Made the decision not to have the vaccine yet, worried I’ll be treated like a leper

[Daffodilsinthewindow]

I have debilitating health anxiety and it’s ruined many years of my life. I’ve currently got it control and haven’t had a ‘relapse’ for a while. I’m absolutely terrified of the vaccine. I’m 31, so my age group has just been called up. All my friends and family keep asking me if I’ve booked it. I just keep saying “I will do”.

My health anxiety has meant several trips to A&E when I was on the contraceptive pill a few years ago, over fears of a blood clot, so that in turn has meant I haven’t been on it since.

I’m making an informed decision, taking my mental health into account...just like somebody would do if they had a physical health issue.

I’m not saying I’ll never have the vaccine, but I do want to wait a while as I feel it’s too soon for me personally. I’m not an anti vaxxer, I don’t believe in conspiracy theories about Bill Gates or microchips or anything like that. This is just a personal decision I have made about my body.
Pre covid, me making decisions about my body and mind to benefit me and not cause my mental health to spiral out of control, would be supported. Now I know I will get judged, talked at, made to feel small and as though I’m doing the wrong thing, not helping society etc etc.

Just wondering if anyone else is in a similar position?

I actually don’t believe that it’s part of your anxiety that you don’t want this vaccine. I honestly can’t understand people so gleefully queuing up to be injected with something that no one knows for sure what it’s going to do longer term. Those who are vulnerable or 60+ ok fine. But younger? Most people have swallowed every ounce of fear they have been fed.
It’s perfectly natural to be sceptical of something being injected into you that once done, can’t be undone. Especially after the lies and fear we have been fed this last year.
Of course, the vaccine could and probably is fine, safe and will cause no long term effects except preventing covid. But no one knows this for sure yet so of course there are worried people.
I swing wildly between I’m absolutely not having it ever, to I’m booking next week (because of long covid worries) I have been asked dozens of times if I’ve had it and pressured by family and peers many times. It’s awful. I just want to know if there will be longer term effects that haven’t been discovered yet. And no one can say.

At the end of the day, you can take your vaccine and be a decent productive member of society or not take it and stay in till you see sense- your choice.

Good for you. If you are not in an at risk category then I totally understand your logic. Noone should be pressured to take this vaccination.

The thing is, the vaccine is gone from your body within a few days. Your immune system is then reacting to it, and that can have effects within a relatively short period of time (the consequences of those effects can be long lasting, which is what some people mean by 'long term side effects'). But it's hard to think of a mechanism where, years after the vaccine is gone from your body, a new delayed-reaction could cause adverse effects (which is what people tend to be thinking about when they hear 'long term side effects'). Most of the adverse effects occur within the short time period, and it just takes a very large number of people for them to sometimes show up, but because most of the time, vaccines aren't given to huge numbers of people at once, it can take years before you get to that number of people, so it might seem like it has taken years to find long term effects because of the amount of time, rather than the number of people. This vaccine has been different in that hundreds of millions of people are having it in a short time. There are lots of other reasons, too, why this vaccine is the same as others in terms of the amount of testing, but it seems like it is much newer. So if you decide that you will trust the evidence that is out there currently, then those are some of the things that you can tell yourself to help with some of the worries.

@XenoBitch

”If they have had their vaccine then they are safe. OP being unvaccinated wont matter. Anyone terrified of the unvaccinated can stay indoors, because they will encounter many whilst going about their day to day life.”

I am not “terrified” and I dislike people using derogatory language because you’re including people like me. I’d be disappointed if a friend lied about having the vaccine. They have every right to not to be vaccinated and I pass zero judgement. However, as an immune compromised individual, I may choose to practice more caution around unvaccinated people e.g. would socialise in a restaurant but perhaps not sit in the same car for an hour. To lie to a friend or family member is unfair and taking away their informed choice. I am in close contact with my friends and family. The risk to me is higher from them than a random person in a supermarket. Personally, I am not particularly fearful of covid but I know many in my situation who are.

I just miscarried a much wanted baby. My age group will be getting called up in a few weeks the way that they are going.

I won’t be having mine until my cycles appear to return to normal and my hormones settle. I’ve had enough intervention and sickness recently.

OP, nobody has a right to your personal medical information. You do not have to share it if they ask. However, I query your rationale behind it. I know from experience that avoidance behaviour isn’t dealing with it. You need to tackle the underlying problem head on. I hope you can get some help.

@Daffodilsinthewindow

I have debilitating health anxiety and it’s ruined many years of my life. I’ve currently got it control and haven’t had a ‘relapse’ for a while. I’m absolutely terrified of the vaccine. I’m 31, so my age group has just been called up. All my friends and family keep asking me if I’ve booked it. I just keep saying “I will do”.

