With the arrival of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the fear of contracting the virus has made many people who previously did not give it too much importance, now feel a terrible fear of getting sick. These people protect themselves and take excessive care of themselves to avoid catching this and other pathogens that they did not care about before.
Within the fear of getting sick, two variables can be distinguished: hypochondria and nosophobia.On the one hand, hypochondria refers to that concern about suffering from some type of disease in general and is given from the constant observation and examination of the body.
Hypochondriac
Misinterprets false symptoms and diagnoses a disease to accommodate them
A hypochondriac misinterprets false symptoms and diagnoses a disease to accommodate them. This generates high levels of fear and anxiety that cause these signals to worsen, although normally this whole process is only the result of the mind itself.
This does not mean that one will never get sick and that every symptom is imaginary, what it means is that not any slight discomfort that can be felt will lead to a serious illness.
A hypochondriacy person can present two types of behaviors: visiting the doctor excessively to stay calm knowing that he does not suffer from any serious illness and leaving doubts or never going for fear of receiving a fatal news.
Older person in the doctor
Nosophobia
It is the constant fear of getting sick because of a specific disease
On the other hand, there is nosophobia, the constant fear of getting sick because of a specific disease. It is usually given by having some type of link with some disease or that there is some situation related to that disease around that person.
There are a number of signs that indicate when that fear begins to be a phobia. These signs are physical symptoms (such as sweating, headache or stomach pain and even tachycardia), emotional, cognitive (persistent obsessive thoughts) and behavioral (looking for a way to flee at all costs to be able to contract the disease).
On numerous occasions the fear of getting sick hides in an underlying way the fear of dying, because it is something unknown and that is out of control of oneself. This should be treated with therapy by professionals.
Keep in mind that the best way to eliminate these fears is to eradicate the problem from the first moment since it will be easier.Here are some tips for dealing with the fear of getting sick.
Tips1
Staying busy: Looking for distractions is an effective method of not thinking about other things, in this case, discomfort. In this way, constant talking about diseases is avoided.
2
Relaxation: there are multiple ways to choose depending on the preferences of each person, from yoga, mindfulness to sessions to talk with psychologists specialized in the area.
3
Acceptance: it is not about making invisible any ailment that may be suffered, but about accepting it, taking it into account, and knowing that, if that pain becomes stronger and longer lasting, you should go to the doctor. But, do not think that any slight discomfort will lead to a serious illness.
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