[sophiebunny]

I spent my entire session today talking about the virus. It's not that I'm germ phobic or at all worried about getting the virus. What is traumatizing me is the hysterical reactions to the virus and the apocalyptic scenarios being tossed around in the media. I need my world to be as calm and predictable as possible. When people behave irrationally, I retreat into total isolation. When the entire country behaves irrationally, all I want to do is dissociate into my inner world till the sane people return.

[Amyjay]

We are entering into different territory now. All over the world. Things are going to change, but it isn't going to be apocalyptic. I talked about it briefly with T, but didn't pursue the conversation because I could see it was upsetting to T. She comes from Italy, so I suppose she is worried about her family.
But, things are not going to be the same for a while. We are going to need to adapt a bit.

Is it irrational to be afraid, or is it irrational to not be??
Rationality probably lies somewhere in the middle. This is a serious situation, to be sure. But we don't need to lose our heads over it.

[Lonelyinmyheart]

I've mentioned it a few times but not spent a session over it. I'm a bit anxious about T catching it, and myself to a lesser extent.

[LonesomeTonight]

I also spent most of yesterday's session talking about coronavirus. I started by saying I imagine T is sick of talking about it with clients, but he said I was actually the first to go into this much depth about it. Some of my fears that I discussed weren't so much about getting sick, but what if schools close for weeks--what will we do with our daughter (she's 8 and on autism spectrum)? (Then about an hour after session, it was announced that schools are closing for 2 weeks starting Monday...) And some of my discussion was also how my brain started to go the night before to places like, "Why should I even try to get better? (in terms of mental health). We're all just going to die anyway." Which took the discussion yesterday in a bit of a different direction. We talked for a full hour--usually end at 50-55 minutes. We usually shake hands at the end, but just did an "air handshake."

Oh, and I also said I was worried that T would be one of the first healthy guys his age (almost 50) to die of the coronavirus. I think it helped to get that fear out. Really, it just helped talking about all of it. I hadn't been overly worried about it before, but it just seems like in the past few days, things seem to be getting more apocalyptic, like you said. With colleges switching to online teaching, pro and college sports teams shutting down their seasons, shutting down gatherings of 250 people or more, and now schools closing. And of course the run on toilet paper and hand sanitizer. It's like, "OK, everyone else is panicking, guess it's time for me to do so." I don't recall this level of panic with SARS or H1N1 either.

[comrademoomoo]

She mentioned it. She said she was worried about her trip getting cancelled - I silently and spitefully hoped that it would be cancelled in order to teach her a lesson. She also became very animated about the prospect of "60% of the workforce being at home!". I told her this is alarmist. I said it concerns me that people need to be told to wash their hands, who are these people who aren't doing that anyway?! She said she would be scared to sneeze in front of me and I thought, "Good".

[ScarletPimpernel]

L and I have talked a little bit about it. Like what would happen if we had to quarantine ourselves. But we haven't discussed how all of this affects me. And she's on vacation! So I can't reach out to her right now. Plus I'm worried about her.

[Omers]

T had the regular flu the end of last week. Our discussion consisted of him telling me (as an apology after attempting to sing a Beatles song in the waiting area when he sounds like a frog), me telling him he isn’t getting out of hugging me that easily and him admitting he was not contagious.
Personally I am worried more of the mass misinformation and mass hysteria than I am the virus itself. We need to practice good hygiene all the time not just in crisis and we need to step up and take care of ourselves and responsibility for ourselves (staying home when we are not feeling well).

[feileacan]

I haven't talked about it because it hasn't seemed a relevant topic for therapy for me.

The government of my country has declared general emergency starting from next week - all the schools and public institutions are closed until May. I'm an university employee and we have to start teaching without class room contact.

I'm not sure what happens to my therapy though. Unless my T tells me not to come on Monday I plan to go to my session as usual.

[ElectricManatee]

Originally Posted by LonesomeTonight

I hadn't been overly worried about it before, but it just seems like in the past few days, things seem to be getting more apocalyptic, like you said. With colleges switching to online teaching, pro and college sports teams shutting down their seasons, shutting down gatherings of 250 people or more, and now schools closing. And of course the run on toilet paper and hand sanitizer. It's like, "OK, everyone else is panicking, guess it's time for me to do so." I don't recall this level of panic with SARS or H1N1 either.

I think all the shutting down and canceling is a really beautiful thing. Younger, healthier people aren't likely to be significantly affected or to die, so the closings are preventative measures intended to slow the spread of the virus in order to protect older, less healthy people. It's a sign of people working together and agreeing to keep their distance so the critical functions of society (namely healthcare capacity) can operate as well as possible. I am not staying home because I am panicking but because I don't want to be the doofus who feels fine but is unintentionally shedding virus particles in my wake.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

We spent the last three times talking about it.
I've been worried about not seeing my T for a while (or at all anymore, if something happens to him). I wrote a letter for him, stuff that I'd probably would have put into a letter when terminating, but I felt like maybe that's what's happening, even if I hope not. So I wanted to share that.
Last week, I was able to see him after he'd read the letter, we talked more about what will happen to therapy if there's a quarantine or I didn't feel safe enough to come in. We agreed on phone calls, he also allowed me to take a few pictures of him so I can remember what he looks like. We also talked about the reactions of our society, of people, what we think of it in general...

