How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions... #2

Think that after the vaccines, even if you catch the virus, there will be very few probabilities that your symptoms will be grave.
I guess the windows in the bus are open so the concentration of virus is not gonna be so high.

I guess in transportation, the use of a mask is obligation. So, would you feel very embarrassed if you asked the person whose mask is down to put on him/her. With nice words, of course. Without any need for a confrontation.
Then, there are a type of mask (I can’t tell you now which ones, because I don’t remember) that not only protect people from you, they also protect you from people.

I haven't been keeping up with the news and only found out yesterday that my state has done away with most rules as of yesterday. Masks only still required on public transport and care facilities, no longer in stores. Still when I went grocery shopping this morning, most people were wearing a mask, only a few went without.

So now that things are mostly possible again.... I feel like I should be doing better mentally. But of course I'm not. How do you recover from 2 years of isolation? I've traveled again, I've been to gigs, but they were just brief distractions. I already didn't have a huge social circle to begin with, and I've lost touch with almost everyone. How do you get back from that, when you also have social anxiety? And work is still offering the possibilty of home office, so very few people go to the office. I am certainly not brave enough to go out by myself and meet people. So WTF do I do?
I want to work at getting a life again, but then when I get motivated and want to do stuff, it only takes one slight setback to knock me right off my feet again

But then, I wasn't even supposed to be affected this much, right? The lockdown was oh so terrible for kids and uni students, but I guess by my age, I should've had a partner and close friends, probably even a kid to look after. That makes me feel even worse. Like things should be back to normal now and I should just magically bounce back like everyone else seemingly has?

How you feel is completely valid @BreakForTheLight I don’t know a single person who hasn’t been affected on some level.

Yesterday I had the humbling experience of sitting next to a lady who was clinically extremely vulnerable although not elderly, and still scared to leave her home - she was at her first social event in 2 years. Was she relaxed? No! How could she be.

They talk about living with covid but IMO it’s misleading- we’ve all been living with covid these last 2 years and we’ll continue to.

Please feel free to ignore but is there any way you could volunteer? Or join a hobby group (exercise/crafts?)? Those are both ways I’ve helped myself socialise.

You can’t guess how much I understand you.
On one side, these two years of restrictions and isolation, for someone with social anxiety is like having to begin from zero again. On the other side, the fact of having these thoughts in your head about not having a couple, no babies, only a reduce social group and now distanced because of the pandemia. All this made you nearly impossible to do what for other people is normal.
Sure your head tells you all the time, you are different, people will know I’m different at the first sight...how can I behave normal and confident with people when I don’t feel that way even when I’m alone.

I’d wish I could put all these thoughts in your head away or there were a therapy that did it.

From my ignorance, I think that only if you get free from these thoughts or somehow you arrive to an agreement with yourself about that it’s not so bad what you have achieved so far and you take care of yourself by accepting everything in yourself and even little by little reach to the point when you even like many things in yourself, is the only way to face to any situation without triggering your anxiety or at least, you will notice it pretty diminished.
I know is something very difficult. I saw it impossible. And I got it thanks to many circumstances I went through such as, getting rid of one of the things that put the bigger pressure onto me, my job. So, I only have to be grateful. No need to feel forced to deal with people every single day.
And suddenly, one day, a friend of you and me, proposed and encourage me to do some kind of stuff to get more confident. I don’t feel now less than anybody when I used to see everyone as superior.

I know you can’t see it but you are completely fine and suit with the world today. Many men and women don’t have a loving relationship. Many people don’t have babies. And others, the only friends they have are online contacts. Many people don’t even cross a couple of words with their neighbours.
On the other side, you have some really good points. Not everyone have them so developed.
You are smart and intelligent. Very funny.
I’ve been knowing@Break for a time. That’s why I know it.
She’s funny. The most rare things happen to her and when she’s telling about it, you can’t avoid laughing.
You have an interesting conversation, a good writer, faithful and trustworthy. You can’t see it but you are full of good points and you have your ideas very clear only that the f@cking social anxiety plays bad games with you.
I’m very sorry because I know how much it can stop a person.
But, think about the positive I have said to you because it’s f@cking TRUE. I wouldn’t say it if it were in a different way.
This is what people see.

