PTSD and COVID-19 explained by patient losing patience

What Getting Tested for COVID-19 Was Like as a Trauma Survivor

The Mighty
Sophie Peterson
March 17, 2020

As the public falls into fear, check in on your friends and family who have chronic or preexisting conditions. Not only can they get sick faster, but this is an especially scary time for them. Flashbacks, sense memories and panic attacks has my PTSD beating me to a pulp.

I’m writing this from my hospital bed, on day three under quarantine while we wait for the coronavirus (COVID-19) results to come back. The coronavirus is a new-to-humans viral strain in the coronavirus family that affects the lungs and respiratory system. I’d be lying if I said I’m not scared, and that my post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) isn’t spinning out of control.

On Thursday evening, I began to show symptoms of the virus. I called my clinic asking what the protocol is and was directed to a website that allows doctors to make video calls. I spent an hour trying to figure it out, only to give up in a fit of frustration, fevers and a cough. I was ultimately told to go to the emergency room.

My mother, being the mother she always is, drove me to the ER and helped me advocate for myself. And most importantly, she knowingly possibly contaminated herself for me.

Originally, I didn’t meet the requirements of being tested because I didn’t have contact with a positively tested person or have travelled to an outbreak country. This is despite having moderate asthma and having traveled to Chicago, where there is known community spread. (That’s where it spreads in the community but there is no direct line or knowledge of contact to the newly infected person.) As all of these tests came back negative, and since I was presenting quite sick they decided to test me. (It takes 24 to 48 hours? This is the most ridiculous setup in the world.)

Anger to those who think spreading misinformation is OK. Health care professionals are putting their lives on the line and they are not there to dampen irrational fears that are created by misinformation. If science doesn’t support your hypothesis then it isn’t science. Misinformation and not following quarantine protocol is what will take the death toll from 3% to something much worse.
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