Fear of COVID-19 (coronaphobia)

En español: lee sobre este miedo en Fobias.org.

Coronaphobia is a lasting anxiety about COVID-19 and catching it. It can show up as constant checking, avoiding people and places, or worrying about every cough, and it can be helped.

Understanding this fear

Coronaphobia is a lasting, outsized fear of catching COVID-19 or of what it might do to you or the people you love. Researchers began using the term in 2020 to describe fear that goes well beyond sensible caution. Taking care when you are vulnerable, getting vaccinated or testing when advised are all reasonable. It becomes a phobia when the fear takes over your days, pulls you away from people and keeps going long after the advice around you has eased.

It is closely linked to health anxiety, and people who already worry a lot about illness, find uncertainty hard or tend to seek reassurance seem more at risk. Research during the pandemic linked higher coronaphobia to having had the virus or knowing someone who had, and one study found younger adults reported more of it. One survey cited in the medical literature suggested that around 7 in 100 people had it at the time. For some, it began during lockdown and simply never switched off.

Common triggers

• A cough, sore throat or raised temperature
• News stories about new variants
• Someone sneezing or coughing nearby
• Crowded trains, buses or shops
• Hearing that a friend or colleague has COVID
• Touching door handles, cash or shared surfaces
• Hospital or care home visits
• Invitations to parties, weddings or trips away

Where it shows up

• Public transport
• Supermarkets and busy shops
• Offices and shared workspaces
• Schools and nurseries
• GP surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals
• Gigs, sports grounds and festivals
• Family gatherings with older or vulnerable relatives

Symptoms

In your body

• Racing heart or palpitations
• Tight chest and shallow breathing that can feel like illness
• Dizziness or light headedness
• Nausea or loss of appetite
• Trouble sleeping
• Feeling frozen or unable to think clearly

In your mind

• Every cough means I have caught it
• If I get it, I will end up in hospital
• I will pass it on to someone I love and it will be my fault
• Intrusive thoughts and dreams about the virus
• Feeling unable to cope with not knowing

What you might do

• Taking your temperature or testing again and again
• Reading the news and case figures many times a day
• Avoiding friends, family or work long after others have returned
• Cleaning or handwashing far more than advised
• Asking others repeatedly whether a symptom is serious
• Turning down events, holidays or appointments

What causes it

The pandemic gave fear plenty to feed on: a new illness, real loss of life, constant news and months apart from other people. For people already prone to health anxiety or worry, that mix could tip ordinary caution into an alarm that stays stuck on. Losing someone to COVID, being very ill with it, or working in health and care can make the fear more personal. Research also points to reassurance seeking and difficulty living with uncertainty as part of the picture. Checking, testing and avoiding all bring short bursts of relief, but they teach the mind that danger is always close, so the fear keeps renewing itself.

How it can affect your life

This fear can keep people working from home when they would rather not, missing birthdays, weddings and funerals, or pulling away from friends who have moved on. Children and partners may feel the strain of house rules that nobody else follows. Long stretches alone and on the news can lower mood, and studies link higher coronaphobia with more depression and general anxiety. Some people also start to avoid routine health care, which carries its own risks.

Things that can help day to day

• Set one short time a day to check trusted news, then stop
• Keep a note of how often you check, test or seek reassurance and cut back gradually
• Follow your GP or nurse’s advice on vaccines and treatment and let that be your plan
• Reconnect with one person or place at a time
• Use slow breathing when a cough or a headline sets off the alarm

When to get help

It is worth getting help if the fear is keeping you from work, people or ordinary life, or if checking and avoiding take up much of your day. If you have symptoms or health worries, please keep talking to your GP or nurse and keep following their advice on vaccines and treatment. Your GP can also help with the anxiety itself, and in England you can refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies.

How I can help

Please note: If you have symptoms or health worries, please keep talking to your GP or nurse, and keep following their advice on vaccines and treatment.

Common questions

Is it normal to still be anxious about COVID?

Some caution is understandable, especially if you or someone close to you is vulnerable. It becomes a problem when the worry is constant, feels out of your control and stops you living the life you want.

How do I know if it is COVID or anxiety?

Anxiety can cause a racing heart, a tight chest and breathlessness, which can feel like illness. If you are unsure or unwell, please follow current NHS advice and speak to your GP, a pharmacist or NHS 111 rather than guessing.

Can hypnotherapy help with health anxiety about COVID?

Many people find hypnotherapy helps them feel calmer and less driven to check and seek reassurance. It works alongside your GP’s care, never instead of it.

Is it wrong to still be careful about COVID-19?

No, taking sensible care is fine. It becomes a phobia when the worry is out of proportion and stops you living normally. That is the part we can work on.

How can you help?

I use hypnotherapy and NLP to change how your mind responds to the thing you fear, so the old alarm stops going off. Sessions are one to one over Zoom, and you get a recording of the hypnosis to listen to afterwards.

How many sessions will I need?

Many clients notice a real difference after one 90 minute session. If the fear goes back a long way, three sessions gives us room to make the change stick.

Further reading: Lee and colleagues: Coronaphobia study (PMC) · Primary Care Companion: Coronaphobia and contemporary psychiatry · NHS: Health anxiety · Christopher Newport University: Coronaphobia scales

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