worried about the effects of this virus on society

[justanotherday]

I usually am one to try and avoid news but with this virus it is almost impossible not to come across on social media. I live on Long Island in NY, where the virus is spreading fast and close to the hotspot NYC. My worry is not even about the virus anymore. It’s about the panic and how people are acting. Nothing is staying on the shelves by me and now my new worry is about looters, riots, etc. I just saw a post about how there are lines out the doors at gun shops. I’m honestly terrified. Every noise I hear has me on edge. Basically, I’m worried about society and I’ve watched too many post apocalyptic shows. I’m trying my best to keep calm about things but it’s all I can think about

 

[Cuchculan]

All gone a bit crazy out there. Thank God I live in Ireland. Panic buying was last week. This week the shops are all but empty of people. Only so much you can buy. I am sure new rules will be brought in where you live. People will have to follow them. Don't get the whole gun buying thing. Unless they think people might try raid their houses. Which won't happen. Over here we don't have the whole gun thing. But after 1 week of the crazy stuff it all calmed back down. Lot of non essential shops closed down. With no place to go, people stayed in. I was out yesterday and the streets were empty. The shopping complex I went to was all but empty too. Only important shops are allowed stay open in Ireland. We really have no need for all the other shops. I can see that happening in the US too. This is just the initial panic. Think it was expected. Maybe stay at home until it all calms down. If you have no need to go out, then don't. It won't continue that way for long. Every country has the odd idiot of two. Be it Ireland or the US. But the police will have new orders too. Just like they do over here. About gatherings of people. It is not allowed now. So the police send them on their way. Just try and remain calm.

 

[Guitarist41]

I do own a gun, but don’t live in a spot that would be very advantageous to break into.
I do understand the concern about the effect on society. It was hard to imagine this happening, but as I have said on here before, when things improve and begin to look up, the economy will quickly recover, and recover stronger than it was even before.
It’s up to each one of us as individuals to do our part in staying calm, keeping others calm, and in general setting an example for each other.
Sadly, I was housebound for 10 years at one point, so this is much easier for me than others.

 

[Wally]

I believe 98% of the people are good. I think the reason the crazy buying and hoarding was going on is mainly due to the media. It scared people. I work in a hospital and everyone seems calm here, but we are busy.
WE WILL GET PAST THIS!

 

[bin_tenn]

I believe 98% of the people are good. I think the reason the crazy buying and hoarding was going on is mainly due to the media. It scared people. I work in a hospital and everyone seems calm here, but we are busy.
WE WILL GET PAST THIS!

You have much more faith in humanity than I do...

 

[Izthewiz]

What are you so worried about?

Here in the U.S. this will die down fast.
Be worried about the coming economic collapse.
Our debt is at $21 trillion they're going to do a stimulus and print up more money.
It can get worse with this example Venezuela!

 

[Cuchculan]

Little bit different. But this safe distance thing. Keeping distance between yourself and others. Seems everybody in Dublin thought of the one place to go were there is bound to be nobody else at this time of year. The beach. Thus we have crowded beaches. There is no winning really. They do tell you to go out for a walk. You would imagine the beach as a nice quiet place. One beach in particular was mentioned as having too many people on it. In effect there was more people on the beaches than there were in the shops. Not Summer here. That one day we did have a bit of sun though. My point is we either all stay in or we will find ourselves in such situations. Things have changed out there. They will remain the same for some time to come. Trying to find a safe place to go to is hard. Others seem to have to same thought. They end up in the same places.

 

[Wally]

You have much more faith in humanity than I do...

My wife and I went to pick up a few items this morning. I’ve never been grocery shopping when so many people were polite and friendly. Too bad it takes something like this to treat people nice.

 

[Guitarist41]

My wife and I went to pick up a few items this morning. I’ve never been grocery shopping when so many people were polite and friendly. Too bad it takes something like this to treat people nice.

sadly, that’s true, and will soon be forgotten. That’s the worst part

 

[Wally]

True but we’ll get through this.

