When the lockdown came into place the country panicked; they didn't know how they would cope. Many people had to start working from home and everyone was limited to only being outdoors for 1 hour a day and I know that people have really struggled with that both socially and emotionally too because it wasn't what they was used too.
But what about chronically ill and disabled people? This is a post I've been working on for a couple of weeks.
For some of us, like myself, social isolation is the norm and we've lived like that long before the lockdown for months; sometimes years. For me I've been coping fairly well; the hardest thing has been leaving hospital and not having all the support I need to keep well, but those that have been there for me have been really amazing.
There's two things that I hope will come out of this coronavirus pandemic and these are...
For a long time many chronically ill and disabled people have wanted to work but have wanted or needed to work from home. For the most part people have been told that this isn't a possibility. (I know myself, I would love to work but going into somewhere to work would be an impossibility.) But now because of the coronavirus pandemic business are coming up with lots of ways to allow their staff to work from home. I hope that we can continue to use this technology to allow chronically ill and disabled people to enter or return to work from their home.
The second this I hope that will come from this lockdown is a greater understanding from the public of what it's like for those who because of this health are housebound. Yes it won't be a true reflection as for people like myself who are housebound we can't go on hour long walks each day or have the energy to do some of the things people have been doing to occupy themselves such as binge watch TV (I often don't have the concentration for just one television program). But I hope that this lockdown gives the public some empathy into what it's like to be confined to your home.
There's also a lot housebound people can teach the public on how to cope with the lockdown. Some of my suggestions is to keep in touch with people via text or over the phone, through video apps, email or a good old fashioned letter in the post. My other advice is to take have some screen free time. Tap into a hobby you didn't have time before when you was going to work or get into something you've always wanted to do like baking, photography, reading, making your own zine or learning how to do keepeupies.
So take a thought about those who for them this lockdown isn't a temporary measure and make the most of the time you have whilst at home.
