How is everyone coping with the current changes?

I'm coping okay in the main. 

I've had a few moments where I've feel frustrated and somewhat claustrophobic but a lot of this isn't too much change for me. 

I've always been a 'social distancer' and in many ways if we could retain that as a rule but without the pressure of a virus over us all, and less restrictions on how far and how many times we can go out....I wouldn't mind too much LOL. 

i am missing the family dogs that I usually see on Fridays and Sundays when I go to my parents for tea. But right now obviously I can't go there because I live alone. 

I can't get out to places where I would normally go bird watching to do photography either which is not good because I know what happens with me if I leave to big a gap between doing something (Even if It's something enjoy like bird watching and photography) I find it extremely hard to get back to it. Because as much as I might enjoy things a lot of things often put me off. Noise, having to deal with strangers. I always have to have a fight internally to get myself out there. When I leave a big gap.... I have to fight twice as hard because I become used to not having to deal with the bits that put me off and get too comfortable I guess. So I dread to think how hard I'm going to find it when it comes to readjusting to normal. I foresee a huge potential to fall into one of my deep depressions. 

I keep telling myself to start a routine where I get up early to do photography of the birds from my window. But my sleep pattern has become messed up since lockdown as all appointments are cancelled or on the phone and so I have less to get me out of bed in the morning which means I fall a sleep and don't wake up most days till noon. 

I haven't had to worry about shopping as I'm classed as high risk and though I'm not in the shielded group, so I can still go outside for small walks, I have been advised not to do the shopping and have someone else do it for me. 

I can really relate to how you feel. Your reply could have been written for me!

I have a neighbour who is noisy and I've had issues with over the years. They slam doors, have loud house parties etc. I was once off work for months due to the stress this caused me. It can make your home like a prison. Fortunately I can wear earplugs without a problem. I'd like to get ear cancelling headphones. 

I think trying to get enough sleep should be a priority. I know how bad I feel mentally with not much sleep. Could you not wear earplugs in bed? X

So-so. I'm working from home at the moment. The big issue is the fact that there is no certainty as to when this ends and there's a decent chance I won't be able to take a planned holiday in September that I'd been looking forward to.

Being on the spectrum I knew I was also OCD and ADHD, but these haven't really concerned me much until now.  Focusing on tasks during the day is difficult, I have a burning need to check emails and phone for messages all the time, though if there is something, I cannot focus on it so I either print it out to read later or flag it.   I've discovered that people need more time to process things working from home, and are often very careless in their actions, which need continuous checking as there are no managers to check up on them.  Combatting overthinking and thought cycles caused by the trolls who are harshly critical of me if I leave home or write about leaving home on social media, so I shrink from these and the news.   Not afraid of the virus as I've simply handed the problem to God, so I sleep fine,   But to get any work done I do this late at night, so my daily timetable is upset.   Can't see much point getting dressed when I am stuck at home.

I understand the human thing. Their annoying me more than usual. I'm suspected corona I'm in recovery yet as theres not enough tests im not tested. Theres a neighbour who kept saying she works in a hospital and theres no cases in our area. Even though doctors etc told me there was. Shes grating on me tbh. She keeps on it's a chest infection. Why dont I just go to the shop etc etc. Joy's of Facebook I guess. I said not everyone is tested she said they test everyone. Shes been a hca about 2 months yet knows more than my doctors 

I have a note on my door yet people knock with parcels and expect you to take the parcel. Twice now same guy, yesterday and today! 

I cant get to the shop to get the basics. Yet I'm not classed vulnerable to get an online shop. 

We have drugged up idiots making a nuisance of themselves all day and night next door. 

Hate people even more right now

I'm fed up with it all.

The media hysteria - telling us every day how many deaths there have been and how many have been diagnosed. Pointless statistics when a) many who died had other health conditions and might have died anyway - who knows? b) they aren't testing everyone with symptoms so haven't a clue what the real infection rate is c) it's hospital admission rates that are important, as that's what needs to be controlled so there are beds for all who need them.

The feeling that our autonomy,and freedom and control of our own lives is being taken away. As someone else said, I love it if I choose to take a day off work and stay home. Having it imposed on me with no choice and not knowing when it will end make me anxious. I am working from home and it has been really hard work as our office is set up to deal with most things in paper form, so I've had to make lots of adjustments and think up new ways to do things. I also don't like work getting mixed up with home life, I like them kept separate.

The stupid slogans - "save the NHS, save lives," etc. The NHS can only be "saved" with money - which comes from taxes - which comes from fit and healthy people working. Of course there needs to be protection for the elderly and vulnerable and people who are ill should stay home, but these slogans make the world feel like a dystopian police state.

The lack of clarification. What is essential exercise? Where can it be taken? What are essential purchases? Why are the police threatening to put up road blocks? The law states that any goods in a shop that is open can be bought. There is no law saying you can't drive as far as you like. 

We are all going to get this virus eventually, just like the common cold. Most of us will not need hospitalisation. Locking us down for too long will cause unnecessary illness and misery. Let's hope we get news of a staggered return to normal soon.

