Is the fear out of proportion?

[Hotlungs]

I’m asking this genuinely as I struggle with anxiety and have a tendency to catastrophise.
I read yesterday that 99.5% of people will survive if they have the virus. Whilst I understand that people are worried they are in the 0.5% is the fear rationale? The press describing it as a ‘killer virus’ and people saying they don’t want to go to the supermarket incase they die. Obviously I’m not talking about those in the vulnerable group.
Are we doing poor risk management? Again to clarify I don’t mean the current lockdown situation to protect the NHS (which is needed) but I mean the fear of it.
We are more likely to die in our cars but we risk manager that (with precautions) to still use them. What are people’s thoughts?

I’m scared because I have primary immunodeficiency disorder (eczema and allergies) so I’m worried that I’m going to suffer severely as I seem to get kicked into bed when I catch an illness. 😟

I wonder if many of them really have no underlying conditions

It's no KNOWN conditions and they should be forced to report it as such. How many people are walking around with diabetes, or high blood pressure that don't know about it. People drop dead in their 20s from unknown heart conditions.

Then you need to consider lifestyle. I've seen more than one report of someone with no underlying health conditions, and then the picture attached shows someone that is clearly overweight. Then consider they may be alcoholics, drug addicts, prescription pill poppers.

I'm sure there is a very, very small minority of people that genuinely have good health and died due to some awful anomoly. But that can happen with any illness, it just very very rare and not somthing we really should be panicking about.

Worry about your elderly parents, or friends and relatives with health conditions, but keep some perspective. If you're under 60 a healthy weight a moderately good lifestyle and no health problems then your more than likely gonna be fine.

I'm sure there is a very, very small minority of people that genuinely have good health and died due to some awful anomoly. But that can happen with any illness, it just very very rare and not somthing we really should be panicking about.

You have absolutely no way of knowing that and anyway even if it is true I don't see how it should be a reassurance to anyone. As you say nobody knows if they "genuinely have good health". Everybody should consider that they may be at risk take steps to avoid catching it.

Simple answer to the OP's question.

Yes - fear is getting totally out of proportion to the real risk. And that fear is being actively inflated by the Government. The daily briefings at 5.00pm are not necessary and are just an exercise in evading the important questions like:

What is the exit plan?
How are we going to re-build the economy and get everybody back to work?

The stock answer 'it's too early to say - these are unprecedented times' really means 'I have not got a * clue; none of us have; we are just a bunch of very average people who you elected to be your leaders; we make it all up as we go along'...……...

Daily mass hypnosis, by repetition from main stream media. It's way out of proportion to whats happening, but MSM love their headlines. Fear is also a way of controlling people. Tell it enough times, it's a placebo effect, it works. For those of you that are anxious, remember 95% of infections recover, sadly 5% die. The numbers per population are crazy. Yes, follow the rules, but also keep in mind if you did catch it, your chances of recovery are excellent.

Lifestyle isn't always a choice Naturalbornkiller It very often isn't.

And I worry about anybody at risk. Because I hate to think someone's considered expendable or less worthy of protection because they're one of the very many people in this country living with an underlying condition - diagnosed or not. When you add in people over 60 that's possibly the majority or nearly that of the population. People will be affected indirectly also. Nearly all of us will know and care about at least one person who is at increased risk.

No-one should panic but equally we shouldn't be complacent. We all need to take the necessary precautions. Measures like lockdown helps all of us - as individuals, as family members, as colleagues, and as a society.

They can't answer all the questions yet. With no magic wand it's impossible. Hopefully they've remembered the tortoise won the race.

My daughter is a hospital doctor, if you were seeing what she sees you would not say fear is out of proportion. For example a 19 year old boy with no underlying health issues dead. They aren't just a number they are people with families and friends. Anyone can catch this not just vulnerable groups!

it's no KNOWN conditions and they should be forced to report it as such. How many people are walking around with diabetes, or high blood pressure that don't know about it. People drop dead in their 20s from unknown heart conditions.