I’m thinking about two possibilities. Have you got someone who you can go jogging with? You will feel safer with this company and who knows what’s going to happen any moment along these runs. You can meet people, coincide with others you already know. Something funny may happens. Noone knows. Surprise!

Another possibility is to go walking alone instead of go jogging (the former is cleaner, I’m gonna tell you why now), then, at the end of the route, the finish line will be a café to take something. A coffee, a juice or whatever.
There again, you won’t know what can happen. Who is gonna go there too. Who’s gonna share some words with you.
This is more or less what I do. And I have shared with different people. Some of them, I share time with when we see us and I even have an appointment with a lady from time to time with our doggies and go to have lunch or something like that. I also had the possibility to do the same with guys but you know, I have a partner. So, I’m closed to that possibility unless he became a friend and I trust he’s not looking for anything but a friendship.
You can do it. I know the harder part is to take these thoughts out of your head. I know it. Wished I could help you with that. Only you can pass through this way.

As of tomorrow the outdoor mask mandate is finally gone, except in areas where it is not possible to keep a distance. It's about time! Silly me, I thought it was in effect yesterday and walked to the security booth at the entrance to our neighbor without a mask, only putting it on to sign for the package. What a rebel I am haha!

Thank you, Azul and Disco! Sorry for not responding, I'm still a bit of a mess, half the time I don't even know what I'm feeling or how I'm doing but I appreciate both of your posts!

I've got my first totally maskless, free standing concert tomorrow and I have to admit I'm a litte nervous. The one in Belgium that was rule-free was seated so not quite the same as in a club.

I have to say I am pleasantly surprised to see most people still wearing their masks in the store here, even though it's no longer required. Though when I went to a different store 15 mins away on Saturday, there were a lot more maskless people.

Numbers seem to be going down here.... but then there's no test requirements anymore so who knows what the real numbers are.

I will be curious to hear how the concert goes. I went to my first maskless concert recently. People kept their distance and I could overhear others talking about how it was the first time they'd been to a show since Covid and how they felt a little nervous. More people hanging around the back than usual. The place was also empty until the last minute and now I wonder if that was because people wanted to stay outside of the building for as long as possible whereas before you might go early to hang out with friends? I felt more nervous on the bus than in the big concert venue. The show was in a much larger venue than it normally would be and I was glad for that.


I also wonder where we go from here. A lot of the social activities I used to do are still virtual or canceled. Nonprofits I volunteer with kept the work and cut out the fun. Where can you meet people if they aren't congregating? Also, some of my friends are saying that they love the Covid hermit life and don't plan on going back to the old ways! What if the kinds of people I tend to like never come back out??


We are leaving today for our first vacation in three years. I am pretty excited. I had plans to visit family I haven't seen in years but they just caught Covid

I’m really interested to hear about your experiences at concerts @hvert and @BreakForTheLight especially as I’m going to my first venue in over 2 years next week. It will be seated however but there’s no distancing or face coverings required.

That’s interesting about people not mixing as freely as before around the venue.

Also a good observation hvert, what if the kind of people you like don’t come back out. I too wonder about people who’ve chosen to isolate being missed in the whole balance of society.

I feel like the narrative here in England is heavily political and there’s no space for the thoughts and nuances you describe, we seem to have become very one track. There’s much more than just the pandemic at play here of course. I know I’m not supposed to get political here but the fact is my own state of mind is very much affected by the political situation, I won’t write too much more but how many countries are being lead by leaders who broke their own lockdown rules and have been fined by the police? It’s incredible.

I’ve said it before but you people here have helped keep me sane these last few years, you’re all intelligent, and balanced with your thoughts and how you write them. Thanks.

Ahum. Well if your event is seated, it won't be anything like mine at all

I can't say anything about before the concert as I have the worst time management and only got to the venue when the support act had already started.

As to the concert itself..... keep in mind I live in pretty much party central of Germany and the gig was pretty loud. And wild. There was NO distancing at all. Like, NONE. Like strangers jumping and dancing into you. I have to admit I ended up a good few metres further to the front than where I started as well

But guys..... I had the bestest time ever!!! I have not felt so alive in 2 years. I honesty didn't even think I would enjoy the concert that much because it wasn't one of the musicians I usually listen to (first time seeing this guy live). And I think two years ago, this would have actually been my worst nightmare. Zero personal space, I HATE gigs like that - even before Corona. And then to be there while we're still in a pandemic???
But it was amazing. It's so weird, even to me! I guess I needed to catch up on being around other people after two years???

