Getting real about Coronaphobia and the return to normalcy

The Covid-19 Pandemic was a once in a generation event. Most people in the United States had not lived through a deadly pandemic before and we all found different ways to cope with the uncertainty and mass loss of life.

First, let me say that it is completely normal to still be anxious even as vaccinations rise in the United States and we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

During this pandemic, there was so much uncertainty, so much confusion, so much loss of life, and such a lack of leadership that we were not sure where to turn for trusted information.

It has been a time and this time has had a dramatic effect on our mental health.

Internal Medicine physician, Dr. Lucy McBride shared in a podcast that 50% of her patient visits are spent addressing the mental health issues caused by the pandemic.

We must not minimize the enormous loss of life from the Covid-19 and we must not deny the seriousness of Covid-19 and its long-term effects.

We must also not minimize the anxiety surrounding Covid-19 that some have called “Coronaphobia”.

As a result, Dr. McBride wrote a tremendously helpful article for Huffington Post to address this issue publicly, “I’m a doctor treating Coronaphobia, Here’s what you need to know.”

According to Dr. McBride, Coronaphobia is defined as:

an exaggerated fear of COVID-19 that is rooted in rational anxiety about the very real threat of COVID-19 — and that can promote physical, emotional, cognitive and/or behavioral symptoms that limit a person’s quality of life

As Dr. McBride states in the article, this anxiety can manifest itself into physical health problems and destructive coping mechanisms such as alcohol and drug abuse.

We are approaching the end of the pandemic due to amazing vaccines even with the variants..

At the end of this post, I will share links where you can hear fact-based information from Dr. Monica Gandhi, UCSF Infectious Disease Doctor about the role of T-Cells in regards to variants and vaccines. Yes, the vaccine work against the variants.

Dr. Gandhi’s scientific fact-based approach to Covid-19 vaccination motivated me to get vaccinated and it also motivated me to encourage others who may be hesitant about vaccines to do so as well.

As our country begins to slowly reopen, it is important to listen to factual information from doctors and scientists, not panic pushers and Covid deniers.

There is no such thing as Zero Risk

In an edition of The New York Times morning briefing, there was an informative article addressing Irrational Covid Fears. Due to fears about Covid many people are no longer able to make healthy risk assessments and want to wait until there’s zero risk of illness before moving forward.

“We’re not going to get to a place of zero risk. I don’t think that’s the right metric for feeling like things are normal.” Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins epidemiologist.

Would you take the risk?

To illustrate the risk many of us take daily, the article shared a fable invented by Guido Calabresi, a federal judge, and Yale law professor.

He tells the students to imagine a god coming forth to offer society a wondrous invention that would improve everyday life in almost every way. It would allow people to spend more time with friends and family, see new places and do jobs they otherwise could not do. But it would also come with a high cost. In exchange for bestowing this invention on society, the god would choose 1,000 young men and women and strike them dead.

Calabresi then asks: Would you take the deal? Almost invariably, the students say no. The professor then delivers the fable’s lesson: “What’s the difference between this and the automobile?”

In truth, automobiles kill many more than 1,000 young Americans each year; the total U.S. death toll hovers at about 40,000 annually. We accept this toll, almost unthinkingly, because vehicle crashes have always been part of our lives. We can’t fathom a world without them. (Source New York Times Morning Briefing)

Rationally, we know there is no such thing as zero risk. Each time we step outside of our homes, there is a chance of something unfortunate happening.

Consciously or unconsciously, every day we must make decisions daily about whether or not our behaviors are worth the risk.

Due to the uncertainty of the virus and lack of consistent leadership during the pandemic, many people took a zero-risk approach which caused even more anxiety

As Dr. McBride writes in her article,

“Anxiety tends to shift our decision-making into a “zero-risk-tolerance” mode. Fears about the virus, vaccines and variants can be amplified. In survival mode, our primitive and worry-prone brains tend to overestimate danger and make decisions that avoid even the smallest risk — often at the expense of meeting other important health needs (like connecting with loved ones) that extend beyond mere survival”

Harm Reduction and not Absolutism

Doctors like Dr. McBride and Dr. Gandhi advocated using a harm reduction approach with Covid.

