Some days I just feel like the world has gone mad....isolate, don't go near each other, avoid loved ones, close schools, don't shop, don't go out to eat, don't go out to play, you might get sick, if you do it is certain death, wait no not for everyone but still we should isolate ourselves....yea finally we can get back to some kind of normal but wait, maybe not....all of this combined with much more is at time way too much to handle. I feel overwhelmed and as I think of this being our world from now on, t is not a world I want to live in...I mean what kind of life is it really?? I would not take my own life but at times through all of this I have had feelings of hopelessness and not much desire to go on....except for my loved ones who need me and who I need! They keep me going, they and God are where I find my hope when hope seems so far away...This all gets me to wondering about those who don't have a support system, or they do have that but emotionally they are not strong enough to deal with these troubled times. There are many out there who I know feel like I do but just can't handle it. I worry so much about them...I worry if we have another shut down, the cost will be much higher than the Coronavirus deaths. Studies have shown that drug and alcohol abuse deaths are up along with suicide.
Alcoholism and drug abuse are hard on the addict and their loved ones. Sometimes the abuser physically harms loved ones, other times just themselves. Either way it is hard to watch someone deteriorate from any type of abuse. Many people can't cope with isolation, they need their in contact group meetings, they need their friends. Some turn to substances for lack of anything else to do...regardless of why they turn to it, the substance abuse is hard on families and on society as a whole.
Losing a loved one is hard no matter what but losing someone to suicide is an entirely different type of pain. You not only feel the pain of loss but a heart wrenching guilt. If you have ever lost someone to suicide you know exactly what I am talking about. Most of the time it isn't like you see in movies. The person doesn't mope around or threaten suicide. They are happy, well adjusted and appear like life is wonderful then one day they end their life because they couldn't cope inside, You had no clue, no idea and you are devastated. They are good at hiding their pain.
I have lost several loved ones to suicide and you just never get over wondering if there was something you could have done, something you could have said, some way you could have seen their pain. In time you know that there was nothing you could have done but that small amount of guilt still lingers.
So with this knowledge I find myself extremely concerned for many people in our society. I worry that they cannot survive another isolation, they cannot emotionally survive losing their business which will happen with another shut down. Yes the government could help but some people need to work to feel good about themselves, they don't want to be on the government dole. No matter what the reason it is still hard on them to sit back and let someone else pay their way. Children need each other, they need contact with each other because studies have shown how important it is for them to be together, to hug and to have the ability to socialize. We all need each other even if sometimes we tire of each other.
I completely understand the Coronavirus is real and for those with compromised immune systems and the elderly it can be serious. I understand that many people are deathly afraid of it, their fear is real! That kind of fear is harsh and hard to deal with. I feel for them. The virus is not something I personally am afraid of getting. To me the bigger picture is devastating and scares me much more than the virus ever could. The fallout of another shut down, the suicide and the abuse.....is another shutdown worth that cost? .
. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/08/health/coronavirus-deaths-of-despair/index.html
