The fear factor

Vee · Aug 24, 2021

I've always know that our emotional state can have a very strong impact in our physical health. That's common knowledge, but the CDC just published this report and it's mind blowing!

Underlying Medical Conditions and Severe Illness Among 540,667 Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19, March 2020–March 2021

This study links the severity of Covid 19 to underlying conditions using data from 800 hospitals and many thousands of patients.
It says that 94% of people hospitalized with Covid had underlying conditions. No surprise there.
The strongest risk factor for death is obesity. No surprise there either, although it is also mind blowing that nothing is being done to prevent obesity and thus reduce the mortality rate from Covid and a bunch of other illnesses, but that's a subject for another day.
Now the thing that really surprised me was this one: anxiety and fear-related disorders. Isn't this fascinating? So, keeping people afraid not only doesn't do anything positive, but it also aggravates the situation.
If "obesity, diabetes with complication, and anxiety disorders were the strongest risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness" shouldn't a lot more be invested in prevention and management of these conditions?
If the press promoted good health choices instead of fear, maybe many people wouldn't be as sick. Stress is a huge factor in health. It impacts hormonal production, sleep quality and general well being, so shouldn't' more be done to support emotional well being?

sun rise · Aug 24, 2021

That's an interesting paper. I noted this which points out that anxiety and fear might be a consequence of Covid not a cause or if a cause possibly due to drugs being taken for anxiety:

Anxiety and fear-related disorders were a prevalent condition in our sample; they were also the second highest risk factor for death among the underlying conditions considered in our study. The reasons for this finding are likely multifactorial and may include a reduced ability to prevent infection among patients with anxiety disorders, the immunomodulatory and/or cardiovascular effects of medications used to treat these disorders, or severe COVID-19 illness exacerbating anxiety disorders (19,20). In a subset of patients with pre-COVID encounters in our study, anxiety diagnosed before COVID-19 was not independently associated with death or IMV during COVID-19 hospitalization and, therefore, it is also plausible that anxiety was diagnosed during COVID-19 illness and may be a resulting sequela of COVID-19 (21). Future studies could explore the temporal and causal associations between anxiety disorders and severe COVID-19 illness.

Vee · Aug 24, 2021

sun rise said:
That's an interesting paper. I noted this which points out that anxiety and fear might be a consequence of Covid not a cause or if a cause possibly due to drugs being taken for anxiety:

That's my understanding as well.

sun rise · Aug 24, 2021

Vee said:
That's my understanding as well.

But I do agree with your OP point that the media should be more positively focused rather than promote fear and anxiety. Way too much of the media is focused on negativity so I ignore TV, most of radio and focus on more emotionally neutral or positive sources as much as I can.

Nakosis · Aug 24, 2021

Vee said:
I've always know that our emotional state can have a very strong impact in our physical health. That's common knowledge, but the CDC just published this report and it's mind blowing!

Underlying Medical Conditions and Severe Illness Among 540,667 Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19, March 2020–March 2021

This study links the severity of Covid 19 to underlying conditions using data from 800 hospitals and many thousands of patients.
It says that 94% of people hospitalized with Covid had underlying conditions. No surprise there.
The strongest risk factor for death is obesity. No surprise there either, although it is also mind blowing that nothing is being done to prevent obesity and thus reduce the mortality rate from Covid and a bunch of other illnesses, but that's a subject for another day.
Now the thing that really surprised me was this one: anxiety and fear-related disorders. Isn't this fascinating? So, keeping people afraid not only doesn't do anything positive, but it also aggravates the situation.
If "obesity, diabetes with complication, and anxiety disorders were the strongest risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness" shouldn't a lot more be invested in prevention and management of these conditions?
If the press promoted good health choices instead of fear, maybe many people wouldn't be as sick. Stress is a huge factor in health. It impacts hormonal production, sleep quality and general well being, so shouldn't' more be done to support emotional well being?

All individually diagnosed. Some between an individual and their doctor. Many emotional, environmental, physical causes for these disorders. At I think we can encourage individual to seek a doctors advice. These are not things you can not shotgun cures for, like you can by getting vaccinated for covid.

There's no shot to cure obesity, fear. It requires counseling and a life style change.

Vee · Aug 24, 2021

Nakosis said:
These are not things you can not shotgun cures for, like you can by getting vaccinated for covid.

True, but a few weeks of the right life style changes and you'll start seeing the difference. Can you imagine the results long term for those who turn the changes into habits? It might not be very quick, but an investment in good health, physical and mental, pays off big time, and frequently without a need to get big pharma involved.
Vaccines are a great help, but I wouldn't call them a solution per se. In the case of Covid the vaccine doesn't prevent contagion, although it makes people a lot less sick so that's great. Also, the logistics can be complicated. This is not one of those things you do every 10 years like a tetanus shot. It's something people need to do twice a year - or so it seems. Plus, no one knows how effective they will be against current and future mutations.
I see the vaccines and treatments as great progress. They are definitely positive. But in my opinion, having a healthy body that can do what it was designed to do is the best investment we can do. A person with a healthy body and a healthy mental health is much better equipped to deal with a threat.

