Coronavirus and mental health

[IvyBush123]

I hope that it is okay to talk about this.
Actually I was feeling down before all of this happened (or before I paid much attention to it). I wrote this thread about life sometimes feeling like a war to me.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/feeling_depressed/3797497-Life-is-a-war

Dh has ptsd and he often has the feeling of looming disaster... and i sometimes feel the same.

It was dh who talked me into doing some research about the Coronavirus and was getting very stressed early on. I did some research and in the beginning I was not sure if there was really a problem or if the problem was only in our minds... then I started a thread in AIBU and learned more about the virus and heard about more and more shocking news...

And all I can think is: this is not fair, we have been trough so much and worked so hard and this is not fair. I’m am very much afraid.

Apart from that: I worry how dh will cope. He has trouble eating. I wonder how he will cope with limited food choices. I wonder how he’ll cope with the stress. Most likely just fine I guess.

I was diagnosed with ptsd after the traumatic events surrounding my DD's birth and after. It is truly dreadful and life sapping. As my dh will testify - being the person in the immediate vicinity of someone's distress is also tough.

It is hard to know whether to protect that person from talking about anything negative or worrying or whether to reassure them that there is a bit of resilience in your home to take a bit of a challenge should it arise.
Only you know. Which is a terrible strain in itself.

I always say on here that people who generally aren't in difficult situations should take small steps to do basic preparations for tricky times. In that way they will keep out of the way so that people who do need extra support will get it.

I'm not a doctor but this is what I'm doing:

Practice good hand hygiene. Keep up with regular Vitamin C - fresh fruit and veg for preference but tablets/supplements or if not always possible. Have a reasonable stock of things you usually have to help with a cold - tissues, throat lozenges, Vicks vaporub or whatever. If you've ever had flu you know that you are basically incapacitated until it blows over. No idea if this bug hammers your appetite but you need fuel for your body. Hard to predict what will work but things like favourite breakfast cereal or porridge are a possible. Complan has helped me in the past to recover from norovirus - I have MS and it floored me when I had that plus it destroyed my appetite.
Or if you don't get any bug in your house but need to stay in - again what food do you actually like to eat.
Keep an eye on local reliable sources of info - does your local gp surgery have a website/Facebook page.

I've been feeling so much more anxious for the past few days. I don't have PTSD, but I always try to keep protein bars at home or protein powder, chocolate milk for days when I don't feel well.