The psychology of coronavirus fear.

[WVBaker]

The non-stop media cycle surrounding the outbreak, doesn’t help. “It puts people in a hyper-vigilant state so that any information about it is self-perpetuating.
People notice more, and hear more, and read more, and interpret that in a threatening way.”

Emotion impairs our perception of risk.

Humans have evolved to react poorly to uncertainty and unpredictability, because both make us feel “a perceived lack of control.

Like, panic-buying of months’ worth of essential supplies and of non-essential medical materials. While preparedness is good, going to this extreme is not innocuous.

Uncertainty also leaves room for false claims—which, in the middle of an outbreak, can “lead to behavior that amplifies disease transmission,”

When people react out of strong emotion, they can make quick, irrational choices

The psychology of coronavirus fear—and how to manage it

It's a mix of biological and psychological mechanisms.

qz.com

Perhaps it's time for some tough love for some.

Look around you, anxiety is spreading faster than the virus itself. We can't hide inside some self protecting bubble and live our lives. Being concerned is normal however, there is a fine line between sharing concern rationally in order to raise awareness of risk and creating uncontrollable crowd panic.

Understand there is a difference between anxiety, worry, fear and panic. Panic, which is what you're seeing now, is an irrational fear reaction by your body. Reaction and adrenaline response takes over from your ability to rationally evaluate the situation. In order to soothe worries, we search for answers but, frightening news such as rising death counts, strong economic impacts, major event cancellations, school closures and quarantines bias people toward experiencing fear.

Remember, that fear can go too far when it gets in the way of day-to-day activities and consumes all your thoughts.

 

[Miss Marty]

Watch this Video - Understand there is a difference between
Preparedness - Anxiety, Worry, Fear and Panic - Uncertainty

 

[Rolltydr]

The non-stop media cycle surrounding the outbreak, doesn’t help. “It puts people in a hyper-vigilant state so that any information about it is self-perpetuating.
People notice more, and hear more, and read more, and interpret that in a threatening way.”

Emotion impairs our perception of risk.

Humans have evolved to react poorly to uncertainty and unpredictability, because both make us feel “a perceived lack of control.

Like, panic-buying of months’ worth of essential supplies and of non-essential medical materials. While preparedness is good, going to this extreme is not innocuous.

Uncertainty also leaves room for false claims—which, in the middle of an outbreak, can “lead to behavior that amplifies disease transmission,”

When people react out of strong emotion, they can make quick, irrational choices

The psychology of coronavirus fear—and how to manage it

It's a mix of biological and psychological mechanisms.

qz.com

Perhaps it's time for some tough love for some.

Look around you, anxiety is spreading faster than the virus itself. We can't hide inside some self protecting bubble and live our lives. Being concerned is normal however, there is a fine line between sharing concern rationally in order to raise awareness of risk and creating uncontrollable crowd panic.

Understand there is a difference between anxiety, worry, fear and panic. Panic, which is what you're seeing now, is an irrational fear reaction by your body. Reaction and adrenaline response takes over from your ability to rationally evaluate the situation. In order to soothe worries, we search for answers but, frightening news such as rising death counts, strong economic impacts, major event cancellations, school closures and quarantines bias people toward experiencing fear.

Remember, that fear can go too far when it gets in the way of day-to-day activities and consumes all your thoughts.

I know what you’re getting at here and education about the different definitions of the words may help some. However, there are many people who suffer from anxiety disorders and no amount of tough love will help them. I’m sure you didn’t mean it that way so just wanted to clarify there is a difference between people being anxious about the unknown for which education and factual information can help them understand and those who have anxiety disorders and need love and understanding from friends and family.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/ocd-and-anxiety-disorder-treatment-can-be-complicated-by-coronavirus-fears/2020/03/13/6b851d60-63ce-11ea-acca-80c22bbee96f_story.html

Opinion | This Is a Good Time to Stop Fighting Anxiety (Published 2020)

Politics, pandemics and everyday life can cause negative feelings. These days, I just accept them.

www.nytimes.com

 

[turkel]

People are definitely going over the deep end. How many threads are there on TUG now related to Covid-19?

I have debated either or not I will stop visiting the site over the non stop death march doomsday BS that has become TUG.