Another thing. Tomorrow night is going to be another nightmare as the entire street erupts in a gratuitous display of sensory overload inducing virtue signalling.

NHS workers get paid for a living and have a cushy life with a big fat pension. I'm entirely comfortable with the idea that for once they actually have to do some work and the heavily female NHS can finally put some effort into matching male workplace fatality rates.

But no, apparently this makes me the abnormal uncaring one, lacking in emotional intelligence, and instead I should be proudly displaying my ability to join in a national celebration of feeling good about yourself instead of actually doing something constructive. Like, for instance, making life for a neighbour utter hell for ten minutes then blaming the neighbour for trying to hide instead of joining in.

Then people wonder why people on the autism spectrum have high suicide rates.

Hi Robert123 - glad everything good for you, I do worry I’ve brought this stress on myself. I don’t like supermarkets so I go once a week just before they close knowing it will be quiet. When I seen on tv how busy everywhere was and how everybody was panic buying I couldn’t face the crowds so didn’t go out, this meant when I didn’t have anything in at all and had to go out there was just empty shelves.i left with tubes of pringles and some chocolate and this is what I’ve ate for last couple of weeks. I’m sure what I am eating isn’t helping how I feel but there was nothing in the fresh or freezer section. I have tried a few times to go for a walk but it’s so much busier than it normally is and keeping distance is impossible. I think I may try shops again 2moro and maybe go for a walk when dark, this will hopefully distract me. It’s odd that I’m worrying about how things will change once over, I’m convinced some of the things they are doing now they will implement as the norm. Take care stay safe x 

I am coping ok because I still go out everyday for walks to my local park and woods, I get a lot of fresh air and do some photography. 

I haven't been harassed by the cops to stay inside.

I'm also slowly using up all the supplies I panicked bought last month.  Now I only buy small amounts of fresh products such as milk and oranges.

One thing that was getting to me is a change of routine. I would not have said I am a 100% routine sort of person, but somehow the routine of driving in the countryside if stressed and other changes like that are getting to me. Not in a major way but they are.

I did not think I did routines until my youngest brother pointed something out. "Why do you always have to do things a certain way? Like you have to hang the garage locks in their shackles if you open them etc. You have lots of things like that that must be done a certain way and you are not pleased with us if we do different". 

It was then when I realized what is meant by autistic routines. I had always assumed that every aspect of the day had to be planned and stuck to, and when I was working I actually was like that to some extent.. (Not to a major extent, but I dis not like surprizes. I would jot like it if the order of the bikes I was fixing or assembling got changed from the order on the list as somehow it mattered? Yes, I could alter things... But it could throw me and I would have to re-assess my whole list from the start and mentally start again... 

I hated it when I was interupted half way through a job where I was asked to help with another job. I am a "One job at a time" sort of person when I am in work if that makes sense?  Yes I can fit rhings in and alter, but it can throw me. 

It is, isn't it. When you're not in control, even staying home is different. Choosing to stay home is nice, being forced to stay home is suffocating. Same with routines, I have made some changes to my exercise routine, felt OK and pretty pleased with myself for managing it - then they closed the park and I just couldn't bear changing it again. 

Hello there.

I myself have been struggling to cope with certain aspects of my lifestyle since the lockdown began. I live on my own, and whether I go shopping, watch TV, listen to the radio or whatever, it is very difficult to completely avoid seeing or hearing any news headline, advert or whatever with the word 'coronavirus' in it. If I was shopping in a convenience store, which I find easier than shopping in a major supermarket at the moment, I would get visually distracted by those newspapers. Furthermore, if I was to not talk about coronavirus yourself, someone near me would do so with other people, and it gets so stressful.

The way in which I am at least trying to cope with the anxiety of the reduced-service or closed facilities such as cafes and restaurants is by replicating those experiences at home. I would get some supplies of the beverage drinks and refreshments that most closely resemble what I would have ordered at a Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero, Starbucks or whatever, and put some music on in the background. All adverts and news bulletins in the background would be reduced to just above zero, so that the speech is edited out, but I would still hear the next song, which would prompt me to increase the volume. Replicating a restaurant meal is easy - by getting whatever supermarket foods resemble my favourite meals. Things like chicken dippers, burgers, burger buns, chips and chilled drinks should be easily obtainable, even from the convenience stores. 

Anyone who is interested in buses or trains can soon search for some useful videos on the YouTube website. I would actually recommend watching any terrestrial programmes (BBC1, BBC2, ITV or Channel 4) on catchup, using the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player or All4. You might end up watching the programmes slightly later than originally broadcast, but there will be no newsflashes. Specialist channels such as Challenge TV (game shows) do not broadcast news bulletins, so anyone that has a specific interest in game shows can watch them on that channel.

All of the things I have done recently are not just for the present, but for the future, such as in the unlikeliest case of another coronavirus crisis occurring in the future. If my experiences and tips are useful to you, or any other forum members, so much the better.

Interesting replies. Prof Sarah Cassidy who is world expert on autism suicide, has stated that autistic people fining this less stressful than neurotypicals, but this is clearly a gross oversimplification as we are all different.

For myself I find it is allowing me to think more of my regrets nd frustrating that I can make no legal progress as so many people have stopped working.

