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Original poster

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

187 replies

Daffodilsinthewindow · 26/05/2021 12:40

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?

OP posts:
TruelyStruttingHotpants · 26/05/2021 19:23

Russia forced people to take part in their vaccine trials. Not a chance we will ever get to that level here. Vaccine passports would be the nearest thing and even that idea gets a lot of serious resistance.

XenoBitch · 26/05/2021 19:24

TakeYourVaccine is probably having a huge laugh at our expense. Of course they are a spoof poster/troll. They have a friend who has had Long Covid for 4 years in one thread, and 12 years in another.
They have also said to have the vaccine to respect the memory of Prince Phillip.
Stop feeding the troll.

Ostryga · 26/05/2021 19:25

@TakeYourVaccine makes me even more certain I don’t particularly want it. So hopefully they’re an anti-vaxxer in disguise or they’re doing a piss poor job 😂

SquawkSquawk · 26/05/2021 19:25

@TakeYourVaccine, thank you - you've given me a good laugh Grin

Roonerspismed · 26/05/2021 19:27

Some responses here are hilarious

I don’t have health anxiety particularly but am waiting for more data before taking any vaccine because the constant drip feed
of side effects makes me uneasy. A 1 in 50,000 of a clotting issue alone? The swine flu jab was pulled for less than that.

If you are at risk, take your vaccine and leave the rest of us alone. OP I know plenty of people just quietly watching and waiting. They have in the main not told people so it’s more common than you think

Grumblesigh · 26/05/2021 19:27

Your question was whether you will be treated like a leper. The answer is - probably, by a small but significant enough percentage of people to make you uncomfortable.

I know it's not right, but the anti- antivaxxer movement is strong atm (for understandable reasons) and plenty are not willing to take 'but it makes me really anxious and mentally unwell' as an excuse.

Sorry. I don't blame you a bit for not getting it, even though I have had it myself.

Yes, lots of people will be judgy with you, I fear. I hope not. But I bet yes.

SquawkSquawk · 26/05/2021 19:29

OP, Mumsnet is mental. You won't be a pariah. People in your real life won't react like this, I can almost guarantee it.
As for the ones who think they can understand and cure your health anxiety over the internet, and are making massive generalisations like "avoidance is bad"... give over. It's so much more complicated than that, and any decent clinician works with your avoidance with nuance and care (e.g. there's something known as "adaptive avoidance"). My advice - go and enjoy being 31.

picturesandpickles · 26/05/2021 19:34

Don't tell people, your medical history is private.

MaxNormal · 26/05/2021 19:41

In all seriousness OP don't tell people.
I can't have it and its easier to just smile and nod than have to explain my medical history.

Bluntness100 · 26/05/2021 19:44

I don’t think it’s ok to pretend to be vaccinated when you’re not. It puts people at additional risk. And no matter how ill you are, it’s not ok to put people at risk without their knowledge.

MaxNormal · 26/05/2021 19:49

That's not what I'm doing though, I'm just not discussing it and saying things like "not yet" when people ask if I've had my appointment through.
But no I'm not going to hide away at home forever.

picturesandpickles · 26/05/2021 19:53

@Bluntness100

I don’t think it’s ok to pretend to be vaccinated when you’re not. It puts people at additional risk. And no matter how ill you are, it’s not ok to put people at risk without their knowledge.
People should not be bloody asking the rude buggers!

It is acceptabel to lie in response to rude questions IMO.

I am vaccinated btw but will not answer the question myself at work etc., other people can assume what they want, it is my business.

Bluntness100 · 26/05/2021 19:54

@MaxNormal

That's not what I'm doing though, I'm just not discussing it and saying things like "not yet" when people ask if I've had my appointment through. But no I'm not going to hide away at home forever.
I don’t think anyone suggested you should?
XenoBitch · 26/05/2021 20:01

I don’t think anyone suggested you should?

OP was told by someone in this thread to "stay out of public places" if they don't have the vaccine.

Yellowcrockpot · 26/05/2021 20:03

Your body. Your choice. Your life. You make your own choices for you, and you stand by those choices.

RachyRoo89 · 26/05/2021 20:08

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RachyRoo89 · 26/05/2021 20:13

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partyatthepalace · 26/05/2021 20:14

Well I just wouldn’t tell people, if you are worried about their reactions.

