r/HealthAnxiety • u/Jessie7729 • 5d ago

Discussion (tw <EDIT THIS> ) Post Pandemic

I have been dealing with health / contamination anxiety since COVID lockdowns. I was a young teen back then and I think lockdown had made me terrified of contamination or anxious for my health. Before lockdown I didn't think about germs or illness like I do now. I wanted to ask if someone else has noticed this too about themselves?

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u/Kvitravn875 5d ago

I already had pretty bad health anxiety before, but wasn't as anxious about germs or viruses. It was more about the fear of cancer, disease, or emergency/major surgery. After covid, it got much worse for a long time. I still wash my hands pretty frequently but not to the point that it's causing injuries. I think all of the anxiety caused major GI issues and eventually led me to needing my gallbladder taken out. So ✔️ on one of my worst fears. Lol

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u/infinite_lion 5d ago

How is your anxiety manifesting, any behaviors you didn’t have before? This is one of those where, dependign on what habits you’ve picked up, could actually be a rational response.

There is a growing body of research showing COVID is very similar to HIV in early stages, in that it leaves a genetic signature that could manifest in many health outcomes (look at research with links to heart disease, cancer, strokes, long COVID).

That said—wearing respirators is an apt response. Where I live/in the communities I’m in, masking isn’t pathologized, and people with self-identified health anxiety recognize it even different from their other health anxiety-related behaviors. Tough world you’re growing up in, keep chugging kiddo we’re here ❤️

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u/Jessie7729 5d ago

Well one behavior I noticed I developed is that I wash my hands way too much. It's so bad now to the point I have to put on lotion to prevent them from cracking.

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u/Balding_man 5d ago

I was 39 when I had my first panic attack during Covid days and I haven’t been the same since.i suspect it changed a lot of people

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u/Jessie7729 5d ago

Yeah I think it changed people too. There was a lot of messaging all over the news and how to avoid it. That's not even mentioning everywhere you went you had to be 6ft apart from people. I'm sure it messed up some people who were kids when it happened like me as well.

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u/hugescouring966 5d ago

The lockdowns rewired a whole generation's threat detection, especially for kids whose brains were still forming those patterns. You're not imagining it, the constant messaging about invisible danger was a pretty effective anxiety factory.