About the pademic and mental health.

[Nelson G.]

Hello everyone!

I was just wondering if you guys also happen to have mental issues with this whole pandemic deal.
Sometimes I have dysautonomia symptoms but because of soooo much media/information saturation,  my mind is instantly in a state of 'this might be COVID'.   It is driving me crazy,  now that there is so much misinformation and information about how a variant can get through vaccine protection and all that.  Booster talk doesn't really help.

I constantly check my temperature and spo2 and they're not only ok, but great.  And it makes me feel bad for being so fearful, and stuck in this stress state.  Sometimes I feel that this is just my mind channeling the sudden adrenaline one might get when nervous and with dysautonomia, because it is like I cannot control it, but, after a few minutes,  I am mostly calm.

If you guys can share ways on how to deal with this?  it would be great.  Or if you don't suffer from this anxious state,  please share why you are not living in fear.

 

[MikeO]

@Nelson G.at the start of the pandemic i did have a bit of anxiety but that was because Covid was new and there was no way to deal with it. I don't do well with respiratory virus's

Like you i did constantly check my temp and O2 and all looked good. Looking back i am sure it was my dysautonomia symptoms flaring up i just did not know at the time what dysautonomia even was.

I do trust that being vaccinated fully and boosted will keep the worst from happening if i were to catch Covid. I can say from experience with the flu. I always get a vaccine but one year i still caught it. The severity was minimal and the worst of it only lasted a few days.

I do still take some precautions (keeping your distance, avoiding large indoor gatherings etc ) but i do that during the flu season anyways.

I look at it this way over the years i learned to live with the flu and not be stressed over it so i will have to learn to live with Covid in the same manner. 

[yogini]

I think this is not so different than what many of us go through when we first get dysautonomia, obsessively checking our heart rate and blood pressure and freaking out when they are the least bit off.   Every pain or sensation seems like a crisis.  Even though it seems strange I’d guess 90% people with dysautonomia have done this and it’s a normal reaction to an unusual situation.  With dysautonomia I finally realized that even though my HR was sky high, I didn’t die,  I didn’t need to go to the ER, life went on, and all the time I’d spent obsessing was a waste and probably made my health worse.  I think it is about acceptance of how things will be going forward, which will be different than what they were in the past.  If you are struggling counseling might also be helpful.

 

For me the pandemic seems easy compared to what I went through for dysautonomia.  I also know my body so well, that I can sense when anything is off.  I don’t need to check my temperature because I can feel it.  Staying home is also not a big deal for me, since I spent a couple years almost entirely at home with POTS.   It’s actually a relief that there isn’t so much pressure to run around, which is better for my health.