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Worried about catching Covid-19

Hi. I have been having sore throat, dry throat and dry cough for the past week. I have no other symptoms of Covid-19 and I have not gotten tested yet.

I have Sinusitis and considered as a high-risk person. I'm living with my family, and so far they hadn't developed any flu-like symptoms yet.

I'm currently very afraid of catching the virus and had anxiety and panic attack over it. I know that the symptoms can be really severe and fatal, which has made me worried even more about it. I've seen Covid-19 survivors talked about their experiences, which has made me worried even more.

I have two question: What are the chance of me getting infected with the virus?

Do you know of any mental support group that could allow me to interact with others, so I'll get less worried.

I have no mental support or friends to share this with right now.

I'm extremely worried of catching Covid-19 or passing it to my family. Some of them are high risk members. I cannot afford to.

If I did, I would probably blame myself over it. I already had some suicidal thoughts right now.

Thank you for reading
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Avatar universal
If you have symptoms of covid, and you do, you need to get tested.  Period.  There is no other way to know if you have it or not, as most people who get it have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all but they can still pass it on to others.  The only reliable test is a PCR test, and you should be able to get one pretty easily at this point in the epidemic if you live in the US and especially if you're in a populated area.  In the meantime, the advice is to quarantine yourself for 14 days or until you get a couple of negative PCR tests back.  I know you want to avoid this.  I'm a huge anxiety sufferer, and I know avoidance.  But it doesn't help.  So first you need to deal with the possibility you have covid, as you might.  It's a pandemic.  You don't have severe symptoms and at this time of year it could well be seasonal allergies.  But again, the only way to know is to get tested, and if you don't want to do that, you have to isolate until all symptoms are gone and then another several days after that.  The exact advice can be found on the CDC website.  It's also important if you do have covid to find out early, because if you are in fact a high risk person, and I'm not sure sinusitis makes you one, that isn't even a disease, it's a symptom of some diseases and also of allergies, there are actually treatments that can pretty much cure you if you take them early enough.  They can only be gotten through a doctor or hospital that knows about them and has facilities for you to take them, but they do exist.  If you were paying attention, it's very possible former President Trump's life was saved by one of these drugs.  As for the anxiety problem, after you do whatever you need to do to rule out covid, do get therapy for your anxiety.  And get vaccinated as soon as possible.  Peace.
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I should add, you probably don't have covid, it's more probably right now you're suffering from allergies, it's spring, but you could have it and I also want you to protect your family and everyone else.  That's why I do urge you to either get tested or if you're too scared right now to do that isolate.  Once you do these things the anxiety about it should ease, but your anxiety problem is a long-term problem and the fact you have suicidal thoughts indicates some problems that will make your life a lot better if you address them.  And seriously, get vaccinated.  Unless you're too young to do so.  
Thank you for helping. :) It helps a lot. I  have done a Covid-19 test. It was negative. I discovered that I was having both common cold and allergic reactions.
134578 tn?1693250592
Well, sweetheart, medical anxiety is a real thing. MedHelp hears often from people who have it, especially in some of the communities where there is a combination of guilt over one's behavior and a condition that is undesirable, such as, the STD community. If a person can find a way to castigate themself that they could have unwisely brought an illness or condition on themself, they can go into a  downward spiral of obsessive worry.

One of the few good things about the pandemic is that people are more readily able to make online (Zoom call) appointments with therapists and counselors. Do you have access to any such resources? For example, if you are a student, do you have a counselor associated with your school with whom you can talk?

If not, I do hope you realize that the number of people who die from Covid is pretty small, compared to the number of people who get sick from Covid. Except in places where the health-care system has entirely failed, the standard of care and the understanding of how to treat the illness has improved greatly since the beginning of the pandemic. And the understanding of how much good it does to mask, wash hands, and social distance has improved greatly as well. They are opening schools because they have found that social distancing and masking have kept the virus from spreading in the classroom, for example.

This is a difficult time, and there is nothing wrong with needing some help from a counselor. Possibly someone will write in with resources for online groups, but do avoid any where people are simply sharing their fears and egging each other on. Treat the situation with as much logic as you can muster. And read up on medical anxiety, it can help.

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Thank you for answering my questions and my past questions. It helps a lot. Please take care of yourself too :)
Thank you for helping. :) I have done a Covid-19 test. It was negative. I
discovered that I was having both common cold and allergic reactions.
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