Nakosis · Aug 24, 2021

Vee said:
True, but a few weeks of the right life style changes and you'll start seeing the difference. Can you imagine the results long term for those who turn the changes into habits? It might not be very quick, but an investment in good health, physical and mental, pays off big time, and frequently without a need to get big pharma involved.
Vaccines are a great help, but I wouldn't call them a solution per se. In the case of Covid the vaccine doesn't prevent contagion, although it makes people a lot less sick so that's great. Also, the logistics can be complicated. This is not one of those things you do every 10 years like a tetanus shot. It's something people need to do twice a year - or so it seems. Plus, no one knows how effective they will be against current and future mutations.
I see the vaccines and treatments as great progress. They are definitely positive. But in my opinion, having a healthy body that can do what it was designed to do is the best investment we can do. A person with a healthy body and a healthy mental health is much better equipped to deal with a threat.

Assuming one can choose to be healthy, and they are not a victim of uncontrollable subconscious desire.

Nakosis · Aug 24, 2021

Vee said:
I've always know that our emotional state can have a very strong impact in our physical health. That's common knowledge, but the CDC just published this report and it's mind blowing!

Underlying Medical Conditions and Severe Illness Among 540,667 Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19, March 2020–March 2021

This study links the severity of Covid 19 to underlying conditions using data from 800 hospitals and many thousands of patients.
It says that 94% of people hospitalized with Covid had underlying conditions. No surprise there.
The strongest risk factor for death is obesity. No surprise there either, although it is also mind blowing that nothing is being done to prevent obesity and thus reduce the mortality rate from Covid and a bunch of other illnesses, but that's a subject for another day.
Now the thing that really surprised me was this one: anxiety and fear-related disorders. Isn't this fascinating? So, keeping people afraid not only doesn't do anything positive, but it also aggravates the situation.
If "obesity, diabetes with complication, and anxiety disorders were the strongest risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness" shouldn't a lot more be invested in prevention and management of these conditions?
If the press promoted good health choices instead of fear, maybe many people wouldn't be as sick. Stress is a huge factor in health. It impacts hormonal production, sleep quality and general well being, so shouldn't' more be done to support emotional well being?

I do believe that a positive attitude can affect health. I suspect mental stress diminishes the ability of the immune system to fight off infections.

Ah... see here.

The stress hormone corticosteroid can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system (e.g. lowers the number of lymphocytes).
https://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-immune.html

Koldo · Aug 24, 2021

Vee said:
I've always know that our emotional state can have a very strong impact in our physical health. That's common knowledge, but the CDC just published this report and it's mind blowing!

Underlying Medical Conditions and Severe Illness Among 540,667 Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19, March 2020–March 2021

This study links the severity of Covid 19 to underlying conditions using data from 800 hospitals and many thousands of patients.
It says that 94% of people hospitalized with Covid had underlying conditions. No surprise there.
The strongest risk factor for death is obesity. No surprise there either, although it is also mind blowing that nothing is being done to prevent obesity and thus reduce the mortality rate from Covid and a bunch of other illnesses, but that's a subject for another day.
Now the thing that really surprised me was this one: anxiety and fear-related disorders. Isn't this fascinating? So, keeping people afraid not only doesn't do anything positive, but it also aggravates the situation.
If "obesity, diabetes with complication, and anxiety disorders were the strongest risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness" shouldn't a lot more be invested in prevention and management of these conditions?
If the press promoted good health choices instead of fear, maybe many people wouldn't be as sick. Stress is a huge factor in health. It impacts hormonal production, sleep quality and general well being, so shouldn't' more be done to support emotional well being?

Easier said than done though.
That's the problem.

How would you proceed?

Vee · Aug 25, 2021

Koldo said:
Easier said than done though.
That's the problem.

How would you proceed?

I would start by telling people that every time they feel like watching the news, they should turn off the TV and go for a walk instead.

Koldo · Aug 25, 2021

Vee said:
I would start by telling people that every time they feel like watching the news, they should turn off the TV and go for a walk instead.

Refusing to watch the News is just as bad as watching too much of it though.

The fear factor

Vee

Well-Known Member

sun rise

The world is on fire

Vee

Well-Known Member

sun rise

The world is on fire

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist

Vee

Well-Known Member

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist

Koldo

Outstanding Member

Vee

Well-Known Member

Koldo

Outstanding Member