Dear LPG,

I want to encourage LPG to highlight something that I read in their pages well over a year ago now because though I think it very relevant to so many people it must be even more relevant at this time. 

I am lucky enough to be able to contact many of my friends with the help of video calling and it is so nice to see them particularly those who live alone like me.  But I have noticed that the cheerful phone calls that we had at the start of this lockdown are gradually showing signs of frustration and boredom.  We all started out worrying about mutual friends and keeping upbeat but you can only do that for so long.   The conversations are beginning to be more about the things we planned to do and have not done in spite of all the time we that  locked down has given us to do them. many tell me that they are missing the whole morning and breakfasting nearer lunchtime.  If you are alone and still having carers come in regularly to help you that routine has not been broken, but for those of us who are old and need to continue to stay at home for our own good, there is a tendency to lose track of whole days.  

I did get a little ill at the beginning of this pandemic episode although I think I just got a rather bad bout of the ‘flu, but as I was getting better I know that this has happened to me and I have also noticed that some of my friends are showing one significant sign.   I would call quite late in the day and find that both myself and some of my friends were still in our dressing gowns. 

I often scroll back through the posts on your site and found one that made me stop and think about this.  Whether you have been ill or not, routine can be extra hard to observe during these times and I think that it is the people who are truly locked down alone that are affected most at the moment, but I suggest that any reader who is not coping so well take another look at some advice which was given in this article (►►►).

AY, Brockley