So even more reason to worry. Any one of us who think we're healthy could have an undiagnosed condition that would increase our risk.

I'm not scared of it for me, my DH or my kids. I knew we'd all be fine if we got it (99.9999% obviously some doubt). We have now had it (confirmed and tested) and we are all alive and well.

It's my DM I worry about. She is v frail, heart and lungs probs (significant) and I genuinely think she'd die if she caught it.

So no, I don't think the fear is out of proportion for those in the v v vulnerable group

Since we’re on lockdown why are cases still rising?

Are they? Could you link to this?

@ToffeeYoghurt

I totally agree about people being "expendable" and I find it distasteful how, a couple months ago, when the line was pretty much "no need to worry, you're very unlikely to get severely ill unless elderly/ already severely ill". literally no one seemed to give a crap. now everyone's losing their minds Cos they've now realised younger and healthier people are at risk too 😠

It's the "other-ing" of people oh it won't affect me I'm alright jack

Grrr

A healthy person can die from almost any illness. Around 100 people die in the U.K. every year from chicken pox, my dad died from sepsis 2 years ago, one of an average 40,000 people who die from sepsis every year. People die of all sorts of things all of the time.

I am in favour of the lockdown in the short to medium term because we need to individually act for the good of the population as a whole. That said the risk to each individual is generally small. How small will depend on your individual risk profile.

Obviously a global pandemic is a situation that requires us all to be cautious and take proportionate measures to protect ourselves and others. That said we need to be mindful that the messaging can impact people to the point that we now have people bleaching the floor after the post is delivered and being afraid to open the windows.

We do need to ensure that there is balance.

There are definitely those in the overreaction category... I've actually been quite disturbed by how far some people are taking it.

I suffer from moderate anxiety (better managed at some points than others) but I'm officially done worrying about it.

I'm a keyworker so I have to go to work, walk my dog and do the food shopping. I will get it or I won't.

I don't watch the news and use work as a barometer (work in a hospital).

It's not for me to deride other peoples fear but some people need an old school slapping to being them to their senses. I do think some do it for the drama though and it's not hard to tell the difference.

Obviously a global pandemic is a situation that requires us all to be cautious and take proportionate measures to protect ourselves and others. That said we need to be mindful that the messaging can impact people to the point that we now have people bleaching the floor after the post is delivered and being afraid to open the windows.

The people bleaching the floor or being afraid to open windows should be told that they wouldn't get infected that way so there was no point. They don't need to be told that they have a very low risk of being seriously ill or dying if they get infected because that may not be true. About 30% of the population is probably high risk and every time someone says it only affects those with underlying conditions those of us with underlying conditions think F off.

Perhaps until someone you know, or someone you work with or someone you love becomes seriously ill or dies it feels disproportionate.

@woodchuck99

As I said very clearly, healthy adults can die from any illness including COVID. It is a fact that for the majority of people the risk of dying from COVID is low. How low will depend on their own personal risk profile. Low risk doesn’t mean no risk. For a minority of people the risk will be reasonably high.

If you are a healthy 20 year old you are less likely to die than if you are an 80 year old with COPD and heart disease.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all act individually to protect everyone (as we are currently doing) but the level of panic that some people are feeling is not proportionate to the risk that they face as an individual.

When this ends (and it will, in a relatively short period of time) it will not be beneficial to society as a whole if we have huge numbers of people suffering from significant mental health conditions as a result of alarmist messaging. We need balanced messaging.

The no know underlying health conditions is being reported widely and seems to be an attempt to make us panic, and therefore be easily controlled by what is increasingly seeming like propaganda.

There are loads of undiagnosed heart conditions out there, I had one myself missed until age 14, operated on age 19, now fine. Seemingly healthy young adults do unfortunately drop down with cardiac arrests. But people tend not to insist on ecgs regularly, take their bp and air sats all the time "just in case". To function as a society we need to balance the risks by examining facts and probability...and learn to tolerate and live with a degree of uncertainty. For parents in particular that means our children grow up to be robust, resilient emotionally intelligent individuals.

