Anyone else feeling depressed and anxious due to the coronavirus?

[palomasky]

I know I am probably being silly but I feel very depressed about the outlook for the next few months even the next year due to the coronavirus outbreak. When I first head about the virus in early january this year I had a horrible feeling about it, much more so than with previous novel viruses. I tried initally to just hope for the best that it would be contained relatively quickly but I think all hope of containment is more or less gone by this point.

For the past 10 years I've had very poor health but last year I did begin to improve with a new treatment and started to get some of my life back. I joined a gym in January to try and improve my fitness and lose some weight, I was hoping to get back to work later in the year for the first time in a decade. In december last year I had pneumonia which was a setback but I had recovered but since late february my husband has preferred that I don't go to the gym because of infection risks. I feel like everything is slipping away from me after I had so hoped to restart my life this year. I know this is selfish but I haven't been on an overseas holiday in 14 years and hoped this year might be the year I eventually got to travel a bit but its looking very unlikely now.

My parents and inlaws are now all 65+ and have various underlying health issues, I worry that they will catch it and never get to enjoy their longed for retirements.

Two people I know have already died of pneumonia in the past week they were older people but prior to this nobody I have known has died of pneumonia and now two in one week? Both died very suddenly and have not been tested for covid19.

I am worried about the stress on the NHS, how this will effect peoples jobs, the food supply, long term economic effects that might have a negative impact on the lives and jobs of ordinary people. I am worried about what happens when this virus hits a very poor country without the medical provision that the developed world has, how many will suffer and die, how many kids will be left orphans?

I try to put all these selfish and general concerns about coronavirus out of my mind but the reality is that its not going away and that it will most likely get worse and so I'm always vaguely aware of it even when I'm happy.

I know I can't do anything about it except take the advice of doctors and the government and try to do my bit to prevent any spread and be a good neighbour or citizen if the time comes but I just needed to get all these concerns out and to ask if anyone else feels the same?

Be kind, I know I'm being daft but its just how I feel at the moment.

from Mind

I feel exactly the same. Just feel totally depressed.

I feel a bit the same. I have deleted news apps from my phone and am trying not to think about it. I can't change the situation, I can only do my bit. Every time I find myself worrying I try and distract myself with a book/film. Sending all the love and hugs xxxxxx

I definitely don’t feel myself, pretty anxious and feeling rubbish that I can’t go about as normal!!

Thanks for that link Chateau, it looks like helpful advice!

Irma, notmyhusbandsproperty and babyfairy, thanks for replying, its actually helpful to know I'm not alone in feeling like this. I think I need to limit my exposure to the news also but then I can't really quiet go about my normal life. I keep checking to see if their is some good news but its all mostly bad about the worsening situation.

Me. Haven’t slept for a month.

The thing that upsets me the most is that I don’t want my DS to suffer. I worry most about the impact on him. If it was just me it would be much easier to deal with.

I can't concentrate on anything - reading a book etc. Like you I am constantly scanning the news hoping for a slowdown.

My family in Italy (quarantined) are also really depressed. Everything closed, people afraid for their jobs, and of course slightly hysterical about catching it.

Look, the media is really hyping this up. Please don’t take it to heart. It’s very unlikely there will be mass pandemics. A doctor friend has told me the reason they are worried is because there aren’t any vaccines or contingencies for the virus as it is so new. The chances of getting it and dying from it are minuscule, but health survives will be overburdened (like they are in the U.K. with seasonal flu every year) and there’s a limit to resources at the moment (perhaps an extra £350 million a week might help the nhs?) so this is all being based on a financial cost benefit analysis.

I’m sorry for your losses, the most likely scenario is that pneumonia was responsible. People forget that pneumonia and flu can be fatal because it’s not widely publicised. It is always awful to lose a loved one, so please take some time for yourself to acknowledge that and grieve.

Try not to let the fear get inside your head or your heart. Do something to cheer yourself up and then just live your life. Wash your hands regularly, don’t lick the door handles on buses, take a multi vitamin and prioritise a few early nights. Spring is around the corner!

MissPoldark, I don't have children ( was unable to have them) so I can't imagine how much more stressful the situations would be if you have children to think of. I hope you and your family stay safe!

Irma, I just wish it would all go away, it feels like a nightmare senario! Your family in Italy will have it much worse than us considring the situation but I am not so sure we are that far behind Italy.

Littlejalapeno, your reply is very kind and some much needed perspective, perhaps the media have been hyping it up and with social media we get to see details that before we would never have seen even as recently as the 2009 swine flu.

I will try not to let it all get to me so much, I think the fact that I have just had two people I die might be impacting my state of mind to an extent.

Thanks again for your comment and your advice.

Yep I have been following it since Jan and I can't seem to stop myself reading about it. I can't really sleep very well and my appetite has diminished.

Just so worried about my parents and my DH with lung scarring.

