Compiled by Erica Wright
We asked Birmingham-area residents, Have you experienced “quarantine fatigue” where you lacked motivation or dealt with emotional ups and downs?
Kurt Key: “I definitely did. Initially [I] welcomed the extra time to catch up on rest and be at home for an extended period but probably around week six of seven is where I had a hard time getting up… I liked to be a bit more social so that was difficult for me not having that contact with people. To overcome it, I had to get around people and just tried to get more active mentally through reading or listening to podcasts.”
Chianti Clegget: “There were times where I lacked motivation and I would say it was short-lived because I am a loner anyway and I like my space and my time to myself so it was kind of welcomed . . . [but] I did lack motivation but just for a little while. I started watching webinars on self-improvement and reading more books. I’ve read more books this year than I have since I was a little girl.”
Lucy MacCash: “I definitely did. I teach kindergarten and I was doing Zoom classes, distance learning and online teaching and I did that for several months and it was definitely hard at times . . . because I couldn’t see my students [in person] and it’s difficult to explain to little kids why we can’t be together normally.”
Riva Cullinan: “It was hard for me to not see people in large groups because I’m very social, so that got to be a bit depressing after while. I’m grateful for modern technology where I could FaceTime my friends or family or have Zoom parties and different things like that to have some type of social interaction.”