I only participate in 2 social media sites. Here and early-retirement.org at ER.org the moderators have made a complete section or forum on all the Covid 19 threads. Guess which forum I dont visit? I really wish TUG would follow suit. It’s impossible to avoid here and just too much. PEOPLE please the sun will come out tomorrow.

Just my rational 2 cents

 

[alwysonvac]

People are definitely going over the deep end. How many threads are there on TUG now related to Covid-19?

I have debated either or not I will stop visiting the site over the non stop death march doomsday BS that has become TUG.

I only participate in 2 social media sites. Here and early-retirement.org at ER.org the moderators have made a complete section or forum on all the Covid 19 threads. Guess which forum I dont visit? I really wish TUG would follow suit. It’s impossible to avoid here and just too much. PEOPLE please the sun will come out tomorrow.

Just my rational 2 cents

Interesting... yes, there are lots of threads but I don’t view it as a death march doomsday.

TUG is all about timeshares and vacations. The latest world events are disrupting planned vacations. Most TUGGERS planned their trips well in advance. Most of us are aware of the potential risks of hurricane, earthquakes, airline strikes, etc but we don’t typically expect something on this scale. The travel industry is trying to figure out how to react while timeshare owners are trying to figure out their options. There’s confusion and folks are trying to determine the best strategy by sharing their thoughts and plans based on the latest news/announcements. I expect there will be more threads if addition travel impacts take place in the upcoming weeks/months ahead.

I personally don’t fear the temporary changes for the weeks/months ahead. These are necessary protective measures to control the virus spread until we find the longer term solution. In the meantime, I’m adjusting my 2020 vacation plans for now and working on 2021.

From https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-curve-mitigation-infection.html

​

What exactly do those two curves show?​

​

Both curves add up the number of new cases over time. The more people reporting with the virus on a given day, the higher the curve; a high curve means the virus is spreading fast. A low curve shows that the virus is spreading slower — fewer people are diagnosed with the disease on any given day. Keeping the curve down — diminishing the rate at which new cases occur — prevents overtaxing the finite resources (represented by the dotted line) available to treat it.​

​

Think of the health care system capacity as a subway car that can only hold so many people at once. During rush hour, that capacity is not enough to handle the demand, so people must wait on the platform for their turn to ride. Staggering work hours diminishes the rush hour and increases the likelihood that you will get on the train and maybe even get a seat. Avoiding a surge of coronavirus cases can ensure that anyone who needs care will find it at the hospital.​

What sorts of mitigation measures help transform the red curve into the blue curve?​

​

Diseases spread when one person gives it to one or more others, who go on to give it to more people, and so on. How fast this occurs depends on many factors, including how contagious the disease is, how many people are vulnerable and how quickly they get sick.​

​

The difference between seasonal flu and coronavirus is that many people have full or partial immunity to the flu virus because they have had it before or were vaccinated against it. Far more people are vulnerable to coronavirus, so it has many more targets of opportunity to spread. Keeping people apart in time and space with social distancing measures, self-isolation and actual quarantine decreases opportunities for transmission.​

​

To take the subway example again, a packed car — or a packed subway platform — is a great place to spread the virus. But reducing the number of people on the train or platform, by asking people to work from home or to stagger their working hours, enables individuals to stay farther apart, limiting the spread of the virus. That is social distancing in action.​

 

[bluehende]

The problem is we never know whether the response was panic or pathetic until we look through the goggles of history. My personal opinion is that the steps being taken to promote social distancing are absolutely necessary at this point.

 

[klpca]

I am not panicked in the least. My only pathological anxiety is related to money (and I suspect that I have some company here on TUG). As someone who walks around every day with my intentionally suppressed immune system, I am somewhat concerned and truthfully I don't want to get it based upon how bad I had the flu in January. It's the first time that I've had the flu since I've been on my medication and it was significantly worse than I have ever experienced. I honestly thought that I could be dying during the first two days.

There have been so many mixed messages about the virus "it's just like the flu" and "the death rate is twice that of the flu" come to mind, that it's allowed rampant speculation take over the messaging. We're just going to have to do what makes sense to us. We all have ourselves as our starting point. Everyone will make choices based upon their circumstances.

 

[Rolltydr]

People are definitely going over the deep end. How many threads are there on TUG now related to Covid-19?

I have debated either or not I will stop visiting the site over the non stop death march doomsday BS that has become TUG.

