Corona phobia the fear of Coronavirus

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Coronavirus or as it is known scientifically COVID-19 has put a lot of cities in lockdown around the world. Coronaviruses (CoV) are part of a vast category of other alike viruses that that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). It is transmitted from person to person very easily as it is of a high virality scale.

The signs that someone may be subject to coronavirus include signs of infection respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. On very severe cases of COVID-19, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

The fact that the virus spreads so quickly is a reason why there is so much panic on places that there are cases infected with COVID-19 and elsewhere. While corona phobia is the term coined by most media agencies, actually it is not an unusual fear fear to have that can be diagnosed as a standalone phobia. Coronaphobia is a combination of other phobias that are sparked by it, such as xenophobia, the fear of foreigners. For example, contact with Chinese people or asian looking people in general are being avoided in public places, and in some countries travellers from China are banned to enter the country on fears that normal healthy Chinese citizens might be infected.

Other people experience Misophobia or Mysophobia, which is the fear of germs. People afraid that they might get coronavirus avoid contact with anything they consider as dangerous in contracting them the virus.

Both these fears are then tied together with the fear of travel Hodophobia. People avoiding any form of travel on fear that someone or something that they will encounter on their trip will end up with them getting the virus.

While it is a good idea to take precautions, limiting ones life from everything is not the solution. It is important to stay calm and go about your daily life, closely follow the instructions given by the local authorities and do not spread panic.

Symptoms of Coronophobia panic attack

  • sweating
  • trembling
  • hot flushes or chills
  • shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • a choking sensation
  • rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
  • pain or tightness in the chest
  • a sensation of butterflies in the stomach
  • nausea
  • headaches and dizziness

These are common panic attack symptoms. If you are experiencing any of these it is good to do sone breathing exercises. While most phobias are curable, there is no single treatment available for all of them, or guaranteed to work. It strongly depends on the person suffering and severity in which that person is experiencing Coronophobia. There are cases that a combination of treatments might be more effective.

Some stats on Coronavirus

There have been a total of 79,746 coronavirus cases thus far with 2,628 deaths and 25,267 recoveries. These stats on a macro scale are better than those of a normal seasonal flu. But still there is room for panic because it can be spread more rapidly than a normal seasonal flu.

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