I woke up this morning with a warning from my Corona app for high risk encounters on no less than 4 days most recent one on the 13th. At least not on the day of the concert, I thought! That was the only place where I didn't wear a mask inside.

Then as I got back from picking up the tests I'd ordered from Amazon, I got another warning. High risk encounter on the 14th aka the day of the concert. Sigh. I'm feeling a little bit under the weather but nothing serious. Did a test right away, it's still got a few minutes processing time left but so far not even the faintest line.

And as I was typing, the timer for the test went off. Negative although to be honest, if this were covid, I'd be glad to get it over with, with such minimal symptoms So either it's a cold, or PMS, or Covid but the viral load is too low for the at home test. Will try to get one done at a test center before I go to visit my parents this weekend.

A coworker of my partner is positive. Crossing fingers that we don’t get pest.

Let me tell you that you travel more than Willy Ford 😂.

Hope you get better soon and I’m crossing my fingers for you to be negative and can go to visit your parents.

Inside masks aren’t be obligatory anymore here in Spain. But, I’m gonna go on using it, only that I have to choose another type of mask.
Until now, I have been wearing a mask who protect others, an others use a mask who is supposed to protect me. Now, I have to change the mask, since maybe others are not gonna wear a mask, I’m not be protected so I will have to use a mask who protects myself.

I was going to post a separate thread on this but then I thought actually it fits right here.

I’m not particularly concerned about covid anymore, that’s not to say I think it’s no longer a threat, just that I personally have had it and was okay.

But I am really aware of how the last 2 years have affected my mental health. Specifically my anxiety and social anxiety issues. Over the last 10 years I made great strides with my social anxiety, I mixed with more people, I did a whole host of different activities. Slowly I did improve- okay not the life and soul of the party but every day functioning good.

Now I feel uneasy about socialising. Not terrified but uneasy. I have not been for an evening out in over 2 years. Tomorrow night me and my h are going out, a low key musical event, then afterwards I booked a nearby hotel. I want to do it - that’s why I booked it but I feel uneasy. I wish I could just let go and have fun.

Well I did just let go (sort of!) and had fun. This gig was a sellout so the venue was packed, that felt very strange and yet it’s something we used to do all the time. My nerves settled a lot, because I was absorbed by the performance, and the band are friends of my h so it felt personal. It was good, and h enjoyed himself which was really good to see, he saw a few different friends too.

It brought home to us how socially disconnected we’ve been. I’m not advocating our choice as the right one BTW but on balance it’s the right one for us I think. I do think mentally we’ve both suffered through no proper social stuff.

I’ve got to confess I was randomly hugged by more people than I would’ve liked, I guess those people are hugging again and hadn’t considered others might not. So far I’ve only hugged a very small number of non family. I’m cautious with my hugs - this was like a hug fest! What’s the answer short of batting people away? A T-shirt with ‘No hugs please’ on? I’ll be rapid testing on Monday before I volunteer anyhow.

Anyhow the good thing is the anxiety settled and I think I do need to push myself a little more socially than I have been.

Glad to hear you had fun, Disco!

Here we go again I've been feeling under the weather *again* since last night, this afternoon another warning popped up in the app. High risk encounter on Saturday. Just when all the previous warnings had gone, I get a new one test came out negative though. It must've been on the train, where everyone was (hopefully) wearing a mask.

This is totally understandable. For people who already gave some steps forward to combat their social anxiety, all this time was a nail in the coffin.

Indeed, the rest of the population also have been effected by the isolation in terms of depressions and other issues.

On one side I made the thread here, in anxiety forum because I thought people with SA like you or me, won’t have any problem with being isolated. It may be kind of relief. And I would doubt that we were have many risks of being infected or infect others but I forgot about SA people who are trying to battle this illness. @BreakForTheLight, made me consider with one of her posts here about that possibility.

I’m very happy you got to have some fun. 😘

We all need some sort of balance. I have noticed my anxiety has gone WAY down since working from home. I feel like I was in a constant state of being overstimulated before, working in very crowded, noisy open plan offices and travelling on busy public transport. I was always stressed out, even though my job was not stressful in itself.

