Anxious at 3 am

[Tink41]

Does everyone else realize this is a futile exercise? The self isolation, social distancing? Experts saying this will hang around and keep infecting people? With the same prognosis? Terrified today. I guess I was under impression not only was I keeping others safe but myself as well. THAT is NOT the case. Deep down I'm sure I knew this, the realization was at 3am this morning. If I catch it now as opposed to 6 months from now the outcome will be the same. Barring any breakthroughs.

[Happy Hoosier]

1. A vaccine will come...

.... so we need to blunt this thing until that happens.

[Tink41]

2. I hope so! NT

[Hugin]

6. Or even better an effective treatment will be developed via identifying antibodies.

I'm a person who doesn't pray regularly, but, that's at the top of my long shot list every night lately.

Hang in there!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. Keep in mind that God is not going to be the one to develop a vaccine or a cure.

Hard working humans. Science. Not magical thinking.

[Hugin]

21. I include the Spirit of Humanity on the list of addressees for my plea.

I'm fully aware that a treatment will be found by hard working researchers, scientists, and health care professionals.



In fact, one of my favorite jokes reflects it...

Flood waters are rising and a man is sitting on his porch...

A truck pulls up and the driver yells, "A flood is coming. Jump in and let's get out of here!"

The man replies, "You go on, God will save me."

A while later, the water has risen considerably and the man is sitting on his roof.

A boat moves by and the captain yells, "The flood water is going to get considerably higher. Jump in and let's get out of here!"

The man replies, "Thanks, but, God will save me."

A while later, the water has risen to the point the man is standing on the highest point of his house and only his head is above the rising water.

A helicopter flies up and the pilot yells, "The flood water is going to get even higher. I'll throw you a rope and pull you up. Let's get out of here!"

The man replies, "You go ahead. God will save me."

Shortly later the man drowns and when he gets to the Pearly Gates he asks St. Peter, "I don't understand it, why did God let me die?"

St. Peter answers the man's question by saying, "Well, God sent a truck, a boat, and a helicopter... I'm not sure what more could've been done."

[getagrip_already]

3. flattening the curve was never about keeping people from getting the virus....

It is about stretching out the amount of time it takes to sweep through the population. If everyone gets sick quickly, the death toll would be horrendous since every hospital will be crippled all at once.

But by keeping people indoors and away from carriers, hospitals can cope. Sick people can be treated. More people will live.

And if you are one of the most fragile of the population, the longer you can stay well, the closer you will be to effective vaccines and treatments. We learn more and more about this beast every dday.

Keep the faith. Stay well. The cavalry may yet arrive.

[Tink41]

10. Oh yes!

I agree, it's something I repeated to everyone convincing them to shelter in place. Over and over again. Til this morning when I realized exactly what that means and doesn't mean.

[Hugin]

11. Yeah, Trump blew the possibility of extinction early on in the crisis.

That would've required wide scale testing and quarantine.

COVID-19 will be with us forever now.

But, there are still many ways to render the pathogen a footnote in the annals of medical history.

[rockfordfile]

17. Trump will go down in history as the worst President

[edhopper]

4. Sort of true

social distancing should mitigate the number of infected somewhat. But the real reason to flatten the curve is to overwhelm the healthcare system. So if you or I get sick, they will have the resources to help us.

[CrispyQ]

5. Your brain is not your friend.

It will dream up the worst case scenario and then drill down to every possible bad outcome, leaving you anxious and stressed. And stress kills. It's not good for your immune system. Try some breathing exercises to calm your anxiety and remind yourself that not everyone gets this and not everyone who gets it dies.

Sometimes you have to tell your brain to shut the fuck up.

[Tink41]

13. Funny but not

I love this! Am well aware what our minds are capable of doing to us. And am trying by putting this to "paper' to get the thoughts out and move on to something else. Thank you

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Stop it. The point of social distancing is not to avoid the virus entirely; it's to slow down the

spread to reduce the load on hospitals. If you catch the virus now and go critical in four days, you might not get an ICU bed. If you catch it in October, you might.

