COVID19 fatigue. I am thinking it’s a real thing. No, not talking about people being fatigued after recovering from COVID19, I am talking about being on mental and emotional overload without really realizing it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m just tired of it all. I’m tired of wearing masks but I know I have to wear one.

I’m tired of having a hard time finding masks that actually fit because a lot of them aren’t adjustable.

I’m tired of trying to do things like find disinfectant wipes or even a blessed can of Lysol spray because they are either out of stock or someone is price gouging.

I am tired of not feeling comfortable enough to go do my own shopping in the grocery store because I live an immunocompromised life and the few times I have been out there are so many people that will stand within close proximity to other people not wearing a mask it sort of freaks you out.

I am tired of not seeing my friends and I don’t even go out that much. But it’s summer and it’s the time when you enjoy your friends company and you do cookouts and you go on vacation together. Whatever your routine, it no longer exists.

I am tired of watching all my friends with school-age kids and kids in general worry. It’s summertime kids are supposed to be able to play outside with abandon, go to summer camp, have sleepovers, and a lot of that isn’t occurring.

I was talking to a friend yesterday who said her children don’t even want to do online anything at this point because they are so tired of virtual everything they want real life again. I totally get it. Last week I did a historic “walking tour“ of West Chester, only it was virtual. It wasn’t that it wasn’t interesting, but I realized how much I would’ve loved it being in the town with a group of people on a tour and my camera instead of on a zoom virtual event.

With a few of my friends in particular I’ve seen very little of and it’s just because of what’s going on. Normally this time of year we will have our little summer day trips together where we go and look at antique stores, or walk around say Kennett Square and have lunch, go to a Life’s Patina opening, or to the herb sale or art show at Historic Yellow Springs but we haven’t really seen each other. It’s not because we’re mad at each other or anything like that it’s all because of COVID-19. I haven’t even gone to see the goats this year at Yellow Springs Farm because of COVID19.

We live in a world where we are all holed up in our own little universes. And how can we feel safe out in the world when COVID19 cases keep spiking and people are partying like it’s 1999 with complete abandon and disregard (cue the dumb ass college students at Villanova University.) And oh for God’s sake yes I remember that age and outside summer parties where where it was at, but we didn’t have a global pandemic to contend with.

I am watching via social media my friends dropping off their children at college. And I know they’re trying to put up a good front, but at the same time I know they are concerned because going out into the world with #COVIDidiots can be a problem.

I know people who are keeping their kids home this semester, I know people whose kids want to stay home this semester because they’re afraid of how their schools are approaching COVID19. I know people who are choosing to essentially homeschool their children for the year because they’re not comfortable with whatever it is their school districts are doing wherever they live.

I know plenty of people who are economically stressed right now because of all the additional expenses involved with COVID19. And then there are those who have taken pay cuts and been laid off. And then there is the whole category of my many friends who own small businesses who are just trying to stay afloat.

Meanwhile, a chain restaurant along the Main Line which closed a few years ago got COVID19 money. Bucca di Beppo. And it closed around 2013!

We can’t even go visit our natural resources without worry. And we have Energy Transfer / Sunoco /Sunoco Logistics for that. They polluted Marsh Creek Lake. And oh yes it’s a water source.

People are snapping out at friends and family. It’s COVID19 stress. Then add the stress of this country’s current political nightmare. We have a president who is essentially trying to dismantle the United States Postal Service. Because he doesn’t want to be honest about COVID19 but he doesn’t want to lose the election either so he wants to screw up our ability to vote by mail. Yes I believe the political stress caused by a toxic president who acts like a malignant narcissist adds to all of this COVID19 fatigue as well.

Add to this all of the weird weather. We keep having storms which feel like biblical proportions that do all sorts of damage in a time where we’re really searching for a little good news. Even if you deliberately try to avoid the news these days, you can’t avoid the news these days. like among today’s headlines is the fact that the United States has surpassed 170,000 deaths from COVID19.

Personally, I’m kind of over 2020. This adulting stuff is hard this year. It’s ridiculous. Try to keep the faith, people. It’s like our only option.

UC Davis Health Newsroom
NEWS | July 7, 2020
“COVID fatigue” is hitting hard. Fighting it is hard, too, says UC Davis Health psychologist
It’s time to develop coping skills, which include exercise and talking about our fears and stress.

Washington Post: Health
With no end to the pandemic in sight, coronavirus fatigue grips America. By Brady Dennis, Jeremy Duda and Joel Achenbach
August 11, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. EDT

Press Democrat: Running on empty: How the pandemic has left many of us feeling cranky MEG MCCONAHEY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
August 14, 2020, 3:31PM