Today, I decided not to leave my home (our country is not yet shut down, they just announced to close schools, but it looks like that should have happened already). I'd have to take a one hour train ride, can't drive a car and just didn't feel comfortable. So we had a 15 minute phone call, we talked some more about it, also talked about how I'm doing (I just quit my job, also due to this situation, which has actually helped a lot with my mental health).

It helped me a lot to talk about it, especially since my T also seems to be concerned, which tells me that I am not overreacting, unlike in some other situations. It makes me feel like I can count on him to not just say 'relax, everything's fine', he seems to actually think for himself.

[precaryous]

We talked about it in passing last week as I was leaving therapy. The University where T teaches just decided yesterday to close for, I don’t know how long. I imagine T is quite busy setting up online classes or remote Skype classes...or whatever.

T is 70+ years old and I do worry about her. As far as I’ve seen, there are at least fourteen known cases in our state...several in the county where T lives, has therapy and teaches. No fatalities reported in this state.

[Lonelyinmyheart]

I have a feeling my next session will be spent talking about it actually, given the situation where I am.

[ArtieTheSequal]

Originally Posted by sophiebunny

I spent my entire session today talking about the virus. It's not that I'm germ phobic or at all worried about getting the virus. What is traumatizing me is the hysterical reactions to the virus and the apocalyptic scenarios being tossed around in the media. I need my world to be as calm and predictable as possible. When people behave irrationally, I retreat into total isolation. When the entire country behaves irrationally, all I want to do is dissociate into my inner world till the sane people return.

I admit that I'm struggling right now with the same thing, the hysterical reactions and apocalyptic scenarios all over the news. I've stopped watching any TV at all and am taking a facebook break cuz I just can't take it anymore. People cannot act rationally from a place of panic. I feel terrible for those affected by the virus of course, and i do believe in taking precautions like washing hands etc. But at the same time all of this panic and frenzy and doomsday preaching is not the answer. I left therapy 5 months ago but I am considering going back briefly for a little help dealing with all the panic and hysteria. It's really starting to eat away at me way more than any fear of contracting the virus itself. I'm honestly becoming scared of what we are going to do to our country (USA) with all of this panic and frenzy.

[Lemoncake]

Yep.

I have been telling him for the past two weeks to make sure that he has extra food in and also sent him extra stuff which he thanked me for.

He was going on about wanting to make sure he was okay.

T said I was showing signs that were worrying for him.

Paranoia was mentioned.

But that's me in general, even after three years of therapy I know that I don't fully trust him and I do love conspiracy theories.

[Mountaindewed]

Oh yeah, heavily. My fear of it is pretty much the only thing we talk about these days.

[MoxieDoxie]

My entire session was on the virus, hoarding food and the current administration. I needed to unload on him about it and Trump. As I have no way of smacking him and all the people that think he is great.

[SheHulk07]

I talked to my T1 about it for a little bit at the start of our session. He actually texted me before our appointment, saying that he is offering tele therapy to all his clients if we had any concerns about the virus. I told him I wanted to meet in person as long as he was okay, which he was. I admitted that I have panicked the past 2 days about it and how my anxiety over the financial aspect of it

Possible trigger:

Triggered a SH incident this morning

He did mention briefly at the end about how he was getting emails from the building that he rents a space from, but didn't say more. He said he'll continue to keep me updated and he's always offering the tele therapy just in case.

[Salmon77]

I have talked about issues that it brings up, related to my family and the need to take care of people (my father is over 80). Also because I wanted to know if T planned to switch to phone calls or anything like that. No changes planned for now.

I can't stand TV news in general, haven't watched it in years. I've been reading a lot though. I'm sure some people are just alarmist but looking at the news out of Italy makes me think we do need to take reasonable precautions.

[waterlogged]

I am in an epicenter area and all schools and public buildings (libraries, community centers, etc) are closed. 2 of the major hospitals are already at capacity. Reported numbers aren’t increasing because the just aren’t testing people. It’s been a rapidly changing situation this week, with yesterday my T maintaining in-person sessions and today deciding to go to all virtual sessions.

I also just had surgery and can’t walk or drive so things were already tough. Now my kids are home full time until the end of April if not longer.

I understand it’s not the same in other areas, but if you have even just 1 case in your community, you can feel pretty confident that your community is next. While panic isn’t helpful, making some proactive behavioral changes seems wise.

[sctak]

We've been discussing it exclusively for a while. But I have contamination related OCD. This is literally one of my worst nightmares. I'm used to having high anxiety related to viruses, but this is unreal. Our discussion is mainly around coping mechanisms and trying to not introduce new compulsions to cope.

That being said, I live in a hot area. There is an extreme level of uncertainty right now. Everybody is watching the hot regions so they know what to expect. Meanwhile, those of us in the middle of it are facing daily changes, contradictions, multiple messages from multiple agencies and officials, and fear that we will be locked down without notice and without sufficient time or resources to prepare.