I recently contracted COVID-19. During this time, I was required to self-isolate at home. If I lived alone this wouldn’t have been such an issue, but as I live with my parents I basically needed to stay in my room for 24 hours a day. This gave me a lot of free time; time to think, time to reflect, and time to plan for the future. However, I didn’t really do any of that.
What I did do though, was recover from the virus. Because even though I am young and in relatively good health, I was surprised at how debilitated Covid-19 had left me.
Having heard stories of individuals even younger than myself becoming seriously ill, I was worried that my condition would deteriorate.
Thankfully, this was not the case. The worst of my symptoms were aches and pains, generally feeling run-down, and being constantly exhausted. Actually, the worst symptom was losing my sense of taste and smell; while I was exiled to my room, I couldn’t even pass the time by eating junk food. I say this in jest, but referring back to my earlier point about having plenty of time to reflect, I did think a lot about others who were infected with the virus. I mostly thought about eldery people and those who lived alone. Because even though I couldn’t leave my room, I had my parents that were able to look after me. I thought about how difficult self-quarantine must be for those living alone. Not being able to go into shops and buy groceries, have little-to-no human interaction and how lonely they must feel during this time.
Now that I am fully recovered, I am grateful for my health and have a new-found appreciation for my family. I would advise those who know of someone with Covid-19 to check in with them, make sure their mental health is okay and offer assistance to them if it’s needed. Because even the most resilient person will get fed up looking at the same four walls during isolation.