How to overcome the irrational fear of contagion

A small guide to shedding the unjustified fear of contagion.

The coronavirus is in the air, both literally and figuratively. It is an airborne pathogen that is all over the news, and talking to family and friends about it is unavoidable.

People tend to exaggerate threats, and this virus has been no exception, especially given the rather critical way the media has been talking about the story.

Is this virus really that big a deal, and is it worth the fear that is being generated? How can we overcome the irrational fear of contagion? Below we will try to answer these questions, as well as reflect on how the coronavirus is affecting the population.

Overcoming irrational fear of contagion: what to do?

Since the coronavirus, more appropriately named COVID-19, appeared in the city of Wuhan in December last year, it has made the front page of every newspaper and opened every newscast. The whole world is keeping a close eye on new news about the virus, which is feared to have taken over the world.It is feared that it could reach pandemic proportions and this, of course, generates a great deal of fear among the population.

Not only China, the country with ground zero of the contagion and with the highest number of deaths, has registered a significant number of cases. Other Asian countries, such as South Korea and Iran, have stated that the number of cases detected in their territory is very high, which has forced the closing of borders with nearby countries and the suspension of several events, such as concerts and political meetings.

But obviously the virus has left the Asian continent and has reached America, Oceania and also Europe.. In fact, in Italy it has become a real problem that has led to the cancellation of the famous Venice Carnival festival, while in Spain, more for security reasons than anything else, it has been decided to cancel the Mobile World Congress, with the socio-economic repercussions that this implies.

But despite the risk of acquiring the virus, there is only one thing much more contagious than COVID-19: fear. A fear that, based on morbid curiosity and misinformation, has contributed, although without reaching collective psychosis, to the generation of social alarm that has unleashed certain behaviors that, rather than avoiding the acquisition of the coronavirus, have caused profound damage to the social fabric.

The danger of disinformation

Disinformation, hoaxes and exaggeration are very dangerous. The media, although not all, have treated the news in a tremendous way, selling the story that we are almost on the verge of the apocalypse. This, coupled with the laziness of many citizens to properly document how the virus really affects health, has led to what was just another stationary virus being seen as a death sentence.

It must be said that such beliefs are not at all surprising considering that, in the 21st century, there are people who actually believe that vaccines cause autism. Others have conspiracy beliefs, such as that the virus has been manufactured in a laboratory to reduce the world's population. to reduce the world's population. It must be said that this type of ideas are not very original, given that there were many people who believed this when Ebola, bird flu, swine flu, mad cow disease... happened.

It is true that the virus is having medical and economic consequences. The possibility that we will run out of sufficient supplies to deal with many infections is real. Many cases would mean an oversaturation of medical resources, and that is what is really scary. But the disease itself is not as serious as it is being portrayed in the media, given that its symptoms, mainly fever, are not as serious as they are being portrayed in the media.The symptoms, mainly fever, cough and Respiratory problems, do not differ much from a common flu.

In addition, several experts believe that the recovery process from coronavirus is very similar to that of the flu. If you are a person with a good immune system, young, without respiratory problems or previous illnesses, in case of contracting the virus you will most likely end up recovering.

What should we do to avoid fear?

The best way to overcome the irrational fear of the contagion of this virus is, as we were suggesting before, to do proper research. The media does not necessarily have to be exaggerating the news, but given that many are looking for us to stay glued to the screen to keep up to date with what is happening, it is normal for them to sell it as something as serious as it is painted.

That's why it's best to watch TV responsibly, and to counteract the counteract the information with websites and other resources specialized in medicine, which are truly knowledgeable in the field.which are truly knowledgeable about the situation of the virus, its dangerousness and the real risk of being faced with a pandemic. The WHO, the Official College of Physicians and other institutions offer scientific information on the coronavirus.

Another highly recommended thing to do is to remain calm and be aware of the extent to which we are exposed to the disease. Unless we have traveled to Asia recently, or we know of a positive case of the virus, we are not people with a high probability of having acquired it. We should also pay attention to our health and be aware of whether we are a risk group or not. If we are, it is advisable to take extreme preventive measures and seek information and advice from our doctor.

We should not change our routine. If we normally go to work by public transport, we should continue to do so. Just in case the city or regional authorities say that it is contraindicated to use this transport, or that we should not even leave home or go to certain places, we should not stop doing the things we do every day. Let us not let a disease that has not yet affected us prevent us from living a normal life..