I only participate in 2 social media sites. Here and early-retirement.org at ER.org the moderators have made a complete section or forum on all the Covid 19 threads. Guess which forum I dont visit? I really wish TUG would follow suit. It’s impossible to avoid here and just too much. PEOPLE please the sun will come out tomorrow.

Just my rational 2 cents

deleted

 

[KiraJW]

The news about the coronavirus has had a negative impact on many people, including me. I admit that it makes it very difficult for me to enjoy life.

 

[bbodb1]

Well, @turkel - thanks! You have just given me a new website to peruse!

People are definitely going over the deep end. How many threads are there on TUG now related to Covid-19?

I have debated either or not I will stop visiting the site over the non stop death march doomsday BS that has become TUG.

I only participate in 2 social media sites. Here and early-retirement.org at ER.org the moderators have made a complete section or forum on all the Covid 19 threads. Guess which forum I dont visit? I really wish TUG would follow suit. It’s impossible to avoid here and just too much. PEOPLE please the sun will come out tomorrow.

Just my rational 2 cents

Just to make sure I have the correct website - is this it: https://www.early-retirement.org/

 

[rickandcindy23]

My stepdad won't come to Christmas dinner because he is afraid of Covid. He didn't come to Thanksgiving dinner, either. He watches the news quite a bit. They have him afraid. Then again, he is 86, and if he did come and happened to get Covid, we would all feel terrible, even guilty. So he stays away and I am okay with it. However, he is alone, and he eats dinner with us every night and has eaten with us for the last 17.5 years, since my mom died. Therefore, he is around us and indirectly around everyone we are around. So he could get Covid and it would still be us that would feel the blame. He goes nowhere else. He picks up groceries at WalMart, never eats anything at restaurants. Doesn't drive-through at even McD's. He stays home and comes here for dinner. When we got back from Orlando, he stayed away from us for a full week after.

Our kids are mostly home, our SIL even works from home, and he works at the Air Force Academy in CO Springs. Our son works in his store, wears his mask. Our daughter stays home with the kids. Our other son and Rick are cleaning chimneys about every day that the weather is good. My stepdad is more at risk being around Rick than being with the rest of the family.

 

[x3 skier]

I’m kind of like Alfred E Neuman of MAD Magazine (RIP). “What, me worry?”

Cheers

 

[easyrider]

Money, jobs and education is what seems to be the concerns with my younger family members. Being young they know everything until they don't. Many of our younger relatives have moved for job and social opportunities as our State closed. Now they face the same problems as the areas they moved to close or restrict.

Regarding being prepared , most younger people do not have the means to be prepared in any way that matters. This responsibility falls on those that can be "over-prepared" to help with the under prepared. Intelligent people are not afraid of something they have no control over. Intelligent people prepare for bad events and ride it out when things get rough. There is nothing wrong with being over prepared. There is definitely something wrong with waiting until the last minute, imo.

Covid 19 has been politicized in the media and many people took the side of a narrative versus the side of common sense this year, imo.

Bill

 

[DeniseM]

Haven't we beaten this dead horse enough???? Get a life folks!

*I find it humorous that the Tuggers who post the most about the Coronavirus, are the same ones who accuse others of having "Coronavirus fear," and assorted other psychological conditions. I'd certainly rather have a healthy instinct of self-preservation, than a strange obsession with a disease!

 

[WVBaker]

Haven't we beaten this dead horse enough???? Get a life folks!

*I find it humorous that the Tuggers who post the most about the Coronavirus, are the same ones who accuse others of having "Coronavirus fear," and assorted other psychological conditions. I'd certainly rather have a healthy instinct of self-preservation, than a strange obsession with a disease!

Did the horse die from the Coronavirus?

 

[emeryjre]

There is always the "scroll on by" option if the topic is not of interest to you.

 

[alwysonvac]

Just a heads up... this is an old thread from March that just got bumped today (12/22)

 

[Brett]

Money, jobs and education is what seems to be the concerns with my younger family members. Being young they know everything until they don't. Many of our younger relatives have moved for job and social opportunities as our State closed. Now they face the same problems as the areas they moved to close or restrict.

Regarding being prepared , most younger people do not have the means to be prepared in any way that matters. This responsibility falls on those that can be "over-prepared" to help with the under prepared. Intelligent people are not afraid of something they have no control over. Intelligent people prepare for bad events and ride it out when things get rough. There is nothing wrong with being over prepared. There is definitely something wrong with waiting until the last minute, imo.

