5 Ways to Keep Swine Flu (H1N1 virus) Anxiety in Check

[skysoldier]

This Friday the World Health Organization Confirmed 2500 cases of swine flu in 25 different countries and a total 25 deaths.

It's no wonder stores say their supply of hand sanitizer is flying off the shelf. So if you're feeling anxious and worried

about yourselves and family it's completely understandable but it's also important not to let that anxiety get out of control.

Here are some steps to keep your fears under control:

1. Stay grounded in reality. To date most cases reported in the U.S. have not been life threatening (only two deaths). Most

Americans who contract the H1N1 virus have recovered.

2. Get reliable accurate information. Don't make your main information gathering source the main stream media. Unfortunately

the main stream media can have a tendency to bombard you with a seemingly never ending stream of reports. These reports may be

overwhelming and at times somewhat dramatized and sensational.
It's best to get your information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization or any

other credible health organization.
The conclusion: don't get your information from a middle man; go directly to the source such as the CDC.

3. The best reaction to anxiety is action. Along with washing your hands regularly you should go on and live your life. Keep

your self busy by being socially active, exercising, meditating and keeping a full schedule.

4. Communicate with your family. One way of undermining your fears is to discuss the subject with those most important to you.

Communicate with your children about any concerns they might be having. This will not only help them maintain a sense of calm

but it should also help alleviate your own distress.

5. Seek additional help.. If you have very intense feelings of helplessness, anxiety or depression it may be time to seek the

help of a licensed mental health professional. Below are some resources to help you do just that.

Oh, and for some good news: According the the World Health Organization, we are now better prepared for a flu outbreak than at

any other time in history.

[Mckeekitty]

You made some very good points. The typical seasonal flu still remains a more dangerous form of influenza.

What frustrates me is the conflicting reports...the CDC and WHO aren't even on the same page. The CDC is opposed to the closing of schools and businesses impacted by an outbreak, but leaves these decisions to superintendants and local boards of health. Closing a school to sanitize and let the H1N1 run its course for those infected has absolutely no bearing on possible future outbreaks. WHO is much more dramatic and dire, looking to contain the contagion and prevent a full-blown pandemic.

Yes, the virus is generally mild, but it appears to easily mutate. It is odd that is part swine, part avian, and part human...something we've never seen. Vaccines are being made, but it takes only a single mutation to make that particular vaccine useless. The seasonal flu season is now over, but H1N1 continues to spread...another anomoly.

Common sense needs to be the word of the day...wash your hands! Cover your cough! Stay home is you are feeling ill!

[Tai]

Other things you can do:

Watch sales and make yourself a flu kit. Heck, go one step further and make a tummy trouble flu kit and a respitory flu kit. If you know you've got basic meds in the house to handle symptoms, it takes the inconvenience of getting sick down a few notches.

Personally- I've got a pair of tote bags hanging in my pantry- one has applesauce, pepto, tums, immodium, buillion cubes, homemade electrolyte replacement mix (koolaid, 1 c sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp fake salt- add to a 2L bottle of water, since that's how I store our water!), a can of shelf-stable apple juice concentrate, crystallized ginger, peppermints and peppermint tea (what I like for when I have a sour stomach), and real ginger ale with sugar.

The cold/flu kit has saline nasal spray, bulb syringe, neti pot and premixed solution for it, dayquil/nyquil for DH and I, eucalyptus oil and the baby soap made for decongestion, 6 cans of chicken soup, vapo-rub, vasoline (for lubing raw noses!), a box of tissues, a package of disinfecting wipes and a can of disinfectant, pain relievers that can be combined with the cold medicines, thermometer, cough drops, and cough syrup.

Knowing I have these on hand takes away a bit of the anxiety- I know that if I get sick, DH can just grab the bag instead of having to make a midnight run to the pharmacy and paying full price (!!!) for meds or supplies. And better yet, if we get struck with a stomach bug, NOBODY has to leave the house since we've got everything we need (since a stomach bug tends to strike all of us at once).

I also have shelf-stable whole milk for the kids (11ms and 2) since that's the one item we actually would have to leave the house for. I've got 3 cases of formula for the 11mo- a 3m supply (preemie and going to stay on formula until his adjusted age of 1).

To me, it isn't just the flu that I'm prepared for- its the many other bumps in the road that we'd have to worry about. Sure, I worry about H1N1, and all the other flus out there- but I'm doing what I can. If I do what I can to be prepared, then I can rest easy knowing I did the best I could for my family, and controlled what I could, rather than flap my arms and fret and panic.