 

[Guitarist41]

True but we’ll get through this.

Oddly enough, others are feeling what we all have been used to... some of us for years

 

[Vincent]

Things in my area have been relatively calm, so I'm not concerned about any societal meltdowns at this point. From what I've seen, most people are focused on flattening the curve and maintaining societal calm.

As for people lining up at the gun shops, that tends to happen with any societal emergency that has any chance of looting. Those lines don't necessarily indicate that looting or some apocalyptic movie scenario is likely to happen.

I won't watch anything like Contagion while we're in the midst of this. I know full well that what we're going through right now isn't the same as a fictional movie, but sometimes the associations can subconcsiouly happen anyway.

My anxiety rises a little at the grocery store. I wonder if I'm touching something that might be contaminated. My biggest jolt of anxiety came when a few shopping habits brought me within 6 feet of other shoppers. I was at first under the impression that it was okay to be near somebody for just a second while leaning in to take something from the shelf, but then saw that some people seemed to be standing at least 6 feet back and waiting for the other person to walk away so as to strictly maintain that 6 feet. My anxiety about correctly following social distancing protocols suddenly skyrocketed. My GAD has a strong social component to it, so being seen as falling short during this time would hit me hard. I'm going to schedule a phone appointment with my psychologist about it.

 

[Guitarist41]

Are you making sure to breathe through your diaphragm? Not doing shallow, chest breathing right? That can create anxiety in anyone.

 

[Vincent]

Are you making sure to breathe through your diaphragm? Not doing shallow, chest breathing right? That can create anxiety in anyone.

If you're asking me, I probably was going into a shallow breathing mode when passing others. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Aries]

I won't watch anything like Contagion while we're in the midst of this. I know full well that what we're going through right now isn't the same as a fictional movie, but sometimes the associations can subconcsiouly happen anyway.

The virus in that film had a 20% death rate. COVID is not nearly that bad. It's 0.6% in Korea where they have dome the most testing.

 

[Guitarist41]

The virus in that film had a 20% death rate. COVID is not nearly that bad. It's 0.6% in Korea where they have dome the most testing.

I think we have done the most testing now, no?

 

[Aries]

I think we have done the most testing now, no?

More total tests? Maybe. But fewer per capita. That means we don't really know how many people in the US have it so we don't know the fatality rate here as well as they do in South Korea.

 

[Vincent]

The virus in that film had a 20% death rate. COVID is not nearly that bad. It's 0.6% in Korea where they have dome the most testing.

I wasn't thinking about relative severity between the movie and COVID, but about how a movie with that subject matter could get an anxious person's gears turning. But you make a good point about the statistics.

 

[Guitarist41]

More total tests? Maybe. But fewer per capita. That means we don't really know how many people in the US have it so we don't know the fatality rate here as well as they do in South Korea.

No, because based on 3,000 tests for antibodies in NY suggests that total cases are around 2.7 million than the 250,000 current cases. I seriously doubt South Korea have done antibody tests on millions over there.
Are we supposed to test all 350 million people in this country? I can really see that working out well.
The point is that actual mortality rate is closer to that of 0.2%, however, the media shows so many bad cases, and only reports them, in the mind of an anxious person means a terrible Black Plague. Really, the media is responsible for much of the hysteria over all of this.

 

[Lanchparty7]

No, because based on 3,000 tests for antibodies in NY suggests that total cases are around 2.7 million than the 250,000 current cases. I seriously doubt South Korea have done antibody tests on millions over there.
Are we supposed to test all 350 million people in this country? I can really see that working out well.
The point is that actual mortality rate is closer to that of 0.2%, however, the media shows so many bad cases, and only reports them, in the mind of an anxious person means a terrible Black Plague. Really, the media is responsible for much of the hysteria over all of this.

Your last line says it all. The media coverage sent me into a total panic and I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to cope unless I stopped watching. And that is what I did...no news at all. While I am not anxiety free (far from it), I am at least coping now and able to do my work.