University course to better my skill set & the grant of £4.5k is tempting... just not sure what to do yet.
 
Indecision exists because of the uncertainty of everything. Usually you can make excellent decisions with hard facts. But these daily parameters have soft choices so you are thinking should l look for toilet paper or see if that county/state office is open. Is my bank lobby open or should l see if l find socks today. Our choices are pretty ridiculous. Now l don't care what the store has in new items, my legs walk me right to toilet paper and disinfectant aisle for signs of normality.
 
L.A. is starting to open things up, such as retail and malls, but I think they're doing some sort of curb-side way of sales or something along those lines. I'm not sure because I haven't gone anywhere! :cool:
 
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