Counsellor had coughing fit during my appointment really worried

[Marie89]

I’m also really anxious about the corona virus and now even more so because I have a sore throat and tightness in my chest. Yesterday I had an hour long appointment with my counsellor and about 10 minutes in he started coughing and then not long after suddenly had a huge couching fit and had to leave the room for five minutes and nearly ended the session. I started panicking but I didn’t say anything to him (I should have asked to leave but I was too nervous and didn’t want to appear stupid) but now I have a sore throat and don’t feel great and I’m not sure if it’s in my head or real but I feel really scared and worried and so many thought racing through my mind. I live in the north of England but still really worried and I’m getting obsessive over the news on the virus too. Would it be stupid of me to call 111? Maybe I shouldn’t go into work or be around my family members?

I have been carrying hand sanitizer around the last couple of weeks but now I want to get face masks and wear gloves. But I don’t see anyone else wearing them where I live. I wish I could just stay at home and not go to work, I’m getting very anxious over using public transport as I use it to get to work and I’m so worried when someone coughs. Just don’t know what to do and getting really stressed out because I have mild asthma too.

[ankietyjoe]

This is on a par with worrying about being struck by lightning.

Please stop watching the news and carry on with your life as usual.

[WiseMonkey]

This is on a par with worrying about being struck by lightning.

Please stop watching the news and carry on with your life as usual.

I second this.

[BlueIris]

Yes, this is a colossal overreaction.

[NoPoet]

To provide some reassurance:

* This is cold and flu season. People all across the country will be suffering to varying degrees. That's part of life.

* It is very early days to panic about coronavirus. Some of the figures coming from China suggest a high fatality rate; figures from outside China, which can be considered more reliable, do not suggest a high fatality rate. You might say "Not yet", but if this were a catastrophically deadly disease, I'm pretty sure we would know by now.

* Many "leaked" "official" figures are a load of old bumbum. Nobody has provided any proof so far that the situation is as bad as doom mongers say. For example, the "heroic" "journalists" who have gone missing do not seem to have produced any evidence that the situation out of control. In fact these "journalists" are apparently able to wander at will through quarantined zones sticking their cameras in everyone's face, but they have never shown hundreds of bodies, or panic inside hospitals. We have reached a point where many people have grown up with the internet and they believe Reddit, Google and YouTube are reliable sources of information. Nobody in their right minds should trust mainstream media, let alone bloody YouTube.

* Air quality in China is typically hideous in comparison to other countries. The British media loves to bang on about an "air quality crisis". On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being fresh air and 10 being "This is like smoking all the cigars in the universe", I think it's fair to suggest China is a 10 which would suggest Britain is a 2.

* Further to the above, coronavirus seems to create pneumonia or severe respiratory distress in SOME (nowhere near all) cases. People constantly exposed to those high levels of pollution will already be suffering from poor health. They will certainly be more susceptible to pulmonary conditions. Therefore, the death rate in countries like China with hazardous air quality would likely be higher than those countries where people do not already have pulmonary distress.

Now I'm no doctor, I'm no specialist, I'm no fortune teller, but the above points are based on reasoned logic supported by the facts. Am I scared of this disease? Of course I am. But like many other people here I have health anxiety which blows problems out of proportion.

So get on with your life. Put yourself into your hobbies. Achieve something. Work towards building your health up. I don't think it is sensible just to ignore coronavirus altogether, but for the love of God don't sit reading about it all day.

Edit: To those who actually believe the conspiracy theories and that this is going to be "end of days" bad, answer this question: how many times has a virus made humanity go extinct?

[This too shall pass]

I actually live in Brighton, we have 8 cases of the virus here AND I have a cold. With my health anxiety, it's driven me insane. No Poet - your logic really hit home. Thank you for your help :)