They talk of Blitz spirit etc... Now, I wasn't there obviously but from what I heard of it the big reason that worked is people were TOGETHER. Yes things were bad but they had each other and could bounce moral support off each other, look out for one another, sing stuff together in the pubs to raise morale, etc. Maybe part of that is dumb TV romanticisation but that's the gist as I've always heard it.
Here we have a thing that forces everyone to distance themselves and worry themselves sick alone. That, is fucking awful.
That and the bombardment in the media. BBC news earlier was just Coronavirus, nothing else, and featured harrowing footage of a grieving old lady who'd just lost her husband, sat outside gasping for breath. Still can't shake that one from my head.
We've only started isolating today here, and I'm already struggling mentally, and I'm relatively young and normally positive. Shutting lonely 70+ year olds away for 3 months... Christ, I almost think if I was in that position I'd rather just let it take me. But I also know how strong the instinctive will to live is, even when mentally it's lacking.