I guess the "Great Recession" wasn't "dark" enough for some folks here.
I think anyone's individual memory of the Great Recession is going to be based on how it affected them, personally. And, there really wasn't any one great consensus there...it affected everybody differently.
In my case, it was definitely a wakeup call. I lost half of everything in just three short months...September/October/November. But, I was never in any danger of losing my job, and hadn't bought a house at the peak of the market, so I didn't have to worry about dipping into retirement to try and stay afloat, losing the house, stuff like that.
One thing that inadvertently worked in my favor, was that a lot of banks were starting to freeze HELOCs, so that you couldn't draw any more out, even if you were nowhere near your limit. I called mine, to see if they were going to do that as well. They said no, but I didn't fully trust them, so I maxed out my HELOC, just in case. Rates had dropped so low, it didn't cost much to do that. And then, once things seemed like they were going to stabilize, instead of paying the HELOC back down, I invested the money. Not at the bottom of the market, but, while it was still low, at least.
Once we got past March 2009 though, it seemed like the market was going nowhere but up. By November of 2009, my investments were at a new high, although that was partly because of additional investments. I figure I was "made whole" again (gained back all of my losses) sometime in early 2010. In retrospect, it seemed like it went by in a flash, and we recovered a bit too quickly. But, I do remember going through it seemed like hell, and I was constantly worried about when the market would go south again.
For instance, in November of '09, even though my net worth was at new peaks, my car got totaled. Even though I could easily afford just about any new car I'd reasonably want, I was leery about spending any serious money. I didn't like spending the ~$7800 I did end up blowing, on a used Buick.
In February 2010, the market tanked a bit. It ended up being the first down month I had since March of 2009, and I started to worry. But, looking at it now, it only knocked me down about 5.5%. But, I was still thinking, oh crap, here we go again. March/April were good months, but then May/June/July were three month where it went progressively lower, ultimately dropping me about 14.5%. And, the whole time I was thinking we're gonna crash again.
In 2011, I lost about 14% from July to August, and my first thought was oh crap, looks like the party is over. But, then it didn't go any lower, and I was recovered by February of 2012.
I think the Great Recession did scar me a bit, in some ways. But, it also taught me that in the end, the market always comes back. And, often, quicker than we might think. Heck, even during the Great Depression, I believe there was a pretty big rebound in 1933, before it tanked again in 1934.
And heck, during this last downturn at the end of 2018, I got burned a bit because I tried to take advantage of it! I sold a few assets at a loss to write it off on my taxes, and figured I'd buy back at a low price after the wash sale period ran out. But, then, the market came back, seemingly quicker than it crashed.
But, in contrast, I remember we had some neighbors who bought their house for $375K in 2007, at the peak of the market. They ended up losing it, and the bank took it over. The next people to buy it, in early 2012, paid $152,000. Now, I don't think it was the Great Recession, itself, that made them lose the house, because they didn't lose it until around 2010 or 2011. I heard that part of their family was in trouble with the law over identity theft, credit card fraud, etc. But, when they did fall on hard times, in the wake of the Great Recession, the depressed home value certainly didn't help them. Anyway, I'm sure their views of that timeframe are vastly different from mine.
I know a few people too, younger than me, who can remember their parents losing their homes in that timeframe. So to them, it's going to be etched into their memories for life, most likely