Coronavirus Thread VII: Jagged Little Pill (READ OP)

[Grave_n_idle]

Militarism was its first death cult, then imperialism, then capitalism.

I don't think we were that militaristic in our early days.

No?

I wonder if the natives would agree. If they weren't all dead.

[Canada CA]

Does anyone have a resource to help people develop coping strategies for an extended pandemic lasting years (with estimates that the Covid-19 pandemic will last somewhere between 2-7 more years)?

Yes. Filter out any COVID-related news, or don't listen to the news at all.

Go outside as you usually would, and it's almost as if there's no pandemic at all.

[Antipatros]

Does anyone have a resource to help people develop coping strategies for an extended pandemic lasting years (with estimates that the Covid-19 pandemic will last somewhere between 2-7 more years)?

Yes. Filter out any COVID-related news, or don't listen to the news at all.

Go outside as you usually would, and it's almost as if there's no pandemic at all.

Until you make a trip to the hospital. Then you notice the surge tents and severe overcrowding.

[Canada CA]

Yes. Filter out any COVID-related news, or don't listen to the news at all.

Go outside as you usually would, and it's almost as if there's no pandemic at all.

Until you make a trip to the hospital. Then you notice the surge tents and severe overcrowding.

I've noticed nothing like that.

[Antipatros]

Until you make a trip to the hospital. Then you notice the surge tents and severe overcrowding.

I've noticed nothing like that.

I've certainly noticed it where I'm located. There's a regional hospital which serves the surrounding rural area. They have white tents outside for patient processing and for additional emergency capacity.

They have a handful of ICU beds left. In some regions of the country (America) they have no beds available for many miles.

[Diahon]

Does anyone have a resource to help people develop coping strategies for an extended pandemic lasting years (with estimates that the Covid-19 pandemic will last somewhere between 2-7 more years)?

Yes. Filter out any COVID-related news, or don't listen to the news at all.

Go outside as you usually would, and it's almost as if there's no pandemic at all.

my, aren't you lucky?

[Canada CA]

Yes. Filter out any COVID-related news, or don't listen to the news at all.

Go outside as you usually would, and it's almost as if there's no pandemic at all.

my, aren't you lucky?

I'm waiting for the punchline...

[Diahon]

my, aren't you lucky?

I'm waiting for the punchline...

there is no punchline

i mean, it's good that you haven't had people die on you, that you're not checking up on family currently infected, that you're not worried that they might possibly die and aren't suffering

too fucking bad not all of us can take that advice, whatever your motivations

[Canada CA]

I'm waiting for the punchline...

there is no punchline

i mean, it's good that you haven't had people die on you, that you're not checking up on family currently infected, that you're not worried that they might possibly die and aren't suffering

too fucking bad not all of us can take that advice, whatever your motivations

None of them have been infected, and most of them haven't altered a lot about how they live their lives due to the pandemic.

I, myself, have done absolutely nothing different since this all started.

[Izandai]

there is no punchline

i mean, it's good that you haven't had people die on you, that you're not checking up on family currently infected, that you're not worried that they might possibly die and aren't suffering

too fucking bad not all of us can take that advice, whatever your motivations

None of them have been infected, and most of them haven't altered a lot about how they live their lives due to the pandemic.

I, myself, have done absolutely nothing different since this all started.

If only everyone could be so lucky...
Well, then there wouldn't be a pandemic, I suppose.

[Diahon]

there is no punchline

i mean, it's good that you haven't had people die on you, that you're not checking up on family currently infected, that you're not worried that they might possibly die and aren't suffering

too fucking bad not all of us can take that advice, whatever your motivations

None of them have been infected, and most of them haven't altered a lot about how they live their lives due to the pandemic.

I, myself, have done absolutely nothing different since this all started.

excellent

awesome

now be off and don't concern yourself with the rest of the world -- surely we're bad news, what with all the mourning that we do? gonna block that shit out?

[Canada CA]

excellent

awesome

now be off and don't concern yourself with the rest of the world -- surely we're bad news, what with all the mourning that we do? gonna block that shit out?

Not the mourning.

Just the non-stop panic and scream-until-you-vomit hysteria.

[Antipatros]

excellent

awesome

now be off and don't concern yourself with the rest of the world -- surely we're bad news, what with all the mourning that we do? gonna block that shit out?

Not the mourning.

Just the non-stop panic and scream-until-you-vomit hysteria.

I'm not sure if I would categorize this discussion as "panic and scream-until-you-vomit hysteria".

Why are you in this thread, exactly? Are you here to shit on people for discussing the pandemic?

[Canada CA]

Not the mourning.

Just the non-stop panic and scream-until-you-vomit hysteria.

I'm not sure if I would categorize this discussion as "panic and scream-until-you-vomit hysteria".

Why are you in this thread, exactly? Are you here to shit on people for discussing the pandemic?

No, somebody asked a question and I answered it.

[Page]

We're also mourning for all the people killed by the lockdwns, right? All the LGBTQ kids with bigoted families who committed suicide once isolated from the friends that support them? The victims of child abuse and domestic violence which increased in these conditions? The people who drank themselves to death or overdosed on drugs because they turned to substance abuse when all the joy was sucked out of their lives? Everyone who is going to die over the next few decades from obesity and sedentary lifestyle that resulted from confinement? And we are definitely mourning for all the children who are going to die of severe allergies and autoimmune disease because they've been kept too long from necessary exposure to microbes to train their immune systems to function properly?

