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Original poster

Freaking out please help me calm down

147 replies

Freak1ng0ut · 20/05/2021 21:23

I had to go into office the office today because we are being asked to come back- was very uncomfortable but went in at 9- sat there with masks on etc...there was an idiot yes I’ve called him an idiot as he sat in front coughing the whole time I was there. In these times do I need to say how anxiety inducing this is for snorkel person let alone someone like me who suffers from anxiety. My vaccine appointment is next week so not vaccinated- he was facing in front and I was behind him - both wearing masks
I’ve attached a bad diagram but sat here freaking out that he has passed on something to me...possibly Covid

Freaking out please help me calm down
OP posts:
Bordois · 20/05/2021 21:26

What will calm you down?

If you think someone sitting 2 desk widths in front of you, with their back to you and wearing a mask has put you at risk then what can we say to help?

Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/05/2021 21:28

I have been working out of the home throughout, not wearing masks. We had an outbreak in January, I did not catch it despite being in the same room as 2 people who were positive (unknown at the time as they were asymptomatic).

In the unlikely event he has Covid, you are not guaranteed to catch it. Calm down.

idontlikealdi · 20/05/2021 21:32

You need help for your anxiety. Get a grip, and I mean that nicely.

Crackbadger · 20/05/2021 21:34

Honestly, it's extremely unlikely you have caught anything. There are so many other reasons to cough than covid.
I was on the bus today and two seats behind me a poor young lad couldn't stop coughing. He was white as a sheet and had pulled down his mask to help him breathe. He looked very unwell.

I'm not worried he has given me anything though. I was concerned for him. Maybe if you could switch your focus to thinking about your colleague and how he might have felt, knowing he was coughing but unable to stop, would that help distract from your anxiety?

VaccineSticker · 20/05/2021 21:35

OP it’s all about the ventilation in the office and how many common surfaces you both touch and how often they get cleaned. If ventilation is good and the airflow has a current, your chances of catching it drops significantly.
The idiot should have gone straight for a pcr test. Well and truly an idiot.

InTheNightWeWillWish · 20/05/2021 21:36

People can cough and not have covid. There are a lot of reasons that people cough. I don’t have any respiratory issues but I still never realised how much I cough until this and I had suddenly had to worry I might be lynched every time I cough.

Bordois · 20/05/2021 21:37

There was a discussion on here recently about health anxiety. Offering reassurance is one of the worst things you can do as it feeds the anxiety and instead of helping it makes it worse.

Just putting that out there.

Bluntness100 · 20/05/2021 21:38

Op are you getting help for your mental health issues? Have you spoken to a gp? Do you have any medication or therapy?

Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 20/05/2021 21:39

@VaccineSticker it’s bog standard office with sealed shut windows and an aircon...which I presume just recirculates the air.....

OP posts:
VaccineSticker · 20/05/2021 21:39

Why should the op chill out? He’s bang out of order! This is how potentially he can end up making everyone isolate for ten days. The inconvenience of it all, nevermind catching covid, stresses anyone out.
Put yourself in her shoes.
Since when have we become an unsympathetic, nasty lot?
I had to isolate for couple of days while my pcr came back and it was soul destroying.
Be nice. Have some sympathy.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 20/05/2021 21:39

It’s not necessarily health anxiety though.

I have bad anxiety but don’t have health anxiety. I’d be freaking out in OP’s place. Anxiety is about scanning constantly for threats.

Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 20/05/2021 21:40

I didn’t touch anything. Actually I didn’t move,,I wiped the desk I was sitting on ...actually wiped the chair monitor cables everything before I sat

OP posts:
hopeishere · 20/05/2021 21:41

Transmission due to contact (touching) is practically non existent.

Are you high risk?

Original poster
Freak1ng0ut · 20/05/2021 21:42

@hopeishere he was coughing! I wiped my desk down before I sat down and got subjected to that..

OP posts:
And48 · 20/05/2021 21:42

Maybe he's had a test and it isn't covid? I've been coughing for 4 weeks now. I don't have covid I have a chest infection.

June1999 · 20/05/2021 21:43

My brother sat next to someone in class (sixth form) who had covid with no symptoms and didn’t catch it.

June1999 · 20/05/2021 21:45

However I understand your concerns but was just trying to give an example from an experience.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 20/05/2021 21:45

OP are you clinically vulnerable because if not I mean this kindly- get a grip!
Even IF they had covid, Even IF you catch it, Even if both those highly unlikely scenarios you are very unlikely be seriously ill.

SmidgenofaPigeon · 20/05/2021 21:46

So he had his back to you? Confused

Honestly some of us have had no choice to get on with this as we’ve never worked from home, and I think the main benefit of that now is that we haven’t fallen into this massive gulf of irrational anxiety and an inability to risk assess like you seem to have done, OP.

I think you need some help. You remember when we just went about our daily lives not worrying about flu or food poisoning or getting hit by a car? Covid is now the only thing some people seem to be worried about, they’re consumed by it. Life just isn’t risk free, it never was and it never will be. So many seem to have lost sight of that.

MyHairNeedsASnip · 20/05/2021 21:48

It's difficult. I'm coughing up a lung at the moment but I don't have covid, I've had a PCR because of the cough and I take twice weekly lateral flows for work. I've had a chest infection and I got a cold on top of it. It's an awkward time to have a cough.

Katie517 · 20/05/2021 21:48

Not everyone who coughs has covid, you were far enough away to not count as a contact for track and trace purposes plus you were both wearing a mask. A man was coughing in my gym class this week and felt he needed to announce that he has bad hay fever that causes a dry throat and not covid. It’s ridiculous that people are now scared to cough.

The estimate is that 1 in 1600 people in England have covid at the moment, I feel it highly unlikely the person you are describing is one of them and even if they were that you would catch it. Also you haven’t had your vaccine yet so are not vulnerable so why are you even concerned?

PurpleRainDancer · 20/05/2021 21:48

Hope you’re ok OP were you wearing a ‘snorkel’ instead of a mask? Grin

Sadieeloise5687 · 20/05/2021 21:49

Why is everyone telling the OP to get a grip? Covid spreads by coughing. If she was sat all day near to someone coughing there’s a high chance she could have caught whatever he had, and yes it could have been covid.
Op you should have said something to him. I’d have said that sounds nasty- you are supposed to isolate for 10 days with a cough. Have you had a covid test?

VaccineSticker · 20/05/2021 21:50

@Bluntness100 “has she spoken to the GP?”
🤣
You want her to ask a GP if it’s ok to be near someone who is coughing all day at work? Are you being serious?
You want her to ask a GP who doesnt want to be anywhere near someone who is mildly ill or presenting with any sort of cough? And who now do mostly a phone consultation to
avoid covid? Do doctors have health anxiety too you reckon?

They would advise on getting the person tested and to isolate.

The current medical advice from the NHS and gov is to isolate and test if you have symptoms.

Inconvenient and rubbish but that’s the state of the world now.

XenoBitch · 20/05/2021 21:51

Anxiety is a bitch, but no one owes you anything in regards to it. People cough for all sorts of reason. Would you have been so worried pre-Covid?