Yes I feel the same and also have relatives with illnesses etc it is very stressful. The news stories don't help either. It is all very people just saying 'be positive' but that doesn't get rid of all the worries does it. Kind thoughts

I’ve got to the point like many, that if I am going to catch it, I just want to get on with it. The sooner I am ill, the sooner I develop some immunity, get better & get on with my life.
The more people with immunity, the less a threat the virus represents because it can spread less easily.

But I have the advantage of being fit & healthy with no other conditions.

I'm not so much worried about getting the actual virus, i've read the stats and realise it barely affects kids and people in my age range have a very low mortality rate but my panic comes from things like what if I need an operation during the worst of it, what if theres no food in the shops. This weekend out local supermnarkets were wiped clean of loo roll, UHT milk, soap and pasta. It triggered a panicked response in me (even though i still have some of my brexit stash left) as well as panicking about the economy and losing my job etc
I tried not to keep reading things but that is worse as then i start imagining the worst in my head so i find reading the latest updates etc is better but it also then keeps my mind on it!

Hairyfloppins, I'm sorry to hear that your husband has lung scarring. Its so hard to know how to react because its likely that 1000's will be infected in the UK and 100's will die even in a best case senario so even if this isn't likely to be you or your loved one its still sad and depressing.

I know we need to heed all the sensible advice and I intend to especially the good advice on this thread but its helped me to just get it all off my chest and to know I'm not alone, I hope its helped you.

Yes I'm very worried and scared. I have anxiety anyway but I was in a good place at the start of the year with lots to look forward to and it’s all now a worry.

ValleyoftheHorses, your situation sounds a lot like mine, I really thought 2020 was going to be my year, how stupid of me!

Yes I am... and also about the past few years of political turmoil and division among people. A novel virus is sort of the rotten cherry on top of a pile of steamed shit. It’s a bummer, to use my native Californian speak. Life feels a bit joyless. But people go through so much uncertainty and instability all over the planet at all times. We’re used to having democracy as our buffer. But in the past few years especially, politicians have eroded our sense of security and so, in the face of coronavirus being handled by short-sighted leaders, your fears are justified, OP.

I just look at the recovery numbers. I walk daily with the dog... oh to be the dog or the cat right now! I look at the recovery numbers. Wash hands. Be sensible. Look at the recovery numbers.
I’ve been reading First They Killed My Father and very sadly- without sounding like some freak full of schadenfreude- that’s brought me slamming down to Earth! I guess I can tell myself, with mild surprise, that it’s better with Boris than, for example, Pol Pot. Only slightly.

Handholding sympathetically, OP!

The panic on the news and the panic on here especially is not doing me any good.
There are posters on here who seem determined that we are all going to be really ill. If it was like they were saying we should have been in the thousands by now. We honestly don’t know how it is going to pan out.
It’s worrying if you have underlying conditions. I have a friend who will be very vulnerable to it, normal colds are bad for her. I think mostly it’s another form of flu (a bad one) that’s going to be milling about for a while yet.

VangardSix, I agree that the last few years have been miserable because of the division over brexit and while I don't want to make this political I don't have a huge amount of faith in the current government.

I guess it is all a bit first world problems and I know that people in other parts of the world live lives where brutality, disease, war and famine are a daily reality for them and I'm just not used to as a westener having to face such uncertainty.

I appreciate your sympathetic handhold, I'm right there with you!

Yes along with the problems I already have and knowing my youngest child is at high risk of dying from it due to his health condition.
I've completely had enough.
I'm sick of hearing about it, reading about it, talking about it.
It can just fuck off now so I can focus on the worries I already have.

ihatesundays, I hope you are right that its really only a bad flu. I've read quite a few doctors saying that it isn't only a flu but then if your a hospital doctor dealing with the worst cases then that will affect how you see it. From what I can gather, many people do just have mild symptoms while others develop serious complications, I believe in Asia they have also detected encephalitis and nervous system damage. I have to remind myself that these are possible complications of any viral infection but its still scary.

I think its the uncertainty thats distressing and as VangardSix says its heaped on the massive uncertainty we have faced for years now so perhaps we are feeling the impact worse.

Well if this is more than a "bad flu" then my little boy has no chance.
I almost lost him to swine flu in 2010 due to his underlying preexisting health conditions.
Six weeks on life support in an induced coma. I never want to live through that again.
Right I'm getting off this now.

AnxietyQueen, I'm sorry to hear about your son and his health, its for this reason we all need to do everything we can to limit the spread to protect people who are vulnerable. I hope he will be ok and that the whole thing does turn a corner for the better soon!

No.

Perhaps it might be best to stay away from the likes of mumsnet which is just full of people stressing about it or at least these threads. Reading about it endlessly is not going to help and is not going to change anything.

Most people I’m sure have cause to be wary and concerned about the illness. I am too especially as my dad has cancer. It’s hardly unusual to have a family member who is old and/or has significant health problems though, I would guess the majority of the population do. There is no benefit to be gained from letting yourself be paralysed by fear.

Most people IRL are continuing as normal as far as I can see. Honestly I’d switch off here and go and read a book or watch a film or something and try and find something else to occupy your thoughts.