Or does none of that exist, because it was only ever masks, right? Nothing changed but masks.

[Tinhampton]

^^^

On a lighter note, the doctor who recently urged an investigation into whether vaccination causes period changes in the BMJ is called Victoria Male (linked article explains relevance to coronavirus).

[Canada CA]

We're also mourning for all the people killed by the lockdwns, right? All the LGBTQ kids with bigoted families who committed suicide once isolated from the friends that support them? The victims of child abuse and domestic violence which increased in these conditions? The people who drank themselves to death or overdosed on drugs because they turned to substance abuse when all the joy was sucked out of their lives? Everyone who is going to die over the next few decades from obesity and sedentary lifestyle that resulted from confinement? And we are definitely mourning for all the children who are going to die of severe allergies and autoimmune disease because they've been kept too long from necessary exposure to microbes to train their immune systems to function properly?

Or does none of that exist, because it was only ever masks, right? Nothing changed but masks.

I'm an opponent of lockdowns anyway.

[Antipatros]

I'm not sure if I would categorize this discussion as "panic and scream-until-you-vomit hysteria".

Why are you in this thread, exactly? Are you here to shit on people for discussing the pandemic?

No, somebody asked a question and I answered it.

Alright, I'm sorry for suggesting that.

That being said, I think it's very valid to think about and to discuss this pandemic. Do some people get overly neurotic or excessively worry about things that are out of their control? Of course. The other side of the coin is people who act selfishly or put others at risk unnecessarily.

This pandemic is a big social problem. In terms of its cost, both in lives and money, it is comparable to a war.

At least in America, we have the ability to end this pandemic. Part of what is so frustrating is that there is a subset of the population which refuses to get with the program. They are dragging this thing out for everyone else.

[Grave_n_idle]

my, aren't you lucky?

I'm waiting for the punchline...

Given that America just passed the unenviable milestone of 1 in every 500 Americans dying of covid, you've been extremely lucky to not know anyone that's been affected.

That's the point, I think. Not really a joke.

[Izandai]

If one death is a tragedy and a million is a statistic, how many is a comedy? Probably not 4.55 million, yeah?

[Izandai]

We're also mourning for all the people killed by the lockdwns, right? All the LGBTQ kids with bigoted families who committed suicide once isolated from the friends that support them? The victims of child abuse and domestic violence which increased in these conditions? The people who drank themselves to death or overdosed on drugs because they turned to substance abuse when all the joy was sucked out of their lives? Everyone who is going to die over the next few decades from obesity and sedentary lifestyle that resulted from confinement? And we are definitely mourning for all the children who are going to die of severe allergies and autoimmune disease because they've been kept too long from necessary exposure to microbes to train their immune systems to function properly?

Or does none of that exist, because it was only ever masks, right? Nothing changed but masks.

What exactly is the point you're trying to make here?

[Antipatros]

We're also mourning for all the people killed by the lockdwns, right? All the LGBTQ kids with bigoted families who committed suicide once isolated from the friends that support them? The victims of child abuse and domestic violence which increased in these conditions? The people who drank themselves to death or overdosed on drugs because they turned to substance abuse when all the joy was sucked out of their lives? Everyone who is going to die over the next few decades from obesity and sedentary lifestyle that resulted from confinement? And we are definitely mourning for all the children who are going to die of severe allergies and autoimmune disease because they've been kept too long from necessary exposure to microbes to train their immune systems to function properly?

Or does none of that exist, because it was only ever masks, right? Nothing changed but masks.

What exactly is the point you're trying to make here?

He can speak for himself, but I think he's trying to point out the costs of the pandemic (and the response to it) that are not directly related to COVID-19.

That's a valid point. We could very effectively manage all of this with vaccines, but there are certain people who don't want to take them. These people often fear vaccine mandates or vaccine passports, and bemoan the harm being done to the economy by lockdowns and social distancing.

The irony is that no one would be thinking about things like vaccine passports or reintroducing restrictions if we all just took the vaccine and moved on with our lives. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Tinhampton]

I'm waiting for the punchline...

Given that America just passed the unenviable milestone of 1 in every 500 Americans dying of covid, you've been extremely lucky to not know anyone that's been affected.

That's the point, I think. Not really a joke.

Do you really expect somebody who calls himself "Canada CA" on the internet to live in the USA?

[Grave_n_idle]

Given that America just passed the unenviable milestone of 1 in every 500 Americans dying of covid, you've been extremely lucky to not know anyone that's been affected.

That's the point, I think. Not really a joke.

Do you really expect somebody who calls himself "Canada CA" on the internet to live in the USA?

Sure. I don't actually live in a grave.

But no, the poster's location doesn't matter - people are dying all over the world. America is just an example.

[Antipatros]

With regard to the question of mental health and coping with the continuation of the pandemic:

I've found that it's useful to focus on things that you can directly influence or control.

Try to make sure that everyone in your family is vaccinated, and conduct yourself in a socially responsible way (follow public health guidelines like masking and so on).

Try to continuously improve yourself. I found that it is easy to become depressed when you're coped up in the house and aren't doing much of anything.

Sometimes, it's okay to take a break from checking the news.

This is just stuff I've observed in my own personal experience; these suggestions may not help everyone. Maybe consider talking to a therapist if you're having a lot of problems.