Finally, something that is obvious, let us not be afraid of Asian people. Let's not treat them as if they were stinkers or potential carriers of the virus. A white person has the same risk of acquiring the virus as a Chinese citizen, let's not feed stigmas.

Some interesting facts

So far, about 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide, the vast majority of them in China (about 75,000), with 2,744 deaths in the Asian country. This sounds terrifying. However, why don't we ask how many people have recovered?

At the moment, the recovery rate is significantly higher than the death rate, with almost 12,000 people who have had the virus now fully cured. Most of the people who have died had previous medical problems or were unable to access medical treatment in a timely manner. in due time. This type of situation is common in countries whose rural regions do not have good sanitation, which is not the case in Europe and other developed countries.

The fact that there is no vaccine for COVID-19 does not mean that it is necessarily fatal, since, as we mentioned earlier, if you were healthy before acquiring the virus, you will most likely overcome the disease.

But despite these data, the media continues to give too much importance to the bad. This is normal and, in fact, in psychology it has a name, in psychology it has a name: it is the negativity bias.. We tend to pay more attention to the bad than to the good and, in this case, we are more concerned about the deaths, which to tell the truth are not so many, than about the recovery rate, which is really high. Nor is it emphasized that healthy people have little real chance of dying from the coronavirus.

A lot of coronavirus, but not the worst of it

It is true that there have been several deaths due to coronavirus, but the common flu, the one that comes every year, seems to be more deadly. In the United States, this past flu season has resulted in the deaths of 8,000 people, four times the number of coronavirus deaths in China, a country with a much larger population.

Flu is more deadly when you are in poorer health before you get it and if you do not have adequate medical resources to deal with it, as with virtually any disease, contagious or not. With this in mind, how come we worry so much about the coronavirus instead of the flu, or any other more common illness?

Statistically speaking, influenza should be treated as something more serious, since there are more cases, while the coronavirus, for the moment, has a mortality rate of only 2%. But the media do not cover flu news because, unlike the coronavirus, it is not something new and, of course, it does not arouse as much interest.

Collective psychosis, stigma and exaggerated precautions.

There is no doubt that the virus is affecting the way people behave and think, reaching the point where there are people who have radically changed their daily lives. While it is appropriate to take preventive measures, these should not be so exaggerated that it seems that the remedy, or in this case, prevention, is worse than the disease.

As the disease has originated in China, being originally attributed to the consumption of bat meat and, later, to pangolin meat (although the origin of the real virus is still being sought), Asian citizens, both tourists and immigrants, have begun to be discriminated against.

In Spain, for example, some people have stopped going to Chinese bazaars and restaurants for fear of catching the virus.. This can be interpreted as a subtle form of racism (micro-racism) and contribute to the stigma that if you are Chinese you may have the disease. However, thinking about it coldly, how can a Chinese person who has been living in Spain for ten years without going to China get coronavirus just like that?

It makes sense to think that, since they have relatives living in China and can go to visit them, they run a certain risk of acquiring the virus. However, this risk is also possible with any European, African, Australian or American person who has visited Asia or has been in contact with people suspected of having the virus.

Although in Spain the thing has not reached a social alarm equivalent to a collective psychosis, it is true that there are people who are avoiding taking transport for fear of becoming infected. There is also the purchase of medical equipment that is believed to prevent the disease, as in the case of the masks, for example.such as masks. In fact, in some places in Spain, as is the case of the island of Menorca, pharmacies have run out of them, which contributes in some way to feed the fear that at some point in the epidemic supplies will run out.

However, and taking advantage of the subject of the masks, it should be noted that they are of little use in preventing the disease. The real utility of this medical material is to prevent surgeons from spitting saliva on the patient's open body during surgery when talking to each other. Since the air passes through the fabric of the mask and the coronavirus travels through the air, they are not an effective preventive method, although they do prevent contaminated saliva from being spit onto other people when sneezing. What is advisable is to wash your hands and face frequently, and preferably use disinfectant soaps..

It is also worth noting that it is quite curious how people spend money on practically useless masks against a virus with a high probability of recovery, while condoms, which are effective against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), are not so popular. HIV, gonorrhea, or syphilis are more common problems than coronavirus, preventable, and yet people do not seem to take proper preventions against these very serious diseases.

Bibliographic references:

• World Health Organization. (2020). Questions and answers on coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/es/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/q-a-coronaviruses