Will life be the same again?

How has Covid changed your world?

It is undeniable that the experience of living through a pandemic will have changed the world for so many people. How has it changed for you though? I know how it has changed for me and so I have tried to use that to inform this post, but I would be interested to see if you think that, long term, life has changed for you and how.

Mental Health

It is true that so many people have had issues with their mental health over the last year. We are seeing more people than ever seeking help for anxiety and depression. Personally I have also been struggling as we go in and out of lockdowns. 

How will this affect us long term though? Surely there are going to be issues for years to come? People have lost jobs, family members and more during this pandemic. There is no way that we come out of this without damage. 

It will take some people a long time to get up the courage to go outside again and resume 'normal' life. Other people will have to live with anxiety and depression for the rest of their lives. There will be people who have PTSD from this experience.

Of course the big worry is how this will affect people working in medicine. Doctors, nurses, carers and anyone else working in the healthcare/caring profession are working so hard at the moment, but a breaking point will come. This is a ticking time bomb and we have to ensure that they are protected when this is all over.

Public events

There are a number of public events that might need to change, at least in the short term. We can probably expect a lot of social distancing and bubbles at gigs and sporting events to come. There might be a long time before food outlets or merch stalls go back to normal at venues too. Small venues are going to find it most difficult. They have such high turnover costs that they rely on basically selling out every event. 

It is going to be important to support our local venues and to return when we feel safe to. We are going to have to realise that it is going to take quite a while as things stand.

The other issue is that people are going to have to be persuaded that it is safe to return to these events as well. I personally cannot wait to go to a gig or the theatre and I know my husband would be at St Mary's for a football match in a heart beat.

Work

For those of us who have been working from home I think that will change a bit too. The old excuse from managers that you can't work from home is gone. We have been doing this for nearly a year and, before I go back to the office, it will likely be around 18 months of working at home. I was always told it was impossible for me to do my job from home and yet, with some adjustments, I have proven that I can do it.

I think we will see more remote working in the future and I think that the attitudes to sickness are going to have to change as well. People will not be going to work if they have colds any more and I think that their colleagues will not want to have them around if they are sick.

Conclusion

There will be changes in life and it will take a while before we see anything we recognise as normal. I think that attitudes to illness are going to change and I would like to see masks sticking around a lot longer (personally they help with my allergies as well as illness). We will be able to get out there and enjoy life again, but this has been a huge wake up call to everyone.