Harm Reduction was an effective strategy used during the HIV epidemic. Rather than telling people to abstain from sexual activity completely, doctors encouraged people to engage in behaviors that reduced their risk of contracting HIV.

During the Covid pandemic, this would have looked like telling people to gather outside physically distanced with masks rather than absolutist messages like STAY HOME.

What ended up happening as a result of the STAY HOME message was people engaging in riskier behavior like gathering indoors at other people’s homes or becoming socially isolated and depressed.

Take the politics out of the pandemic…

One of the worst things that happened during this pandemic was that the virus became politicized and moralized which led to reflexive behaviors from many people with no basis in science such as:

The other side wants everything open so we’re going to close playgrounds!

I’m going to own the other side so I won’t wear a mask!

That side wants to kidding Grandma!

Last I checked, a highly contagious virus does not have a political party and I have never in my life heard of people being accused of killing a family member because they gave them the flu.

This resulted in misinformation, fear-based messaging, and the absence of facts. As the pandemic comes to a close, it is imperative that we get our information from trusted sources such as doctors, scientists, and those without a political agenda.

Facts and Not Fear

We need to read the news with an eye for facts and an awareness of fear-based messaging. We need to achieve herd immunity by taking the COVID-19 vaccine and educating friends, family and co-workers to do the same. We need a clear understanding of the physical and mental health benefits of vaccination. – Dr. Lucy McBride

Even with vaccination rates on the rise and hospitalizations and deaths on the decline, some of the Covid-19 panic pushers are still using fear-based messaging. It will be up to the public to discern what is fact and what is sensationalism and shut down the panic pushers.

Right now we know is that vaccines work against severe disease. Even if you do end up contracting Covid post-vaccination, there is low risk of severe disease that will lead to hospitalization or death.

From Science News

Of the more than 95 million people in the United States who were fully vaccinated, only 9,245 — or 0.01 percent — have been infected with the coronavirus as of April 26, according to the CDC.

Just over a quarter of those people never had symptoms; 132 people, or 1 percent of the breakthrough infections, died. Twenty of those deaths were in asymptomatic people or probably not related to COVID-19. (Source Science News)

There you have it: 0.01 percent of people who have been vaccinated have been infected with Covid.

Remember the main goal of vaccines is to stop severe disease not stop people from contracting Covid.

What about the variants?

mRNA viruses such as Covid do mutate but the good news is that they do not mutate as quickly as the flu.

Our Immune system has T-cells which help us fight severe disease (Sidenote: Exercise can increase T-Cells).

According to a discussion between Dr. Lucy McBride and Dr. Gandhi on a podcast regarding Covid-19 vaccines and variants, Dr. Gandhi shared that all of the Covid-19 vaccines produced a vigorous T Cell response during the clinical trials even across mutations.

Bottom line: T Cells will protect us from the variants

I have included a link at the end of the post where you can listen to the entire discussion regarding Vaccines and Variants.

Be patient with yourself as we resume “normalcy”

I will be the first to admit that I have some hesitation about resuming “normalcy” after a year of avoiding big crowds and not doing as much socializing.

This is normal.

In the NYT Irrational Covid Fears article, Dr. Ashish Jha of Brown University shared that while he had been fully vaccinated for two months it was still psychologically hard for him to meet a friend for a drink unmasked.

You may feel uncomfortable and nervous about resuming normal activities and that’s okay. Be patient with yourself and be patient with others.

I’m getting back into life slowly one step at a time. I have a date to return to the gym, appointments to get my hair done and get a massage, go out with friends, etc.

As a health and wellness advocate, these words of Dr. McBride resonate strongly with me.

But health is more than the absence of disease. In other words: Not dying is important (and is essentially guaranteed with COVID-19 vaccination); but what about living?

Life is for the Living.

The world has had a tremendously traumatic experience as a collective with this once-in-a-generation pandemic.

We will need time to process this experience but we must do so with facts and not fear.

If you need support with your mental health, then please reach out to mental health professionals.

Here are some helpful Links that can help you discern what is true and what’s not when it comes to Covid-19, variants, and vaccines.