THE GUARDIAN: Forget lockdown goals: trying to learn a language or get fit in a crisis won't make you happier

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We are sad because of loss: of our normal lives, the comforting presence of our families, our hopes for the coming months (I should have been visiting old friends in the US this summer), and for some of us, our livelihoods and those we love. The sadness of lockdown has something in common with grief. Grief is a normal reaction to loss. However, for those already facing serious problems, or experiencing particularly traumatic events now and in the near future, it will be very hard – and some, like me, are always at risk of depression and anxiety returning.

I’m surviving lockdown on my own, with a couple of those “underlying health issues” that make me more susceptible to the virus, a half-built extension to my house on which all work has (correctly) ceased, my husband 500 miles away – and back-to-back Covid-19 on Radio 4, the station that is usually the comforting soundtrack of my life. There is a constant temptation to descend into a restless, miserable hibernation between the stressful Zoom conference calls and unwind with a glass of wine – or two.