Hi, have a lifelong history of mental health issues-I'm now 65- and have had severe problems with Anxiety and Depression. I'm being treated by a psychiatrist who diagnosed G.A.D. and prescribed Pregabalin for my anxiety. He is aware of my OCD, but I have just started taking sertraline too, because fears about the health of myself, husband and daughter, who're all in higher risk groups if we catch Coronavirus, and constant worry about contamination and the long term nature (ie probably over a year before they develop and deliver any vaccine) of the risks of catching and one of us dying of this virus , have led me to become so depressed I was feeling "what's the point of being alive if I have to cope with all these constant worries. My son took his life in 2000 aged 21, and I went into deep depression for over 4 years, so I can't bear the thought of losing another family member and what it'd mean. Since Christmas 2019 I've had to cold turkey withdraw from duloxetine due to Serotonin syndrome, had an untreated UTI causing a serious kidney infection/sepsis and I have severe osteoarthritis and had to have steroid injections in my spine for sciatic pain so my anxiety level about further health issues were already high, then Coronavirus got into the country! I'm finding it very, very hard to cope and my OCD is also making life pretty hellish for my husband, too. Can anyone help?
OCD -Health anxiety over Coronavirus making li... - OCD Support
OCD Support
OCD -Health anxiety over Coronavirus making life hell for me and my poor husband
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I'm really sorry that you've had all this trouble. Being effectively under house arrest, as most of us have been, has the effect of turning us in on ourselves and making mental problems worse.
Having physical health problems is obviously a worry for you and your family. But taking proper measures to distance yourselves from anyone with the virus does have an effect. I think most people who get Coronavirus are people who have had no choice but to mix with other people, such as health and transport workers.
Losing a son to suicide must have hit you hard. I'm sure it must have been devastating. I guess it's not the sort of thing you can get over, but it might be worth talking it over with a grief counsellor or in a group for bereaved parents, who know just what you're going through. It may have happened twenty years ago, but pain of that sort doesn't just go away.
I do hope that when a vaccine becomes available, that people like you will be at the front of the queue, along with key workers. There have been reports of vaccines being available as early as September and there are trials with volunteers going on now.
I'm afraid I'm not of much practical help, but I know how vile OCD is, so I sympathize. I've being trying to keep as busy as I can, and get outdoors into the garden. Anyway, my good wishes to you and your family.