But lockdown was the other extreme of the scale. We're still human and need some human contact. Besides that, it was forced upon us. There's a difference between being forced to be alone and chosing to take some time alone. Especially for people living alone - not even having a partner or housemate to share anything with has been incredibly tough.

I am half dead physically after another concert on Wednesday night, getting home (to my parents' place) late (the gig was a 2,5 hour drive away) and then a very early morning and a 7 hour journey back home, but mentally I finally feel ALIVE again. Even the train journey, just looking out of the window at the sunny landscape felt good after seeing not much more than my tiny flat for 2 years.

(I did another test before going to the concert, and my "symptoms" were already gone by then, they didn't even last 24 hours.)

I finally got around to going to the dentist. Honestly, I was overdue pre-covid. Fortunately, I didn't have any issues except some plaque, so I all I needed was a cleaning.

I swear we are under a Covid dictatorship here. They just announced that if you got the 3rd vaccine 6 months or more ago they will annul your mobility pass (like a vaccine passport) if you do not go for a 4th dose. I am coming up on 6 months in the last week of May.

Personally, I am not convinced that a 4th dose is necessary in my case. It seems like most countries are only doing it for higher-risk people. 4 doses in a year seems like a lot and there are some studies coming out saying healthy adults don't get much benefit from it.


In theory, it's mainly for stadiums, theater, indoor dining, so it wouldn't limit me that much. However, I read today that some other businesses like banks are making you show it. Also, with this government, who knows if they might make it mandatory in more places in the future to twist our arms? In the end, we all know that the vaccine doesn't prevent transmission, which makes the whole idea of the pass questionable.

My husband got his 4th, but he initially got 2 doses of Sinovac. Now he is bugging me to go get it. I have had 3 of Pfizer. I hear they are giving Moderna now. I felt like complete crap for 2 days post vaccine all times before. I am not in the mood to go through that again when work and house projects have me extremely busy.

They haven't scrapped the whole Covid alert phases and restrictions either. There is no quarantine, but still it's a pain. They moved our region to a more restrictive tier. Now a lot of events have to be canceled because the maximum attendance is 10,000. We must be the only country still doing that. Well, I guess it's not as bad as China, but we are theoretically a democracy even though it doesn't feel like it now.

I still have to show a vax card at many concerts. A couple of them make you have a 3rd dose. But it's easy enough to fill out that card yourself. We had some cops get in trouble for making fake vax cards.. They lost their jobs but I didn't hear about them being charged with a crime. I bet plenty of people have done it and not gotten caught. What is the penalty there for that?

I live in a small country with a population of only 19 million, so vaccine data is kept in a central database and you have to get a QR code to get the vaccine passport. Paper vaccine cards are only acceptable for 75+. I guess if you have friend in the Health Ministry, you could make it look like you got another dose. Or, maybe you can pay a hacker.

I find it really irritating that the government is trying to force all adults to get a fourth vaccine when most studies are showing that it doesn't have a proven benefit for healthier non-elder adults.

It’s what @AceRimmer says. There have been lots of restrictions and papers papers that the Governments settled as obligatory but then, the requirements are not being taking into account unless you are a famous tennis player as Djokovic. This happens because the ones who have to make decisions don’t know what they are doing. And they are so dared to do whatever because they don’t f. care about what we may think.
Let’s see. I wonder. If I don’t get the fourth shot. Would I hurt someone else apart from myself if I caught the critter? Now, that if your symptoms are not high you can walk here and there without caring.
Some measures are rosen up, some others still remain. Who is gonna put a little of reasoning here?

If you have had covid does that count as being vaccinated? It should.

Ha, ha, in the health dictatorship, no it does not. The first Health Minister during the pandemic proposed something like that, a sort of passport for recovered people, but it never entered into practice. Funny thing, that guy looks completely like Robert De Niro. Maybe he thought if he successfully managed the pandemic, they would make a movie about him starring Robert De Niro.

I just don’t get the whole immunity passport idea, if you can still get and transmit if you’ve been vaccinated or previously had covid it makes no sense at all. It never really took off here (only very briefly and in certain high capacity venues) and think it’s one of the things this government got right.

Sorry you’re going through this Rechu!

I read they’re working on nose sprays to cut transmission, and I got invited to a trial of omicron specific Moderna- but I’m having hospital tests at the moment so can’t.