Keeping your family healthy when people panic

When the world faces a potential pandemic – as we’re currently seeing with the coronavirus and the associated illness COVID-19 – people tend to act differently to the way they normally do. 

This means that a lot of people can start panicking – and this can affect everything from being able to get the usual items on your shopping list to getting a medical appointment.

You can understand people’s rationale – they want to ensure they’re keeping themselves and their families safe. But when you want to do the same for your family, this can make things tricky.

Medical care

At times like these, the medical profession is under a lot more stress than it usually is. If your doctors are busier and more thinly stretched than they typically are, this could make misdiagnosis and other instances of medical negligence more likely.

To minimise the chances of suffering from a problem like this, make sure you’re only going to the doctor if you have to. As healthcare centres are hubs for illnesses, this can also help you avoid anyone who might be suffering from the virus, keeping you and your family protected.

Social lives

Although you might want to continue your daily life as if everything were normal, during a potential health crisis you’ll probably have to make some changes, particularly as time goes on and the situation gets more serious. This might mean that you have to start thinking about whether you’re going to let your kids continue to go to friends’ houses or attend their sports practices and games as they would normally. This is particularly true when other parents are putting a stop to any activities out of fear.

Discuss the situation with their teachers and coaches. Find out what the threat level is and whether they think it’s safe to let the kids continue their social activities. You might also want to call your doctor and get their thoughts. Don’t rely on the internet when making decisions about this. It’s too full of false information and speculation. Unless you’re on a reputable healthcare site, you probably won’t find the real story.

Panic buying

If you’ve heard reports that people in your area are panic buying, you might want to avoid taking the kids to the supermarket. If the aisles are full of people grabbing the supplies they think they’ll need for whatever worst-case scenario they’ve thought up in their minds, kids could get in the way. They might get under other shoppers’ feet and cause a little annoyance. And when people are already feeling pretty tense, this could end up just making things worse.

They might also decide to join in with the panicking and add unnecessary items to your shopping cart. So if you have to brave the panic buying, it’s probably best to do it alone. You won’t want to have to keep an eye on your kids while you’re fighting for the last can of soup on the shelf.

Dealing with other people panicking during potential healthcare crises can be challenging when you just want to carry on as you normally would. But if you stay calm and keep a level head, you should be able to deal with those who haven’t been able to.