I've seen some stuff on other threads that I find really worrying like people saying they'll be pretty much in the house long term and will be home schooling from now on. Their choice but at what cost...were heading for a society of paranoid, suspicious, over vigilance and that really doesn't sound very healthy.

Yes, I think it's absolutely nuts. Children have a miniscule chance of death, more chance of car crash/meningitis/serious sports injury, but people would be happy to let their kids get in the car or play contact sport.

Ironically the people not going out at all are making their immune system shitter for when they inevitably do catch the virus - vitamin D, fresh air, less cortisol, better lung function and fitness levels would help them have a better outcome.

I honestly think if the media had completely ignored it, not reported it at all and the government had just done a cover-up, no-one would notice much amiss and would chalk it up as a bad flu year.

“if you knew a serial killer was walking the streets would you want to go outside”

There are probably loads of serial killers out and about all the time! I go into London just for brunch and shopping and there's a stabbing a day there. Are people seriously this paranoid?

Yes the othering has always been nasty.

No-one has said people should panic. By recognising and acknowledging the very real risk to themselves and those they care about, people with anxiety (like everyone else) can take action to limit their risk. Be it self isolating, social distancing, or supporting longer initial lockdown. The number of people at increased risk from Covid is not a minority. Very many people have at least one underlying condition (even if they don't yet know) or are overweight or are over 60. Almost everybody else will know and care for someone in those groups. The risk is not just death but also being seriously ill. Of course people shouldn't panic but downplaying to a dangerous extent can also have mental health consequences.

I prefer understanding and compassion rather than "old school slapping". If bleaching the floor (a common everyday cleaning method) helps someone feel safer it's relatively harmless. Someone too scared to open their windows simplys need to be told they should do the opposite. It's been reported that a well ventilated home helps prevent catching it.

I think it’s just the numbers we are seeing just now and also the unpredictability. Even a small percentage of a lot of people is a lot

So even more reason to worry. Any one of us who think we're healthy could have an undiagnosed condition that would increase our risk.

But the same would apply at any time in your life. Did you lock yourself away a year ago incase you caught a virus that triggered an unknown heart condition. Did you wrap yourself in bubble wrap incase you cut yourself and got sepsis.

My point is only a very small % of young healthy people are going to die, and if you're worried about it when you're in that category, then why arnt you worried about dying in a RTA, or falling down the stairs and braking your neck, or catching ebola or whatever. Because they are all things that could happen. But we don't get ourselves worked up about it because its really not that likely.

Getting in a panic about all this needlessly is not good for you or the people around you. I just think people need to be a bit more calm and measured, look at the sats and take each day one at time.

I really cannot see that newspapers referring to COVID as a “killer virus” and screaming ANOTHER 850 DEAD in font size 100 can possibly be anything other than alarmist messaging. There is also a disproportionate amount of column space given to reporting on the deaths of young healthy people. Often that reporting subsequently turns out to be flawed but those errors are not corrected with anything like the same prominence and the moment has passed and the message is out there.

It is perfectly possible for these things to be reported responsibly as they are by some publications.

Bleaching the floor might be harmless but it reinforces that the perception in that person risk is very high to that individual and those actions are necessary to protect themselves. For some people it might be high but for the vast majority it is not. An 80 year old is far more likely on an individual level to survive being infected with COVID that they are to die from it.

If a person who is at a low risk believes it is necessary to bleach the floor to protect them from the post (and that belief is reinforced by others) how likely is it that they will feel able to go out at all when lockdown ends?

I’m not suggesting we tell people to crack on back to normal because there is nothing to worry about but if we are not careful we will have vast swathes of the healthy low risk population afraid to leave the house when lockdown ends. There does need to be some balance.