There seems to be more and more messages of despair and hopelessness on the r/dialysis subreddit. Before, it was mostly people asking more experienced dialysis patients for advice, but recently, there seems to be a lot of posts where the OP is talking about stopping dialysis or committing suicide.
I think the combination of going to dialysis and the recent COVID-19 outbreak has really stressed out a lot of patients. Admittedly, dialysis was already a pain-in-the-ass, having to go to the clinic three times a week. However, the pandemic adds a whole new level of risk to everything plus social isolation. My social worker kept stressing the importance of continuing to work if possible, and maintaining my support groups. Well, now I’m working from home everyday, I don’t get to see my co-workers. I have co-worker I’ve known for 9 to 20 years, and they do act as social support sometimes. My cell group at church hasn’t met in person since March, though we “meet” weekly on Zoom. It helps, but nothing like sharing a meal with friends. I can see how this environment can get super depressing really quickly.
I’m not sure the public knows the fear and isolation affecting dialysis patients now. Since nobody seems to know for sure, the fear is that any exposure to the coronavirus will kill you so you stay away from everyone and everything. I still get take-out food but the places I visit are either curbside pickup or drive-thru. I go to the supermarket/pharmacy on rare occasions but always with a mask and lots of sanitizer. Even with a vaccine coming out soon, I think life for dialysis (and other seriously ill) patients have permanently changed for the worse.
Life with chronic diseases 