How can you deal with constant anxiety of germs and getting sick? I know it’s inevitable.

Over the past few years there has been a considerable increase in fears around illness. Much of this has been the result of the most recent pandemic. It was a discussion and concern that many people have shared around the world. As a result, many people were understandably cautious in efforts to reduce the spread of disease. Over time there has been a greater understanding of information, resources and precautions that have helped to reduce the severity of fear around this particular illness. Based upon this, having accurate information and resources can be helpful to reduce fears and increase one's comfortability about illnesses and exposure to illness or individuals that are ill. For example, there are many illnesses that are non communicable to others. In other situations, there may be precautions that can be taken to reduce the transmission of illness. This information can be helpful to appropriately recognize and align automatic thoughts or assumptions about illness and the impact it has on behaviors and reactions.  

Generalized anxiety is a very common type of anxiety. It is an ongoing feeling of anxiety that can become severe. In addition to being common, it is also very treatable. Symptoms include constant worry. This anxiety can become ongoing and impact activities of daily living. 

It would be important to know the timeframe that you have experienced fears or anxiety around illness. Also, the impact that it causes on your daily life. Over time these initial fears can become ongoing, and develop into automatic and irrational thoughts. These can begin to cause impact on one’s daily life. For example, some situations it may cause for individuals to be avoidant of others, or situations. This can lead to missing out on important events with family, friends and colleagues. In addition, it can reduce the ability to participate in daily activities or other meaningful interactions.  

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is very helpful in managing the fears and anxiety around illness. It allows for the recognition of one’s thoughts, evaluation, and accurate reinterpretation of these thoughts. In addition to this it allows one to be aware of the feelings that these thoughts have on mood and coping. In other words, it assists with awareness of thoughts and interprets them for accuracy in order to obtain a healthier mood.  If the thoughts are not factual, it allows exploration of more rational or healthy ways to process information. A counselor can be helpful in learning and applying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also allows individuals to work through reducing the symptoms of anxiety when presented with the event or thoughts. Over time, this can lead to balanced thoughts in managing fears, but also help to reduce the symptoms of anxiety that can result from the fear.

In addition, counseling and medication management can be effective to reduce the symptoms of anxiety. Other strategies such as increased coping skills, and relaxation exercises can be helpful.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. BetterHelp has licensed counselors that are able to assist you to identify the specifics of your experiences in order to develop a plan to best support your needs.