Redefine "futile" for yourself and your community.

[Tink41]

12. Agree

I'm in total agreement. Knew what I was advising friends/family. But I now know I didn't fully grasp the entire scenario I was repeating.

[Laelth]

8. The outcome for any of us, individually, may be the same.

The point of social distancing isn’t so much to prevent people from getting the virus. It’s to prevent us from all getting the virus at the same time. That way we might not overwhelm our health care delivery system. If we “flatten the curve,” i.e. slow down the rate of infection and prevent overwhelming our hospitals, you might actually get a respirator, if you need one, and that will increase your chances of survival.

But nobody’s arguing that social distancing will greatly improve your chances of not getting infected. Most of us are going to contract this virus sooner or later. The point, now, is to make sure that we don’t all get sick at the same time.

-Laelth

[HeartachesNhangovers]

18. Correct! And worth repeating. The last thing you want is to get sick now,

when resources in many places are stretched thin. Much better to get sick in a couple of years after a lot of people have been immunized, successful treatments have been identified, and hospitals have a whole lot of experience.

[Blues Heron]

9. You don't want to catch it at the peak

Staying home you will not catch or spread it. There will be treatments and/or vaccines. The prognosis will not be the same.

[MineralMan]

14. It is not a futile exercise at all.

Time is our friend. Even this morning, I saw a story on the beginnings of treatment with immune plasma from people who have recoverd from the virus being used to help people who are now ill. In addition, I am reading about clinical trials of a wide range of antiviral drugs that show promise against this coronavirus. Vaccines are under development and in initial trials.

Every day and every week, progress is being made. If we can delay widespread infection by this virus, we will be better able to treat people soon and protect people somewhat later.

If you do become infected, six months from now, instead of now, your chances will be improved. As we find out more and more information, the mortality rate of COVID-19 is dropping. It will probably end up being under 1% of people who are infected.

Take care of yourself and others, and this threat will become less and less frightening over time.

Finally, if you do get it, the odds are you will recover in any case. The vast majority of patients do.

[CanonRay]

15. Hang on, get past the worst part

and a vaccine will be made, more effective treatments will be found.

[DarthDem]

16. I'm very, very sorry for your anxiety

First, I love the cartoon that CrispyQ posted above with the brain picture. That's perfect! I've read that realizing that there's a problem and allowing negative thoughts to consume you are not the same. The latter is not helpful and in fact can even harm you by replacing your good thoughts and intentions or inducements to act with stress. Google "positive thinking" and you'll find a number of free websites and posts in various places with good explanations that reinforce this idea. Note that this is not the same as being in denial or burying your head in the sand. It's explained far better on some of the resources out there; I doubt I even scratched the surface in running across some of them several years ago after worrying about something that never came to fruition.

Second, the other posters are right about flattening the curve. It's not a cure; it's mitigation. And it's very, very helpful mitigation. I found myself wondering this week what the endgame strategy was and web searched for "how will pandemic end." I found a lot of helpful posts that you may want to check out and that I'm sure you can find with a similar search. One great article was from March 25 or so from STAT News (sorry no link but hopefully you can find it; please DU mail me if not and you're interested) that explains it very well. (I was impressed right away with the level of journalism because the article was well-sourced with quotes from actual scientists and referred to the virus by its technical and correct name, a sign of some science behind the research.) There is hope and evidence for treatments, an early vaccine, immunity taking hold, and even warmer weather impeding the spread of the virus to the point where all countries can implement contract tracing like South Korea and Singapore did with great results. Please give that article a read, or find one like it, and there are many because many people are asking the same questions you are. I generally think the MSM is doing a good job reporting on this, but their focus can sometimes be a bit off just IMO. Reading scientific articles or articles with scientific sources and research may be more helpful.

Finally, my very best to you. We will get through this. We simply will. And we're all in it together.

[ananda]

20. Eventually there will be a vaccine and probably a cure.

nt