Fear psychosis grips Indians down with seasonal cold or flu

Weather change that is associated with common cold cases in India in the month of MarchApril has left millions of people who are down with a seasonal cough or cold symptoms selfisolating themselves an exercise which is only creating unnecessary fear in the country say health expertsDoctors are flooded with patients who have a normal cold or flu along with conditions like anxiety and stress in the OPDs They are very fearful and assuming it might be new coronavirus COVID19 disease although they just have seasonal symptomsPeople having cough or cold symptoms are somewhat scared in view of the COVID19 outbreak Some might also fear disclosure in fear of being isolated People with an anxious and oversensitive predisposition or hypochondriacal and obsessive symptoms are likely to worry a lot and engage in an unreasonably restricted lifestyle Dr Sameer Malhotra Head department of mental health and behavioural science at Max Super Speciality Hospital in Saket told IANSDespite the Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR declaring there is no community transmission of the new coronavirus yet in the country people in their sixties suffering from preexisting conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are becoming paranoidThey want to get themselves screened for it whether or not the symptoms fits the disease At the same time theyre also worried about their family especially the elderly said Dr Mugdha Tapdiya Senior Consultant Internal Medicine Fortis Flt Lt Rajan Dhall Hospital Vasant KunjHealth experts are getting flu test complete blood count and chest Xray done wherever it is requiredOnce results are not suggestive of the possibility of coronavirus disease patients are at peace If there is breathlessness or there are findings in the chest we also suggest CT scan of the chest area to be done said TapdiyaYes there is social pressure admit doctorsIn fact one girl who came to me from an NGO wanted to work from home because she had lots of elderly colleaguesShe said since Im suffering from flu theyre asking me to take leave and sit at home which will be without pay So there is a lot of social pressure especially in the private companies where people are not getting paid if theyre sitting at home thats why theyre hiding symptoms Tapdiya told IANSOur message to the society is that not every cold cough and fever is COVID19 diseaseWe need to understand that we are still at the stage II phase of the disease COVID 19 is still prevalent among the travellers who are from overseas We need to just relax and not be fearful for our fellow colleagues and household members as well who have symptoms of cold cough and fever said TapdiyaAll with symptoms however must seek regular medical consultation without any fearMalhotra said that it is important to follow the advisory issued by the government and doctorsOne does need to be cautious and careful At the same time there is a need for more ICU beds and hospitals to avoid any shortage of services The place of isolation should be comfortable both to the body and the mind and clean her addedEven during the phase of isolation or restricted socialisation one should try to engage in some constructive hobbies like reading sorting ones paperwork and listening to music etc to avoid excessive worryCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates