PTSD in COVID spreader survivors

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
December 3, 2020

There are a lot of people recovering from COVID-19, and some will carry the lingering effects of it for many years. While most people are doing whatever they can to protect themselves and their families, there are many more, who have been made to believe it isn't real. How do they deal with that after it is too late to prevent getting it and spreading it? How do they live with that guilt? They do the right thing and speak out to wake other people up so they can begin to heal their souls.

If you think that there are no emotional/spiritual prices being paid at the same time there are physical ones, consider this from Hartford Healthcare.

Even once physically recovered, these people may experience lingering effects due to:
A fear of dying.
Social isolation from the time spent hospitalized or in quarantine.
Anxiety at the thought of getting sick again.
Guilt over infecting or harming others.

PTSD, long associated with deployed members of the military or those who have endured extreme trauma and violence, is anticipated to be a challenging aftereffects of the lingering pandemic and even trigger a mental health crisis, according to Patricia Rehmer, president of the Behavioral Health Network and vice president of Hartford HealthCare.  

Signs that PTSD may be affecting you can include:
Overwhelming sadness, fear or anger.
Having flashbacks or nightmares.
Feeling detached from your life and loved ones.
Avoiding memories of the illness.

30-year-old dies after attending 'COVID party' thinking virus was a 'hoax'The man told nurses, "I think I made a mistake." 

“Before I contracted it I thought, ‘It’s just made up, it’s all fabricated’,” Mata told NBC News “Global Hangout” this week, adding that he figured his six-day-a-week gym habit and healthy eating regimen would spare him even if it did exist. “That’s what prevented me from getting help sooner, when it went really bad.” “The bubble I was in online made me think it didn’t add up. To think that I went down that rabbit hole, it’s embarrassing.” Tony Green

From the BBC

Man who believed virus was hoax loses wife to Covid-19

"Many people still think that the Coronavirus is a fake crisis which at one time I did too and not that I thought it wasn't a real virus going around but at one time I felt that it was blown out of proportion and it wasn't that serious. We kept on watching the news and kept on hearing about the spreading of the Coronavirus and to be honest I didn't really think nothing of it I still thought it was being blown out of proportion until about 4 and 1/2 weeks ago when I started to feel sick and once I started to feel sick I stopped working and stayed home yes I came down with the Coronavirus and a couple days later after I started to not feel good my wife started to not feel good and we stayed at home quarantined and my wife did go to the hospital to get tested and they told her yeah you probably have the coronavirus so go home and quarantine yourself well a few days went by and we both started feeling worse and worse and worse to the point where we barely had any energy left to do anything and all we want to do is sleep. So three weeks ago Sunday we decided not to play around with this anymore and I had just enough energy to drive us to the hospital Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center and we both got confirmed that we had the Coronavirus. They admitted us right away and we both went to ICU. I started feeling better within a few days but my wife got worse to the point where they sedated her and put her on the ventilator. I was never put ventilator and started feeling better feeling stronger never had terrible aches and pains just weak and exhausted. Even now I am feeling better A lot better then a few weeks ago I still have covid-19 and some pneumonia in my lungs and we've been here 3 weeks as of yesterday. As of today my wife is still sedated and on the ventilator with no signs of improving. There were a couple times were they tried to start weaning her off the ventilator but as soon as they've done that her oxygen level dropped and they had to put her back on the ventilator full time. My wife has been sick before in the past quite a few times and she always fought through to get better but now after 3 weeks I have come to accept that my wife may pass away and the peace I have about it is that I know without a shadow of a doubt that she will be going home to be with the Lord but I also do believe in miracles and I'm holding on to the chance that she may get healed but if not I am thankful for her I know we've been married for 8 years. So think about what I wrote and think about if this thing is a fake crisis. This Coronavirus affects people differently. My wife has suffered from different physical ailments which she has overcome before but she sure is struggling and the doctors have said they have had a tough time on getting her better. This thing is nothing to be messed with please listen to the authorities and heed the advice of the experts. We don't have to fear this and by heeding the advice doesn't mean that you fear it that means you're showing wisdom during this epidemic time. Looking back I should have wore a mask in the beginning but I didn't and perhaps I'm paying the price for it now but I know that if it was me that gave it to my wife I know that she forgives me and I know that God forgives me. Whether man forgives me or not that's out of my control but as long as I have the assurance that God forgives me and my wife forgives me I am good. So just think about what I said and if you have to go out please use wisdom and don't be foolish like I was so the same so the same thing won't happen to you like it happened to me and my wife."

and then came the realization, it would get worse.

Brian told BBC News that he "wished [he'd] listened from the beginning" and hoped his wife would forgive him.

"This is a real virus that affects people differently. I can't change the past. I can only live in today and make better choices for the future," Brian explained.

"She's no longer suffering, but in peace. I go through times missing her, but I know she's in a better place."

If you were among those who believed liars and did not protect yourself, your family or others in your community, you may have guilt ontop of everything else that COVID-19 did. You need to forgive yourself. Asking God for forgiveness is only part of it because if you do nothing to stop others from spreading the plague then are you doing anything to deserve being forgiven? Right now, there are far too many people who need to hear the painful truth so they have a chance to avoid going through what you did. The people in the articles above are doing what they can to save lives.

Doctors and nurses who put their lives ont the line to take care of them only ask one thing in return...that is wear a mask and stop spreading the germs that will kill people. The vaccine will come lomg after far too many more die.

Time to "come out of the dark" and forgive yourself, and those who lied to you. They were lied to by someone else they believed. Tell them the truth and what they do with it, is up to them. It is out of your control, but you can put your mind at ease knowing you did everything possible to tell the truth. 

Remember, it is your life...get in an drive it! #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD.