
Ask HN: How is everyone feeling? - thewarrior
It does feel a bit weird to me sometimes to be reading about JavaScript or something on HN in the midst of all this but it’s also been a way for me to cope.<p>Given that HNers are more likely to spend time on their own I’m wondering on how fellow HNers are coping with all the stress and anxiety.
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ohjeez
Not all that well, personally. I try to hunker down and concentrate, but it's
hard to remind myself that my work matters.

It doesn't help that both my husband and I clearly have a light case of the
virus. It's a mild fever and a cough, and it appears to be getting better.
(Certainly we are taking no chances! And have been in the house for 8 days
already.) But feeling crappy only adds to the difficulties.

And yet I know we're the lucky ones. We both have worked at home for decades,
so the "lifestyle" is nothing new; we aren't in danger of losing our incomes;
we have health insurance; and we have cash in the bank.

One thing that has helped is setting up regular Zoom meetings to get together
with friends. No agenda, no "let's try to concentrate on work" chat, just...
hanging out together.

As Spider Robinson wrote so eloquently: Shared joy increases, shared pain
decreases.

~~~
thewarrior
Agreed that the present atmosphere makes it hard to concentrate on any one
thing.

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c0nducktr
I'm miserable, sometimes.

I haven't been sleeping well, because of the stress. I'm kept awake at night
by the idea I'm already infected by a virus which could kill me in the next
couple weeks...

I live in a house with two others, both of which still have to go to work, and
I'm in an "at risk" group because I have bad lungs.

The worry that one of them may have accidentally brought the virus into the
house stresses me out, and until this is over - until I'm not a danger - I
can't visit with my family, who are all older than myself, and even more
vulnerable.

All my friends have chosen to quarantine as well. The right action, but it
still hurts. It's only been 12 days, and I already feel so alone. To think
about this being the next 12-18 months is just incomprehensible.

I don't know how I'll handle it. I keep alternating between depression, anger,
and feeling nothing at all.

I had really believed this was going to be the year I'd make things turn
around for me. I'd been making a lot of steps in the right direction - self-
improvement and all that...

I wasn't prepared for it to get worse. At least not on this scale.

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muzani
I've been great, thanks for asking. It's a good way to spend time with family,
clean up the house, learn new home based skills. I think all the
zombie/war/survival games and movies have mentally prepared me well for this.

We had a blackout last night, and fish supplier messed up delivery over the
weekend because of the broken supply chain. There's been trouble but that's
fine. The kids were scared so they found comfort with the grandparents.

It might be a cultural thing though. It seems harder on the West, because we
see movies like Contagion suggesting that society would break down and people
would trample each other, riot, loot. Maybe the reason toilet paper sold out
is because it's a way to cling to society. Anxiety is contagious.

I think there's been a healthy level of fear in Malaysia, with people keeping
1 meter apart in stores, everyone buying bread instead of eating out. It's
been easier to shop for groceries and work. There are citizen calls for a full
China-style lockdown. Some apartment complexes are doing "concerts", basically
group karaoke blaring loud music, led by the person with the biggest speakers.
We're experimenting with recipes, ways to replace lattes with instant coffee,
and lots of friends I haven't seen for years are playing games online
together.

I could get used to this; society feels too crowded and yet fragmented
otherwise. But now it feels like we've come together as one big family. A
related book is Tribe, by S. Junger, who suggests that people are happiest in
difficult times, and all that is gone when society returns to normal.

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tomjen3
To be perfectly honest I am not coping very well. All of this constant bad
news getting worse and worse is terrible, and normally I can mostly ignore
news, but I can't right now, since they do impact my life directly, and often
with very short warning.

I am Danish, and while our authoritise are less terrible than those in the US,
that is not a high bar. We can't get the test kits needed, but our minister of
health turned a huge offer down. We didn't close the borders until long after
we had community spread, etc.

If there was something active I could do (ie not feel-good stuff like running
GPU time for research) and somebody could explain to me exactly how we can get
out of this in a couple of months, that would be helpful.

At this point I just don't see anything changing, except getting worse, for
the next several months and, frankly, I don't see how the society can survive
that.

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photonios
Pretty decent. I've been working from home with my fiance for about three
weeks now. Starting the fourth week now. We live in a 50 sqm (540 sqft)
apartment together.

We're trying to stay in contact with friends and family as much as possible.
We text and call more to just chill.

We're also very much aware of our priviliged position. We're both in software
engineering and our jobs are secure for the forseeable future. We got a pile
of cash in the bank and are properly insured. Working from home is not a
problem at all.

One nasty side effect of working from home and not getting out much is that
the days start to blend. I can barely keep track of what day of the week it
is. All the days of the week look the same.

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stannol
Not well, sadly. Trying to stay distracted but all that’s happened to me feels
like the perfect storm.

Signed a new contract in January and was supposed to start in April, moving
countries. Now my flight is canceled and even if it weren’t I’d be unable to
enter the country since all visas have been voided. Moving company canceled on
me (no money back also, claiming force majeure). Have to leave my apartment by
the end of the month and have absolutely no idea what to do. My family is in
another different country as well but it currently seems impossible to get me
and my belongings there. Have little savings and after a month in a motel I’d
be broke :(

~~~
dimator
i'm sorry, this is really awful :( can you contact your current apartment
landlord and see what they can do, given the circumstances?

hang in there.

~~~
stannol
I have, but there is a new tenant moving in right after me so there's not much
she can do. She offered to store my stuff in the garage for as long as needed
thankfully.

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throw_away_45
Reasonably okay. I get out 2-3 times a day with mask/glove for a few minutes
to let my dog out, and catch some fresh air (all while practicing social
distancing).

I try to follow a routine daily - get 10 minutes of meditation in, at least
25-30 minutes of workout in my tiny room. Learning to play guitar as well, now
that I have some more time back.

Focusing on my work though...That's a whole different story - that's gone to
shit.

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protonimitate
Varies wildly day to day. Personally I'm not too worried about job loss atm,
but am fearful for my SO getting laid off and the potential stress/financial
burden it could put on us.

Also doesn't help that I've been planning on pulling the trigger on an
engagement ring but now can't risk it. Have just barely enough savings that if
one of us did lose our jobs we'd be ok until we find something else, but not
much more than that.

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hablameiato
To be honest, not so great.

I live alone, in a tiny apartment. Usually that's not a huge issue since I
live not too far from a beautiful beach and mountains.

But being stuck inside (i live in France) I'm starting to relapse into
depression. I have a lot of anxiety about being alone, about the possibility
that I will be potentially let-go. About suicidal thoughts etc..

I was doing better, but last week set me back by a lot. I'm scared I will not
survive this situation if it lasts for months.

~~~
happy_path
Hang in there brother. I live in Spain and we are all scared. In my job there
are people suffering from anxiety and stress because of this situation.

Try to establish a routine. Exercise and opening the blinds is helping me to
cope with isolation.

Also, limit your news consumption. Newspapers and other mass-media lives on
the fears of consumers.

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Nextgrid
I’m doing absolutely fine, business-wise the industry I’m in doesn’t seem too
affected (I’m still getting clients reaching out to me) and the virus
situation actually caused some very bad tax changes to be postponed.

My biggest problem at the moment is my flatmate. She’s been very anxious about
this whole thing and is guzzling the social-media misinformation, FUD and
conspiracy theories 24/24.

~~~
dimator
the media storm has been the most disheartening thing to me. the media (all
media: the news, social, tv, print) exist to serve your eyeballs to
advertisers. the biggest, scariest headlines win, and it really seems like
outlets are only too keen to exploit that right now. the signal to noise ratio
right now is MINUSCULE, with "experts" and talking heads and human interest
stories dominating.

please try to convince your flatmate (as I do everyone around me) that the
media will gladly firehose useless panic mongering, as long as it keeps people
around past the commercial break. it's difficult to disconnect, but our mental
health depends on it. take in what you need to know for the day, and no more.

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blankton
Useless apparently. Im far better of learning in the university together with
some friends. At home I cant get me to do anything. Its frustrating. The
possibilities are outstanding, that even adds to the frustration. From a
Mental Helth point of view im fine. My family is wounderful, everything is
great, besides me being unproductive :)

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kingpiss
Pretty well. I am enjoying working from home and while I am very bored stuck
at home, it is weirdly relaxing.

I am sure I will eventually get infected but I am not too worried. I am young
and somewhat healthy, and I am never in contact with anyone old or
particularly at risk.

The thing I am most afraid of is the impending economic depression.

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lakshn
To be honest it is kinda depressing, to see the numbers, and realizing that
there are lives, and family members who have lost their dear ones, and may be
affected behind the dots in the statistic. Hoping and praying that people will
have the necessary strength to wade this through.

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thinkingemote
Stressed. Can't stop thinking about everything. My chest feels right and it's
making my arm ache because of the worry. not sleeping good.

I need to laugh or mediate. I don't want to talk to the neighbours or friends
for fear I'll burst out crying.

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beatgammit
I've been sick the last couple days, perhaps with Covid19, and my new baby
girl has a doctor's appointment this week, so I'm not sure what to do about
that. I really enjoy being at home with my kids though.

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switch007
I'm petrified of what's going to happen to our freedom and the economic
impact. My working life started in 2009, and it has been a tough decade. I'm
not looking forward to the next 10 years.

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punchclockhero
I miss my walks in the sun. Also had a short nasty cold like 3 weeks ago which
came back yesterday. Might be _the_ coronavirus, might be something else.
Gonna stay home unless it gets ambulance call worthy.

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tmaly
Personally, I would like to see less if it bleeds it leads news. Some positive
stories would be more helpful.

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HelgaM
i am depressed lately and there is nothing i can do about it