I do think though life might get difficult without the vaccine. So you may need to face up to it sometime. Are you getting some help for your anxiety?

VanillaFlat · 26/05/2021 20:23

Almost all vaccines work in a similar way - your immune system comes across the virus, and tries to deal with it as fast and as best as it can, hopefully before you develop symptoms. If you have very mild symptoms, you are less likely to pass it on to anyone. No, it's not impossible to either get it, or to pass it on, but it's much, much less likely. If you come across a virus, your immune system might not be able to deal with it fast enough or effectively enough. I caught measles in the end despite being vaccinated. But it's quite rare. Also, it seems like other vaccines work really well, but that's partly because so many people are vaccinated against them that it's quite unlikely to come in contact with the virus in the first place these days. It's a race against time with the variants. If enough people get vaccinated relatively soon, it's possible to beat them, and the scientists are also working on more generalised vaccines that will be able to deal with a whole range of mutations. So the yearly boosters may not need to happen forever.

This government in particular does not want people in lockdown at all - it's wants them out and spending money, regardless of the body count. They will act as late as possible to avoid people being back in lockdown

So anti-vaxxers are making it more likely by not having the vaccine, and more so, by encouraging others not to. If someone really was worried about the vaccine, their best case scenario is for everyone to have it but them - herd protection, low individual risk. the worst thing they can do is to discuss it and discourage others from having it, because that then increases their own risk. The fact that anti-vaxxers keep going on about it and there are so many repetitive posts by posters saying the same things makes people suspect they have other agendas.

XenoBitch · 26/05/2021 20:23

@partyatthepalace

Well I just wouldn’t tell people, if you are worried about their reactions.

I do think though life might get difficult without the vaccine. So you may need to face up to it sometime. Are you getting some help for your anxiety?

How would life get difficult? All I have seen is the vaccine being needed to go abroad.. which makes sense and is up to individual countries anyway. I really don't think there will be a domestic vaccine passport like they have in Israel. Vaccine take up here is high enough.
HappydaysArehere · 26/05/2021 20:30

If you suffer from anxiety I would think you might be more worried by actually having Covid than protecting yourself from it.

FrankensteinIsTheMonster · 26/05/2021 20:31

@SquawkSquawk

OP, Mumsnet is mental. You won't be a pariah. People in your real life won't react like this, I can almost guarantee it. As for the ones who think they can understand and cure your health anxiety over the internet, and are making massive generalisations like "avoidance is bad"... give over. It's so much more complicated than that, and any decent clinician works with your avoidance with nuance and care (e.g. there's something known as "adaptive avoidance"). My advice - go and enjoy being 31.
It's so much more complicated than that

…which is exactly why I advised OP to seek help. It's extremely difficult to recover from anxiety disorders on your own, even with good self-help materials. But in order to decide to seek help, OP needs to recognise that her current ways of coping are not working for her. This is difficult for her to do, because her brain is playing tricks on her and telling her that her avoidance strategies are healthy techniques for protecting her mental health. OP's mental illness is robbing her of the opportunity to make a properly-considered choice about whether or not to take the vaccine. It's forcing a particular choice on her. Perhaps if she didn't have the anxiety disorder, she would still decide not to take the vaccine — but that would be her choice, not forced upon her by an illness.

GucciJackie · 26/05/2021 20:34

It's a personal decision imo.
Most people are going to have it so that's them taking responsibility for their own health. I don't see why there should be pressure on anybody who doesn't want it to have it.

Trust in your own right to say no and don't put yourself up in the dock inviting criticism again!

XenoBitch · 26/05/2021 20:42

@HappydaysArehere

If you suffer from anxiety I would think you might be more worried by actually having Covid than protecting yourself from it.
That is applying rationality to anxiety.. which by its very nature is not rational. Same as when people tell needle phobes that "you don't feel it".
Talkwhilstyouwalk · 26/05/2021 20:44

I've had the vaccine but totally understand that other people may have reservations especially if they are young and healthy/unlikely to be seriously ill with Covid. It's not been around for long so I don't blame low risk people for taking a wait and see approach. I don't think that it is fair to bully or guilt trip people into it.....