My health anxiety has meant several trips to A&E when I was on the contraceptive pill a few years ago, over fears of a blood clot, so that in turn has meant I haven’t been on it since.

I’m making an informed decision, taking my mental health into account...just like somebody would do if they had a physical health issue.

I’m not saying I’ll never have the vaccine, but I do want to wait a while as I feel it’s too soon for me personally. I’m not an anti vaxxer, I don’t believe in conspiracy theories about Bill Gates or microchips or anything like that. This is just a personal decision I have made about my body.
Pre covid, me making decisions about my body and mind to benefit me and not cause my mental health to spiral out of control, would be supported. Now I know I will get judged, talked at, made to feel small and as though I’m doing the wrong thing, not helping society etc etc.

Just wondering if anyone else is in a similar position?

If you are worried about how people will react to you not having the vaccine. Just tell people you have had it. No ones business bit your own.

(You really should actually have the jab though. Else surely you will end up worrying about covid more in the end)

This is why we need mandatory vaccines. I'm sorry but if people are given a choice to have a vaccine that saves people from death and choose not to what other choice do we have?

I would suggest encouragement to have the vaccine and then send the army in if the "encouragement " doesnt work. Lives have to be saved, I personally know of over 15 people who have died of covid and 5 of those were under 25. Take the vaccine or expect a visit for endangering lives with your selfishness from the army/relevant authority to administer your vaccine

We need to protect the NHS and the vulnerable so why would you not want to do that other than being a selfish anti vaxxer? Im sorry but a few side effects is a small price to pay

@TakeYourVaccine Just to play devil's advocate for a moment - getting a blood clot wouldn't really be a "small price to pay" and while it might be one in however many hundred thousand, that wouldn't be too comforting if you were that unlucky "one". Those who are young and healthy could say that they have a similarly small risk of dying from Covid

Proposing army-enforced vaccinations is just ridiculous and I'm sure you actually know it!

@RachyRoo89 the first reason in that article given for why we might not achieve herd immunity is vaccine hesitancy

To quote your own article:
"That threshold is generallyachievable only with high vaccination rates"

'He said that reaching a herd-immunity threshold was looking unlikely because of factors such as vaccine hesitancy, the emergence of new variants and the delayed arrival of vaccinations for children.'

'Vaccinating quickly and thoroughly can prevent a new variant from gaining a foothold'

Yes we may not achieve herd immunity, but thats not really a reason to stop trying, the only way we can attempt to achieve it is vaccination. The only way we can attempt to kerb new variants is vaccination. That article is very pro vaccine. You still have yet to provide one single good reason for not having your vaccine.

@TakeYourVaccine

Bloody hell that’s a bit extreme!

@RachyRoo89 you said you hadn't seen a single good reason to have the vaccine yet posted an article with several good reasons to get vaccinated. It doesn't really scream highly educated

Avoidance as a strategy does nothing for the mental illness of anxiety. Just as reassurance does nothing.

If mental health is indeed your concern - saying you are supporting your anxiety by putting in place the specific strategy of avoidance makes absolutely no sense.

And the added layer here is that your misplaced strategy (of using avoidance to manage anxiety) is - in this case - actively contributing to you not doing your bit as a citizen when we are collectively needing to do our bits to manage a highly transmissible illness which has brought the world to its knees.

So OP your strategy works for neither you nor the world around you.

Send in the Army @TakeYourVaccine you are sounding far more insane than any anti vaxxer I have ever heard.

I am not having the vaccine. I have medical issues. It's not something that I am willing to discuss with every Tom, Dick or Harry who now seem to think that everyone has the right to know my personal medical history.

I will also not be staying in, wearing a mask when no one else has to, wearing a badge or any other crazy thing that has been put forward.

People who've had the vaccine can still get covid, can still pass it on too.

At the end of the day, you can take your vaccine and be a decent productive member of society or not take it and stay in till you see sense- your choice

I'll not be taking my vaccine OR staying in, HTH you absolute loon.

@FrankensteinIsTheMonster great posts. Have recovered from anxiety myself, I completely agree with you.

I'm pretty sure @TakeYourVaccine is a spoof poster (or possibly troll) based on her posts in other threads too.

@MaxNormal

At the end of the day, you can take your vaccine and be a decent productive member of society or not take it and stay in till you see sense- your choice

I'll not be taking my vaccine OR staying in, HTH you absolute loon.

Im sorry but the law may soon say otherwise

@TakeYourVaccine cool I've just realised you're a troll, will save me engaging further.

@MMMarmite

I'm pretty sure *@TakeYourVaccine* is a spoof poster (or possibly troll) based on her posts in other threads too.

Im not a troll, I am making sure the anti vaxxers know what they should be doing to be productive decent people

Im not a troll, I am making sure the anti vaxxers know what they should be doing to be productive decent people

How kind of you