There IS such a thing as LE!

[mint]

That stands for Lockdown Exhaustion, BTW.  And yes, I am convinced that it is a condition that is completely debilitating and can leave you tired, grumpy and out of sorts for weeks on end.

Perhaps lockdown easing will be the best cure BUT there is no guarantee the cure would work.

The condition can lead to loss of memory, leaving you unable to remember the date or even the day of the week.  It saps your physical form and energy and you feel unable to attempt even the little bit of housework that you normally manage.

It disrupts appetite and digestion, making you eat unsuitable foods such as chocolate and drink wine and other unhealthy beverages.

It disturbs sleep and you find yourself going to bed either very late or sometimes very early because you feel too tired to do anything else.

Paradoxically, it could also lead you to have frenetic bouts of activity.  You might have to force yourself to go the supermarkets but, once there, you buzz around the aisles like a clockwork rabbit with a charged up battery.  You scuttle here and there, coaxing your trolley round corners and other equally afflicted people, picking up stuff that you don't really need but think you'd better have "just in case".  I don't know in case of what; it's like the French au cas ou, you can't begin to specify the horror that you might encounter.

At the check out, you feel grumpy and impatient if the queue does not move as quickly as you think it should.  That's because you have boxes of Magnum in your trolley and you worry that they might melt  before you get them home.

Once home, you feel compelled to wash the packages of goods and make decisions about which packets could go in cupboards and fridges and which to leave for 3 days before storing.

Then, oddly, despite your weariness, you might feel the urge to make cakes and biscuits and all manner of fattening foods, especially if you have managed to beat everyone to the flour rayon.  Alternatively, you might have been so astute with your time in the supermarkets that you can now sit down with a cup of tea and scoff petit buerres and chocolate sablés. 

I can't begin to make an exhaustive list of all the various signs and symptoms but please feel free to add your own.  After all, like the cornona virus, it is a very individual thing and people might have it to a greater or lesser degree.  But I myself am fully convinced that LE is one of those insidious conditions that even the cleverest doctor would be unable to treat.

 

 

[Lori]

Mint !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I could not have said it better.  You've touched on most everything I have, so I have LE..  I do hope it is treatable by sunshine.

One thing I could add is, if you live in an apartment, you tend to get to know your neighbors habits more than you'd like to and certainly more than you ever did before confinement. 

Since everyone is staying in 24/7 and especially now with the warm weather and open windows, you are forced to hear every neighbors, arguments, crying, screaming, loud music, singing, basic conversations, TV favorites, etc.  And, unless you are deaf, you are forced to learn every neighbors intimacy schedule (or lack thereof) and in some cases their porn addiction (don't ask).  I know this is just par for the course for most apartment buildings and under normal living conditions, you just get on with things and don't dwell on specifics.  Only in confinement, dwelling is all you can do.

Looking forward to no one living above or below me.

[mint]

Yes, Happy House-Moving, Lori.  THAT will be an effective cure for LE and you won't need to consult any doctors, by video otherwise[:)]

[Lori]

Thank you Mint.

I wonder when I'll be brave enough to get a haircut.  I certainly need one.

[Gardengirl]

Mint, a very good post on the various effects many of us can be feeling. I think that my husband and I are doing very well, but do have odd occasions when some of them have been popping up.

We’re into our 9th week of self-isolating, our only 2 short outings have been a brief walk early on a Sunday morning to see the bluebells in the ancient woodland beyond our garden and today’s brief outing to ensue that our hybrid car’s battery was charged driving to and from the local bottle bank. We set out around 07.30 so that nobody was around.

My hair was due to be cut 8 weeks ago, but I cancelled; it’s normally cut every 6 weeks, so it’s now 14 weeks since it was cut - heaven knows how long it will be, but it’s many years since it was as long as it is now.

[NormanH]

Strangely enough, perhaps  because I spend a lot of time alone in the flat anyway, I am finding the opposite to a lot of those things.

As I can't go up to my restaurant I am eating more healthily, with deliveries of boxes of  imaginative salad  from the local vegetarian restaurant, a lot more fresh fruit, and since I am in charge of the portions I am eating more variety but fewer calories.

As the young woman who helps me with he  house has only come once in the last 2 months, I have had to force myself to keep things at least moderately clean and probably more hygienic than normally.

I do agree about disturbing my sense of the calendar. I sometimes have to think quite actively which day of the week it is.

I order my shopping by telephone, or if somebody else does it for me, by messenger, which means that I need to sit and make a thoughtful list.

Some of the minor irritations caused by things working not properly, such as the postal service, or trying to make medical appointments, have rather woken me up from torpor. I am aware I am not depressed, because if I were depressed I would not be irritated.

I am rather dreading the end of the 'confinement'  since on the two or three occasions I have dared to  venture out on my scooter I have seen appallingly  casual behaviour  which I am afraid will only get worse, as people have now become overconfident. 

I DID enjoy reading  your account though even if I don't quite share the problem[:D]

[idun]

A few things in my life have meant that this has not bothered me.

I have had confinement of 6 weeks with complete bed rest during my first pregnancy and nearly six months of the same for my second. I coped with that.

Not pregnancy related, I have had depression twice, I know what triggered it on both occasions and been very down, but not truly depressed on another.

I am OK, we are OK.

When I shop I don't shop any differently to normal. After living en campagne for so long, I always keep a well stocked larder, and just top up. I have been taking my cool bag and ice pack truc with me for anything for the freezer.

The only thing I couldn't get was flour and fresh yeast that is sorted now, so everything is fine in that regard.

I am not looking forward to the next phase at all. That concerns me far more than the current situation. But there again, we are pensioners with a regular income, and in comparison have it relatively easier.

Which reminds me to put a couple of cheques in the post this week, to charities that will need it. I leave quite a lot for the food banks when I shop anyway, but there is more than they that need help.

[Judith-aka-Judith]

Mint, I see you are speaking franglais now!  Yes, I think there is a case for LE, but apart from waking up and thinking what day is it, and a certain amount of frustrating supermarket shopping, I've only had to go out for certain unavoidable medical appointments, meaning a nice trip to Toulouse, and the odd (very) need for the bank and the pharmacy, but I have not raced home to bake (I don't very often, today being an exception using up things about to go out of date and to make up for not being able to make a nice dessert for hubby's 80th birthday yesterday).

I have spent a lot of time trying to move on with jobs I've been trying to do for years - not cleaning either - and did get the tax form done yesterday - another reason why no dessert got done! 

I am looking forward to going out without a form, except for my still required trips to Toulouse ... over 100km, inevitably from here, but in fact I don't see that my days will change greatly, though I have booked a chiropodist appointment for this week, much needed, I have decided that the hairdresser can wait a week or two.

Petit à petit I do believe works best.