Fear of COVID-19: One Reason why YOU shouldn’t fear!

The fear of COVID-19 is as dangerous as COVID-19 itself, sometimes, even more dangerous. As the media and most reports regarding COVID-19 concentrate on the physical health, economic, and social effects of the pandemic, emerging data shows that the fear of COVID-19 or COVID-19 anxiety could as well be dangerous, and needs urgent attention.

A 2020 study by National Center for Health Statistics, USA, found out that a third of Americans have clinical anxiety or depression related to COVID-19. Similar studies in other countries, for example, Australia, Bangladesh, and many others have revealed threatening mental problems of anxiety, fear, depression, insomnia, etc, among people in relation to COVID-19.

Causes of fear of COVID-19 in Uganda

For Uganda and Africa in particular, fear is heightened by pessimism. According to Namata Kamoga at BMJ blogs, as Ugandans or Africans watch developed countries struggle through the pandemic, they know with certainty that life will be worse for them, the poor ones! Indeed, COVID-19 in Uganda is humbling us! Reporting about this grip of fear, she wrote:

“Fear and panic gripped Uganda as images of patients in the world’s best hospitals in the developed world were seen struggling for life. The big question was, what would it be like in a resource limited setting with a weak healthcare system, financial, infrastructural, logistical and human resource challenges, which greatly affect access to, and quality of essential healthcare services? Furthermore, this poor setting is coupled with patient level challenges, including a lack of trust in the healthcare system, poverty, low health literacy, poor access to healthcare and burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases.”

Well, most Ugandans are in fear. This is not normal fear, but clinical mental problem. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the predictors or reasons for fear. As Ugandans watch news on TV, scroll through their WhatsApp messages and social media platforms, all they see are dead bodies and death announcements, government scandals of fund embezzlement and mistreatment of common man, and uncertainties regarding the social impacts of lockdowns and poverty. Fear and anxiety are as a result of uncertainty amidst a threatening challenge of COVID-19! In other words, Ugandans have double fear: the fear of COVID-19 itself and the fact that they or their government won’t do a thing, I mean a right thing, about it!

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According to World Health Organization, in addition to the fears of contracting COVID-19 and dying of it if infected, people’s anxiety, fears, and depression are raised by COVID-19 restrictions, resulting unemployment and children education disruptions, poverty and shortage of basic needs, social isolation that keeps many away from their social support systems (family, friends, or workmates), and much more.

In a Netherland study, researchers explored predictors of fear of COVID-19 and realized that most people had concerns or fears regarding the health of others (parents, children, loved ones, friends, etc), poor healthcare system, consequence to country and personal economy, being in quarantine, unknowingly spreading the virus, the virus itself, government lying, fake news, travel bans, shortage of food & supplies, social isolation, etc.

Surely, no Ugandan isn’t thinking about these issues. While considerable concerns about these issues may not be dangerous, a long time threat of COVID-19 and related uncertainty extends the normal concern into long-term panic, anxiety, depression, and other mental problems.

According to CDC, signs and symptoms of COVID-19 fear and anxiety include failing to sleep, misuse or overuse of substances, including alcohol, smoking, sleep medicines, and other substances, feelings of sadness, frustration, sadness, and some form of indecision, physical pains, headaches, muscle pains skin issues, or just worsening of already existing conditions.

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Talking about existing conditions, their worsening, and COVID-19, it is important to note that COVID-19 and related lockdowns shifted Uganda’s attention from major health issues, resulting in numerous deaths and complications in other areas of health. Namata brings out this point well:

“The measures taken by the Ugandan government intended to combat the spread of covid-19 totally disrupted the supply chain and healthcare service delivery system as all efforts were focused on covid-19. Patients with HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, malaria, cancer, hypertension, hepatitis B, epilepsy, sickle cell, as well as mental health, maternal or childhood conditions, faced an increased risk of complications and death due to an inability to access healthcare because of transport restrictions, curfew, poor ambulatory systems and fear of contracting the virus from healthcare settings“

The Fear of COVID-19 can be transmitted!

Sadly, this fear can be transmitted from one person to another, directly and or indirectly! A recent study by Wheaton and colleagues revealed that the fear of COVID-19 is transmissible from one person to another, a phenomenon called emotion contagion (ie, ability to influence emotions and behaviors of others, either directly or indirectly). According to the study, social media and TV news are majorly responsible for this contagion. I am sure you get it!

