Completely freaked out

[Lf93]

Apparently i need to stop going for walks with my dog and family :(.

Was walking back home, we live in a pretty quiet area but to get back we have to go through a small wood. In the woods was a family playing ball- it seemed a little odd considering the woods is so tight and you cant really social distance but we tried to stay away. When I walked past this old man was trying to talk to me and he wasn’t really distancing himself which I thought was a bit odd.

Next minute we see a girl, an ambulance, police, and a bunch of paramedics all running towards where we came from and the girl was saying he was trying to run in the road.

I know this sounds super selfish- I guess this is how this pandemic has made me with my anxiety- but I keep thinking what if he has this virus as well. I keep reimagining how close he was to all of us and how he was talking to me when I walked past and tried to get away.

I know i sound so super selfish as its likely this person is going though something not very nice and I should probably learn to prioritise my worry and empathy a little. But in the climate of this pandemic it freaked me out- I have come in completely shaken with anxiety and I know there’s not much that can be said to help but I just wanted to vent. I really hope this stuff is over soon :(.

[WiredIncorrectly]

No such thing as what if. That's your imagination, and you're allowing it to control you.

[Lf93]

Thanks, I’m trying to not let myself get lost in worry but its super difficult.

Today from a distance the people who helped him told us what had happened, apparently he was in hospital and was released too early and just went for a wander and got lost.

I know it would be super unlikely that an old man had Coronavirus and is just casually released from hospital and wandering around, but i cant help but think that I still don’t really want contact with someone who has been in there in the first place as its said hospital grounds are breeding places for these infections and maybe they are about to show symptoms. It especially worries me knowing that he was super close to us and talking and we couldn’t social distance and could only walk past as quick as possible.

I guess I am probably letting my imagination run again because this pandemic has definitely affected my mental health and I definitely overthink things and mentally exhaust myself from it... deep down I feel bad for not being sympathetic for this old man but I’m finding it difficult to turn off the worry button

[leanderson2012]

That is very scary, Lf93, I'm sorry you're feeling nervous. I think you're going to be just fine. If it makes you feel better, on Sunday I was at a store and there was somebody there who clearly had CV (awful dry cough, so out of breath he could barely walk, needing his wife to essentially carry him out of the store, etc), and I feel similar fears about catching it. But the reality is that, while we are working to figure out everything about the virus, all signs point to it being a very heavy virus, meaning that it is unlikely it will be able to float in the air for very long before falling to the ground. And even though you were close, if he wasn't coughing on you, I think you're fine. Think about the hero medical workers who are on the front line, while there are definitely lots of tragic and scary stories of people catching the virus by being close, not every nurse or doctor who's working with COVID-19 patients is catching it and they are RIGHT in the line of fire. I think you and your family are going to be just fine <3

That being said, I get the fear. I've put myself on a 14 day freak out for symptoms to appear from being close to somebody who I am pretty positive had it and was coughing, I realize that there's only so much I can do and control. I'll send you positive and healing thoughts, and I think logic says that in 14 days you and I both will just fine.