Covid anxiety and CEV/CV

[Jourdain11]

I'm struggling to understand the anxiety specifically around Covid as restrictions are due to be lifted. Obviously there is a need for anyone who is CEV/CV to be cautious and put measures in place, but essentially the same as any other illness. If one has a compromised immune system or another clinical vulnerability, there is always more of a risk of picking up illnesses and/or being more seriously affected by them. I'm struggling to understand why people say they will have to go back to shielding if people no longer wear masks, since this had never been the case in the past (when flu and noro or bad colds, for example, are doing the rounds).

I feel like there's a disproportionate fear of Covid and it's not reasonable for us to expect people to wear masks and social distancing forever. Admittedly there's a big degree of media culpability in terms of spreading a culture of fear and Covid hysteria.

I'm CEV, got my letter in March this year, if I had been well I could have been out & about for a year & wouldn't have known I was supposed to isolate. I still don't know why I have been classed CEV. Restrictions ending won't make any difference to me. I'm housebound & couldn't go out if I wanted to, I'm desperate to see a dentist, got referred to a clinic specifically for disabled people in my area & when I rang for an appointment got told it was closing that week.

But the thing is, most people aren't at super high risk, even if they are CEV. I know that the advice given has made people feel like this, but it isn't really reflective of the situation. So many people saying, "if I get Covid I'll most likely end up on a ventilator or dead" - but the stats just don't bear that out.

"So many people saying, "if I get Covid I'll most likely end up on a ventilator or dead"...

I also find statements like that a bit hard to read. People in the CEV group know we have a higher risk of more serious illness/complications but surely this is the case for lots and lots of other illnesses - but I only seem to find this statement made about Covid. I have no illusions about the state of my lungs and implications of catching COVID but I also have no illusions about the implications of catching flu or even colds! To me the "end up on a ventilator or dead" comments aren't "just being realistic" they reflect an almost unhealthy mindset of fatalism and gloom as well as bit dramatic.

Personally if I found myself saying things like that I would try and give myself a bit of a mental slap as i don't think it's healthy to live life thinking like that (ironically).

I'm probably not explaining that well as I'm very tired today. I don't want to be rude to people struggling and I know everyone's circumstances are different. I think the government's previous messages to CEV people have contributed to unhealthy mindsets tending towards doom and gloom (for want of a better expression!) and contributed to definitely fucking up peoples mental health over the potential risks to physical health.

That might make no sense to anyone but me! I'm a bit inarticulate, I'm sure someone who understands what I mean can word it a lot better

I'm more anxious about covid than other illnesses because it's the only illness that I have personal experience of killing more than one friend, including one who had no underlying health problems and was younger than me, giving long-covid to more than one person I know - two still seriously ill, where the vax has made me ill myself for several weeks and my GP is unsure how to advise me next (maybe blood tests before next dose), where myself, my DH and several relatives are at different degrees of increased risk, some more than us— like my BIL with COPD and recent heart surgery and my niece undergoing very aggressive chemo.
Now, we will all try and take sensible precautions, but you know what makes us anxious? — people who refuse to allow us to social distance, by blocking paths, deliberately moving into space we try and create, etc, essential visitors like plumbers who wear masks around their chin in our home after we ask them to mask up— because they don't see the problem.

I'm not asking anyone to continue to do things to protect themselves they don't deem necessary. I accept that public transport and shops will remain inaccessible to me until I feel I am not putting myself and loved ones at undue risk. But I would like people to respect the fact that others may feel the need to proceed with a little more caution.

Please forgive a quick derail. I remember you from another thread, Jourdain11, and just popped in to say I hope you are staying well and that things are OK.

@GenitaliaNotGender

Great post. I totally agree with your sentiments. The way the government has communicated the message has made people terrified.

So many people saying, "if I get Covid I'll most likely end up on a ventilator or dead"...

It rather depends on what condition makes you CEV. For some, they are highly likely to become very ill (immune issues) and for some of these conditions, the prognosis is very poor indeed (terribly over represented in ICU admissions; 50% death rate for all admissions, not just ICU). Gambling on getting it mildly enough not to need hospital is a risk not all want to take, because once there it's an evens chance that you won't come out alive.

@nether

So many people saying, "if I get Covid I'll most likely end up on a ventilator or dead"...

It rather depends on what condition makes you CEV. For some, they are highly likely to become very ill (immune issues) and for some of these conditions, the prognosis is very poor indeed (terribly over represented in ICU admissions; 50% death rate for all admissions, not just ICU). Gambling on getting it mildly enough not to need hospital is a risk not all want to take, because once there it's an evens chance that you won't come out alive.

@nether

What sort of conditions? I am sure there is a very small minority who are at high risk. I cannot even begin to imagine how it must be. That’ll be a fraction of the CEV group though.

I have multiple health conditions, all currently well controlled, the drugs I take add to vulnerability.
Winding back to the beginning I was certain covid would be a death sentence, I was advised to shield and I did.
I have changed my stance now that I am double vaxxed. While I may not get the best immune response I do have some antibodies. I know this because I do monthly tests for research.
I trust the vaccine to prevent serious illness and while I will still be cautious to some degree I will not shield forever. My life has been restricted enough from illness.

I suspect flu will be a bigger danger to many CEV this winter than covid. There was no flu last year on which to base this year's vaccine so they may not get it right.

I second amicissimma's post. Good to see you Jourdain11

Thanks! I'm doing well, thanks. Happy to be finished with chemo, in remission and living something like a normal life again. (Or as close as it gets to normal in our house!)