Whenever leaders and authorities present COVID-19 information insensitively without considerations or moderations, the public is set into panic. Whenever friends share COVID-19 related emotionally disturbing stories, videos, and pictures, they basically influence your emotions too. TVs, bloggers, and social media are showing dead bodies, sufferings in ICU, oxygen failures in government hospitals, suicides due to hunger and lockdown, killings (soldiers shooting citizens or citizens stabbing security personnel over lockdown and curfew issues), and all things nasty, setting off people’s mental abilities to cope. Many Ugandans are ‘mad’ now, mentally lost into chronic fear and uncertainties!

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Healthy measures to prevent & control fear of covid-19

In a way to slow down the panic and control your fear, CDC advises that you reduce your exposure to information, especially negative COVID-19 information. In brief the measures are:

1. Take break from watching, reading or listening to new stories. While information is good, limit this! Maybe you can always watch TV once per day, only in the evening to catch up or once in two days! You need information, but too much of it, especially negative information will hurt you.
2. Take care of your body. CDC talks of exercises, deep breath, stretch, meditation, enough sleep, good diet, and take heed of SOPs, and your other routine check-ups, and restrain from using too much of alcohol, smoking, etc.
3. Make time to unwind by doing things you enjoy, for example, watching your favorite TV shows
4. Connect with others, digitally
5. Connect with your community or church, digitally
6. And, of course, if things aren’t well, talk to health authorities

A 2020 study by Hoong Ng and Kemp emphasize the need for various authorities to take responsibility and reduce unnecessary panic and fear. Specifically, the study recommends that health authorities should avoid using scaring & unnecessary jargons, and be consistent with information, news agencies need to take responsibility and report sensibly, and fake news needs to be checked and exposed in time before it can be widely shared on social media. Well, are these recommendations possible in a setting like Uganda? You know better!

One Reason You Shouldn’t Have Fear of COVID-19!

Although we have explored the reasons for fear of COVID-19 and possible remedies, we are still far away from the real cause and the real remedy. You see, in general, we fear because we have lost control or because we think we have lost control. However, all of this is because we thought we had control in the first place. However, the fact is, WE NEVER HAVE CONTROL of anything! Knowing that life isn’t entirely under our control frees us from the grips of fear and anxiety.

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In the book of Matthew 6:27, Jesus asks, who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? In other words, your anxiety or fear won’t change anything. This is the number one reason why you need not fear or panic because of COVID-19; you won’t add a single hour or minutes to your life by worrying! Even though, considering the whole context of the above verse, Jesus is simply saying that God will take care of our worries or what we are worried about, it’s never a guarantee! The true guarantee is our worrying won’t help at all! In other words, we are asked not to worry not because God will take care of what we are worried about, but because our worrying won’t change a thing!

In relation to COVID-19, God, according to His will, might fight for us and heal our land. But He, according to His will, might as well decide to hurt us even more with deaths, and mess! Either way, our worrying can’t change a thing!

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Wait! I am not saying that our God is insensitive or that He doesn’t care about what happens to us or the worries we have, I am saying that even His care or mercy towards us is within His eternal will. It is because of His love, mercy, and caring that we appear anywhere in His will. And, therefore, He himself advises us not to panic or worry or have anxiety, but to present all our worries to Him and just wait! Read it here:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

As COVID-19 roars and our hospitals, homes, neighborhoods, and streets get filled with dead bodies, agony, and pessimism, may your worries and anxieties be laid upon the cross and struggle through the pain with hope. God is telling us that worrying won’t change a thing. He instead advises us to cast our worries and concerns on him ‘because he cares’. He cares.

Importantly, He has control over all situations, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. He thus will take care of the situation as He wishes for He indeed has authority. And yet this authority rests with a caring heart. Open your heart to him, and live free from anxiety knowing that life and all that happen into or to it isn’t about you, but God. Therefore, relax.

Importantly, God’s consolation or caring or our perception of it should not necessarily be about taking away COVID-19 or its related suffering. However, whatever course or path He takes, we are contented and our fears are relieved for we know and believe that He works according to His will and His will is pure and does good. Therefore, we trust him with our ship as a sailor and go to bed relaxed and truly consoled, even when we are in real physical pain and loss.

GOD IS IN CONTROL, RELAX.