How are we dealing with the coronavirus hype and implications?
Our discussion was three days ago, and as I write this, things have moved on apace. By the time you are reading this things will have changed again. More health protection and economic measures are expected daily. We live in unprecedented uncertain times.
This virus has the potential to affect every one of us, and for many in this group who fall into the high vulnerability category, we are being catapulted headfirst into fear and anxiety mode. For some of us who are some months or years on from diagnosis, this means we are back in panic mode and this feels like being diagnosed all over again. For others, currently undergoing treatment, we feel particularly vulnerable as we are classed as high risk. And for those with secondary breast cancer, not only do we have the fear the virus poses to us, but our daily lives are restricted and we cannot live out our lives as we would wish given that we may have have limited time left.
The media bombards us daily with information but a lot of it is untrue. The pandemic is being dealt with differently in other countries and this makes us nervous. We have worries for loved ones both near to home and far away. We feel helpless, as for many of us all we can do is protect ourselves as best we can, for some this means self-isolation, and hope for the best.
Some of us have been in trauma mode since the outbreak began, others are only just beginning to realise the seriousness of it all. Many of us are taking steps to protect our mental health as well as our physical health. Our feelings veer from blind panic to calm self-assurance that we will cope.
As a community we all know fear, we are familiar with that anxiety that comes with knowing our lives are threatened. The stress flight or fight response kicks in and our brains cease to function logically. We lie awake all night fretting, we don’t look after ourselves properly, and this affects our general health and immunity. We may thirst for knowledge but find it hard to discriminate on what we find out. Stockpiling food and medicine may be something we witness, this can be an attempt at taking control. Going into hypervigilant overdrive is necessary to survive, and logically we know it won’t last forever.
This BRiC discussion gave our members the opportunity to express their fears and hopes, for themselves, their loved ones, their livelihoods, their uncertain futures. Some expressed disappointment at holidays cancelled, visits from loved ones postponed, but for most of us we’ve done this before, when we had to put life on hold for our cancer treatment. Many are concerned about the psychological effects of prolonged isolation, for those who live alone and for those who have elderly relatives who live alone. Again, many of us were pretty much isolated for months while having treatment, to protect our immune systems while having surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We had no choice then, we have no choice now.
We will be ok, we will cope, because we are resilient and we are strong. We have each other to talk to online, and this is hugely helpful.
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