Yikes!! How Can I Protect Myself and My Family From the Coronavirus?
I hope everyone is doing well and wherever you are that Spring is coming to where you live...It is starting here in Oregon. Not surprisingly, the topic of the Coronavirus has been a frequent topic of conversation in my office the last few weeks, and especially the last week. And now that we have what looks like our first confirmed case here in Oregon (and actually in Washington County, where I live) I expect the topic to come up even more.
With the outbreak and spread of the Coronavirus many of my clients have been struggling with how to best manage this new threat, especially my clients with the contamination version of OCD or Health Anxiety. I thought I’d make this week's post about what I believe is a reasonable way to best understand and respond to this danger. While I don’t want to minimize the very real threat, I know that when someone suffers from OCD/anxiety threats are experienced as far greater than they really are and rather extreme precautions are implemented in an attempt to mitigate the risk. Unfortunately many of my clients do far more than would be considered reasonable and attempt to completely eliminate any possible risk...which is, of course, impossible. And the more you try to protect yourself the more you may actually increase your anxiety and the attempts to protect may become so extreme that they come to dominate your attention and may interfere with your everyday functioning.
What Should I Do?
My short answer about how to respond is to decide what is reasonable and then do your best to stay with that. However, with something like the Coronavirus, deciding what is reasonable is difficult, in part, because it is so new and we don’t really understand what to do about this new virus that has sprung up. Yet if you don’t decide what is reasonable, your anxiety is likely to take over and have you do far more than is needed. With that in mind here are some suggestions for what to do.
Keep the Risk In Perspective
Be aware that you are likely perceiving the risk as greater than it really is. This is the hallmark of virtually every anxiety disorder. Certainly there is risk, but since it is splashed across most major media outlets and is in the headlines of most major newspapers it makes it seem like the virus is about to descend upon us like the bubonic plague from the Middle Ages or the AIDS epidemic, but the facts don’t seem to support this view. Checking the newspapers, news channels frequently or Dr Google (multiple times per day?) I think only serves to inflate the perception of the risk.
For example here is a quote from a recent article in the New York Times which suggests that the risk may be similar to the risk we face every year of catching the flu:
“Early estimates of the coronavirus death rate from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, have been around 2 percent. But a new report on 1,099 cases from many parts of China, published on Friday in The New England Journal of Medicine, finds a lower rate: 1.4 percent.
The coronavirus death rate may be even lower, if — as most experts suspect — there are many mild or symptom-free cases that have not been detected.
The true death rate could turn out to be similar to that of a severe seasonal flu, below 1 percent, according to an editorial published in the journal by Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and Dr. H. Clifford Lane, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
What is the Actual Risk?
Find out what the actual risk is from credible sources like the CDC, your state health officials or perhaps your own medical professionals and don’t rely on the news media (or Dr Google) so much. The news media’s job is to get eyeballs on what they are producing and headlines about the new “Epidemic” spreading across the globe helps to do just that.
Find out, once again from credible sources such as the ones mentioned above, what are reasonable steps to take to protect yourself and your family and follow those guidelines - and try your best to not exceed what has been suggested. It can be difficult to draw a line between where appropriately cautious ends and OCD starts.
OK...But What Should I Do?
Here are some suggestions from a local news outlet in Portland:
Wash hands often. This is also basic but we skip it or don’t do it right. Here is a primer on the right way to wash your hands:.
Avoid touching your mouth, eyes and nose:
Cover your cough: Don’t cough into your hands. Instead cough into a bent elbow.
Disinfect surfaces: Clean up surfaces that tend to collect germs.
When Should I Wash My Hands?
Here is another article our local news outlet recently published with guidelines for when to wash your hands that I think makes good sense:
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends frequent hand washing, particularly during times when you are likely to get and spread germs.
Before, during, and after preparing food
Before eating food
Before and after caring for someone at home who is sick with vomiting or diarrhea
Before and after treating a cut or wound
After using the toilet
After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
After handling pet food or pet treats
After touching garbage”
Don’t forget that when you have OCD your feelings/thoughts may not be the best way to judge the actual risk. You may feel at great risk when the risk is really quite minimal and just because you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. When you have OCD/anxiety it is very easy to get carried away, perceive the risk as far greater than it really is and go overboard with trying to protect yourself and your family.
There is real risk so be careful, follow sensible guidelines, but don’t get carried away. Don’t let your fear of this virus interfere significantly with how you choose to live your life.
That’s all for this week. Talk with you all next week and, as always, let me know if there are any specific topics you'd like me to address in future posts.
Dr Bob