has everyone become too hysterical about Covid?

[tellytubby20]

Looking at all the threads on MN my impression is that everyone has become completely hysterical about Covid and completely misunderstands the difference between personal health risk and public health.

Am not oblivious to the health risks - I have followed all the rules, live next to a major London hospital (so very aware of how busy the ambulance service is) and had covid last year.
BUT
I am also under 40 with small DCs - so am aware that my personal risk of death or severe illness is small - my goal is therefore to ensure that I do not spread it others who are vulnerable.

However, so many people seem to have decided that the threat/risk is massive to their kids and themselves especially with this new variant.....WHY?

AIBU - to think that people are massively over-estimating personal risk if they are healthy and under 50 and have become hysterical about it.

AINBU to think that

The hysteria is off the scale crazy.

I’m not worried about the risk to me. I’m worried about the risk to the nhs and older people at the moment.

I agree. The hysteria is ridiculous.

I think there is a lot of hysteria on mumsnet, I don’t see it in real life. I was on a thread last night, someone posted that Chris witty had said we would defintely still have restrictions next winter, when he didn’t say that and then people kept coming on with worse and worse projections, things like school won’t reopen etc, we have at least another year of this, it is just awful.

But more than that, it panics other people reading it, and gets into a huge vicious circle where they are feeding each other’s anxiety and spiralling down.

No matter how many of us went on and said to stop the scaremongering and to stop making stuff up and posting likes it true, they just kept going. And it’s the same on other threads.

In real life though I don’t know anyone who behaves or feels like this.

Agree

Nope, hospitals are getting very close to full and 75,000 people have died.

Following the rules is not hysterical.

It is very clear that many many people are unable to effectively regulate their response to ambiguity and fear

If nothing else, covid has shown me how incredibly psychologically undeveloped a lot of people are

MN is getting worse. I have never read so much guessing and speculation, untruths stated as fact and general running about screaming about this pandemic.

Back in the real world everything is calm. Nobody is doing that and I'm trying to get on with things within the guidelines as best I can.

Why didn't you just post to the corona board? It's bloody threads like this that drives me nuts, there is loads of variants of this thread on that board.

I don’t know anyone who is panicking personally at all. I know lots of people who think following the rules is important as a matter of public health 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Pillowcase123

Nope, hospitals are getting very close to full and 75,000 people have died.

Following the rules is not hysterical.

Ehrm. She didn’t ask if following the rules was being hysterical.

Yes, but the government is deliberately whipping up hysteria, as are the news outlets. If they gave the average daily age of death along with the death rates, then that would calm a lot of people. But they want people to panic so they will support lockdown.

We don''t even know if lockdowns actually make viruses worse, by slowing community spread.

And people are literally trained to parrot "if only stupid people would obey the rules" (you're never going to get 100% compliance other than in a dictatorship) and "oh but long Covid". Its pathetic that otherwise perfectly young people are afraid to leave their homes and the Government is encouraging it. Perhaps it wants a very complaint population after Brexit or something.

The only bit of your post which is U is the idea that this is anything new. It's the same people who have been posting hysterical nonsense since February/March.

Then are backed up by equally anxious people and it becomes the 7th circle of hell with them all trying to outdo each other with how "safe" they are, how miserable they are, how long they can go without leaving the house and outlandish stories about what spying they've done on the neighbours.

I peaked in March with the "cheese in your coffee" nonsense. 90% of posters on the covid board are unhinged. The other 105 are desperately trying to fight the good fight against the tide of crazy.

YADNBU. The panic is ludicrous when the risk is so low for a huge majority of people.

@Bunbunbunny

Why didn't you just post to the corona board? It's bloody threads like this that drives me nuts, there is loads of variants of this thread on that board.

It's not MN anymore it's CVNet. I really want a 'CV AIBU' topic I think there's a need.

Tbh I'm shocked by the apparent numbers of people who are just carrying on as normal, denying it exists or believing in ridiculous conspiracy theories. I've had to leave a few FB groups due to the sheer stupidity of some people and the personal attacks on those of us who are trying to be careful and follow the lockdown rules. We had covid last year, so we're not particularly worried about it personally, but understand the need to take personal responsibility for the greater good.

You’re asking this 10 months later?

@Pillowcase123 - i am not saying that following the rules is hysterical - thats just doing our bit for public health.

but people are asking whether going to a playground is safe or whether this is ever going to be over

straight after everyone declared that xmas is sacrosanct.....well no...there was no need to mix at xmas but for gods sake dont all go mad about taking your kids outside.

we've now lived with this virus for a year and people still dont seem to know much about it

What if you have an accident/heart attack/stroke/etc and can’t receive the treatment you need because the hospital is full of people dying from covid?

We don''t even know if lockdowns actually make viruses worse, by slowing community spread.

Slowing community spread stops itu departments being totally overwhelmed and buys time to vaccinate the most vulnerable.

Mass hysteria and too many people thinking they are experts, know the answer to any question and shouts anyone down who doesn't follow exactly what they think.

I've literally just spoken to a colleague who has it at the moment and their words were "I've had worse hangovers".

This is the case for most people.

Post that on MN, and the hysterical responses are incredible and verging on pathological

And it doesn’t just impact the elderly. Go read some of the support threads for long covid sufferers.

@scolha

I don't think this is the thread for you

You are literally posting hysterical responses

People are anxious and confused. It’s understandable when looking at how the government have handled all of this.

The lack of clarity due to the constant contradictions and U-turns forces people to seek answers elsewhere, unfortunately then forums and social media allows for a breeding ground of inaccuracies and worry.