Worse than ever I feel unlikely to survive long now

Somewhat up and down. For the most part, I think the way to word it is that I'm coping but twanging. 
Work pattern is still broadly the same despite lockdown, a few new procedures to follow out delivering, and attempts to distance in the building before hand. Always did give the van surfaces a wipe down anyway, so that's nothing new, just a change of spray, I like a clean-ish van. I'm finding myself grateful that I'm still working somewhat as normal. 
Home life is up and down. I'm having to shop for mother who lives on her own but has been advised to isolate for 12+ weeks. It was initially a bit of a ballache. Under normal circumstances, even if I did mothers shopping with my own, it was a once a week forty minute job on a Sunday morning. It suddenly turned into a four/five times a week, hour a trip job. Queue to get in. Get in, find they don't have what she needs or what I need, so I have to make another shop trip another day. What they do have, I can only have a couple of which means another repeat trip another day. That has eased a little now, though as the lockdown has gotten tighter, it's restricted my supermarket choice. I now only go to the fairly local morrisons, as I understand the system in place there currently, and have familiarised myself with it. I've managed now to get mother mostly stocked on the things she needs, barring fresh stuff. Bread/milk etc. 
I live alone anyway, but isolation is proving a bit of a bind. I didn't much get out, but at least I could choose to go out if I wanted, on whatever whim took my fancy. Be it to see one of my few friends, or to the football, or out for a drive to somewhere nice. I find myself pacing around the house. I've plenty to do, but absolutely no motivation to do any of it beyond the bare minimum required. Mood keeps swinging up and down too. One moment I'm fine, then I want to do nothing more than curl up in bed and sleep it out, half an hour later I'm fine again. Strange, strange times indeed.
I'm hoping, but getting increasingly jittery about my holiday being a no go. That's usually my break to get away from everything and everyone and the day to day, and just forget the lot and reset. Need them to get it licked and most restrictions lifted/eased by the end of May so I can still go, but it's not looking good at the moment. 
Can't say I'm doing anything particularly special to get through it, other than sort of gritting my teeth and putting my head down and telling myself it's what needs to be done and to stop being a silly and tough it out for a few weeks. 

I'm doing fine, except the shopping. I'm finding that an extremely stressful nightmare right now.

Queues to get in, shelves empty of basic foods, rationing on the few things I can find that I do want to eat, and all because of senseless clowns that didn't plan ahead and panic.

All I want are some bloody sausages. Is that really too much to ask?

Hello,

no, you are not being selfish at all and it is quite understandable. I have been having two meltdowns a week even before the lock down due to my vehicle breaking down and strugling to repair it myself. I too find the break up of my routines hard to cope with but I am thankful that my local Autism charity have been in contact to see how I am as I live alone. It is hard to follow the rules on social isolation when those rules are not very clear. For example I cycle but keep getting conflicting information so asked my local police officer who very kindly explained what I can do and not do. Is there some form of excerise you like doing to keep yourself active? It is nice to be able to escape the confines of your home within reason. I do hope you find a way to get back in to your routines as much as is possible. 

Hello,

sorry to read about your problems and as a cyclist I do understand your need to get out but have you thought about a indoor turbo trainer or a set of rollers? Maybe worth asking around with your local cycle club as members often have kit to sell or donate even. I managed to buy a turbo cheap from my local bike shop and so can train indoors and keep active. Being able to cycle even on the rollers helps me deal with my own issues and calms me. I hope you can find a solution that works for you. 

I thought i was doing OK, but a few days ago I had a full-on panic attack. I was out of milk and other basics, went to the shops, felt so stressed that I forgot the pin codes on both my bank cards. People tutted at me then criticised me because I didn't know whether to put the goods back ( i had latex gloves on)  or leave them with the cashier.  Now my cards are blocked. I got very distressed and had to go home empty handed.  People just heckled and make it worse. 

I have to say i understand, I was diagnosed two weeks ago. I was ok then as I was at work. My office closed two days later and my department was only allocated 7 laptops for 100 people. 

Surfice to say, I didn't get one. 

The change in routine is so stressful.. 

I hear what you're saying. I have always struggled in employment -- by-the-book is not actually how things should be done and not understanding where the tolerances are. Went self employed last year and love the freedom and doing work I enjoy, but really, really struggle with the lack of routine and predictability, even developing my 'micro-routines' which I can take wherever I go were not quite cutting it and not always achievable; the fact that I am being forced to stay in has allowed me to develop a new routine and have the time an energy to get on with my projects, interests, sleep and fitness goals. Finances and shopping are the only things that really bother me at the moment - not knowing what I can get, where I will have to stand, etc... 

I have an allotment, so I can go there for my daily exercise which is a really lifeline - without this I think it would be very different.

My partner developed a series of daily schedules with 'themes' - maybe you could look to do something similar? 

The change is the difficult part, but perhaps you could start to create a new sense of comfort by developing amended routine which try to make the best of the situation? Easy for me to say as I was getting pretty miserable and stressed with my situation before this - for example, overnight stays from home and 6-hour round trips for work.... 

Hope you figure something out.