Getting deathly sick

[wysereveryday]

With this new virus going around has my anxiety peaking. I went to Wal Mart tonight, i washed my hands sooo many times AND used germex. I bought boots off of wosh and was super paranoid and had to spray disinfectant on them. (The CDC says the virus cannot survive more than 2 days perfect conditions outside of body. Packages from china take 3 to 5 days to recieve) ive always had the scratch ythroat limp in throat feeling when super overwhelmed or anxious. But now, its triggering my mind making me think im sick. Has anyone else had fears of getting sick (flu, stomache big, pnemonia, ect)

*when i hear the words corona virus zombie music plays in my head*

What is some good coping skills to calm my racing mind and remind me that im healthy and will probably not catch this

[Hidden]

Never think you are gonna catch something cauae anxiety and ep are already enough. Don't add another worry into your life. Just live life normally, and worry aboutthings when they happen. Diseases will always be around, the important is that a lot of measurements are being taken to not let it spread in the US.

[BlueSky125]

I think you can use facts to combat your fears, like you did with the products taking 3 to 5 days to get to you from China. Right now there have only been 8 cases in the us and 2 in the uk for example.

[Hidden]

Reassurance here, by your friends/family and even doctors might help at this very moment, but reassurance given here or from others is very short lived. I see those plagued by this every couple of days come back, even after going to the doctor and getting a good bill of health.

I’m a milder case of this, it’s more being cautious, but I do hand wash a lot and bathe in hand sanitizer when I am out.

Learning to give your thoughts less meaning. You give meaning and an abundance of power to those meanings. Stop reading the news, googling, etc. if you do body checks numerous times a day day, learning to do them less. Ever looked in CBT? That would be my next recommendation.

[wysereveryday in reply to Hidden]

Ive heard of CBT what is it?

[Hidden in reply to wysereveryday]

Cognitive therapy involves identifying and altering distorted cognitive beliefs about the significance of intrusive thoughts (eg, intrusive thoughts in your case would be dealing with excessive worry of getting ill or death). You’ll want to talk with a therapist specialized in CBT or get referred to one. If you do this, you’ll be engaged in discussions that will allow you to talk about the relationship between triggers that lead to these intrusive thoughts and faulty appraisals which leads to your anxiety and urges to perform compulsions. It’s worth a shot to try and learn how to manage your anxiety.

There are free resources online, apps that are downloadable as well.

[wysereveryday in reply to Hidden]

Thank you very much! I will talk to my therapist about this