Covid 19 has been politicized in the media and many people took the side of a narrative versus the side of common sense this year, imo.

Bill

Haven't we beaten this dead horse enough???? Get a life folks!

*I find it humorous that the Tuggers who post the most about the Coronavirus, are the same ones who accuse others of having "Coronavirus fear," and assorted other psychological conditions. I'd certainly rather have a healthy instinct of self-preservation, than a strange obsession with a disease!

yes - this is an old thread that got bumped, not really humorous (people that post the most on covid restrictions and fear, etc.
Those that say the coronavirus been "politicized in the media" and is not "common sense" - maybe some people can't handle the "truth" !
Let's hope the vaccines are effective

 

[easyrider]

Did the horse die from the Coronavirus?

Geez Baker, your question cracks me up. lol.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

"common sense" - maybe some people can't handle the "truth"

Common sense is seeing thing for what they are. Kind of like your comment I quoted. I can see your fears in your statement. Your underlying fear is you lack common sense or truth.

Truth is very subjective to what a person believes, imo. Common sense not so much.

Bill

 

[Brett]

Common sense is seeing thing for what they are. Kind of like your comment I quoted. I can see your fears in your statement. Your underlying fear is you lack common sense or truth.

Truth is very subjective to what a person believes, imo. Common sense not so much.

Bill

I suppose "fears" is subjective
And 'truth' and reality and common sense are different concepts
(for some)

 

[Jan M.]

fear can go too far when it gets in the way of day-to-day activities and consumes all your thoughts.

I only quoted part of your post but what your post describes in longer length isn't an unusual human response. It's highly doubtful that most people who could be described by any of the words you used see themselves that way. They are just being careful, trying to be informed, vigilant, concerned, etc. Which describes most of us. With this in our faces 24/7 for months now it's practically impossible not to cross over the psychological line at times. Some of us remain over that line more than others and likely don't see it, but again that's not an unusual human response.

Think back after 9/11. After the initial reaction most people had a number of people continued to be consumed with watching the TV broadcasts. I remember when they started discussing this psychological response as does our 34 year old son who was still 14 at the time. After hearing the psychologists and psychiatrists on TV he was concerned for several of his friends. It was a major revelation to him that kids can have what he saw as adult problems.

There will be studies done and books written about this time and it will be classified as a time, an example, of mass hysteria. While I'm not comfortable with using that term I also know that's the category it falls under. At no other time in our human experience have we had so many personal accounts which will make this significant from a historical standpoint. Most of us won't be alive in 40 or 50 years to hear what people say about this time but our children and grandchildren will remember living through it and have their stories to tell.

 

[x3 skier]

The curse of the Internet.

 

[TheHappyWanderer]

My stepdad won't come to Christmas dinner because he is afraid of Covid. He didn't come to Thanksgiving dinner, either. He watches the news quite a bit. They have him afraid. Then again, he is 86, and if he did come and happened to get Covid, we would all feel terrible, even guilty. So he stays away and I am okay with it. However, he is alone, and he eats dinner with us every night and has eaten with us for the last 17.5 years, since my mom died. Therefore, he is around us and indirectly around everyone we are around. So he could get Covid and it would still be us that would feel the blame. He goes nowhere else. He picks up groceries at WalMart, never eats anything at restaurants. Doesn't drive-through at even McD's. He stays home and comes here for dinner. When we got back from Orlando, he stayed away from us for a full week after.

Our kids are mostly home, our SIL even works from home, and he works at the Air Force Academy in CO Springs. Our son works in his store, wears his mask. Our daughter stays home with the kids. Our other son and Rick are cleaning chimneys about every day that the weather is good. My stepdad is more at risk being around Rick than being with the rest of the family.

Well from my perspective, your 86 year old stepdad sounds pretty smart for wanting to avoid big holiday family dinners, restaurants, and people coming back from travelling out of state.

 

[beejaybee]

There is an addictive component to the daily news regarding covid. The tone of the broadcast network's nightly news announcers seems designed to heighten any anxieties one might have about the virus. To me, it is far better to read/research about what is going on with the pandemic from a variety of sources and determine the best course of avoidance of the virus based on facts combined with my personal comfort level for activities while following social distancing and wearing my mask.