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    Quarantine: Help - ReDS anxiety!

    ReDS makes me nervous. What are you doing to relieve anxiety?

    Started by: avantgame Raves:19

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    Besides actually curing ReDS and preventing spread, it seems like panic and general anxiety is having a huge impact on quality of life in the infected regions. I for one have had many nightmares now about the symptoms showing up in my husband and daughter. What's the best way to deal with the fear and anxiety? It's 2019 -- surely there are better ways to cope than just trying to block it from my mind... help!

    I\\\'m afraid that people with ReDS will come outside and infect me. I\\\'m staying home to play Wii XLXMCIIV until this is over. I\\\'ll live off nanofood as long as I have to.

    US ReDS CentCom will be making a statement within the next 24 hours introducing comprehensive steps to deal with every aspect of transmission of ReDS.

    I think that being more in touch with our bodies is a good way to reduce the stress associated with fear of disease (and even with illness, ReDS-related or otherwise). Maybe exploring yoga would be an interesting way to take this - we could find positions that are all about body awareness, or which might suit those with aches in the extremities, or even things that can be done in pairs, as another (serious!) issue is that we have felt a loss of physical nearness and intimacy. I mean, when was the last time you hugged someone you weren\\\'t related to?

    What we really need is more information on ReDS, to get to the root of how it spreads and what it really is. It reminds me of the early days of AIDS, when all sorts of rumors were going around on how it was spread and who was getting it. The only way to live with it is to know it. Our family is trying to gather as much information as we can, from as many sources as we can. I try to keep in contact with the ReDS Medical Research Facility at Ohio State.

    I\\\'m not joking I\\\'m in bed tonight with a 101 fever and the worst sore throat I\\\'ve ever had. were the dreams a premonition? is this just early flu season? am i exposing my family?? this i not a hypothetical anymore... i have recently been in Hong Kong which is in the ReDS zone. we don\\\'t have testing centers here in San Francisco yet. i don\\\'t know what to do.

    I think any kind of preventative measure would be better than fear of the other person/anger/paranoia. For example: If we take a fearful/paranoid person and tell them to build immunity by doing X, they take their fear away from the person next door and channel it into doing something healthy. Lehall I loved what you had to say!

    I\\\'ve linked my first superstructure to this discussion. My goal is to gather facts and create documents (posters, brochures, flyers, etc) that we can share with people in cities and rural communities - to inform them of the facts about ReDS, so that they will feel prepared and capable of taking care of someone who\\\'s been infected, and to relieve just this type of anxiety. Please join me in this mission! http://superstructgame.com/SuperstructView/7

    Absolute and definative understanding of what the symptoms are, what the correct preventative measures are and what the correct isolation and care measures are is going to be essential to our ability as a culture to survive a pandemic of this magnatude. What is it? What does it look like? How does it spread? How do I personally avoid it? How do I treat infected stangers? How do I care for infected loved ones and family members? As a species we conquered measles, small pox, and AIDS. We can beat this. It is about accurate information and effective triage and maintenance.

    A friend of mine once told me that I had to find a way to relieve my anxiety problem. I would worry about everything and it was all these things I had absolutely no control over. I had been trying all sorts of ways to calm down when one day it came to me. I got up out of my chair, cranked up my stereo as loud as it could go, went outside and danced. I feel better now.

    noplacelikehome -- interesting. you are inspiring me to make my first gamedemic project a dancing game. that makes total sense!

    I think that ReDS really messes with your identity. Suddenly, you can\\\'t do the same things and trust the same people - even if my friend\\\'s a really great guy, he might be more of a risk-taker than me...isn\\\'t he more likely to get infected? It\\\'s how ReDS disrupts every aspect of my life that freaks me out. So, I try to do as much \\\"normal\\\" things as I can to reduce my anxiety, have daily routines etc. Keep doing things that remind you of who you are and things that you really enjoy - if they\\\'re not going to increase your exposure! Example: If you\\\'re in a band, but can\\\'t meet in person now, maybe make recordings and synthesize music on the internet etc. Keep in digital/phone contact with people that matter to you. As a side note, I personally want to know the survival rate for ReDS infection. You\\\'d be surprised at how high the survival percentages can be, if just statistically. Whether it\\\'s true for your community or not, it\\\'s a nice optimistic thought (maybe anxiety reducing?). Some anxiety is good though, because it keeps me from doing some probably very stupid things.

    Althoug this seems like a \\\"future\\\" concern, the thoughts and feelings around ReDS are no different than they are for other illnesses. Pharmakos talks about losing identity. Welcome to the world of people with disabilities. I\\\'ve wondered just how pandemics would affect those less able to look after themselves. Who\\\'s reaching out to a person with MS stuck in their apartment? I would be asking, what is my government doing to spread the message? The best and latest information? The Salem Commission on Disabilities has long had to have contingency plans for avian flu, and about this time we are burning the net and the phones figuring out how to communicate this to the disabled in Salem. I think we\\\'ll have to help as we always have. Not sure if ReDS is new, but it sure is a a repeat of an old plagu...\\\"curse\\\".

    I don\\\'t drink much alcohol these days and I stopped clubbing a while back. I found that after a night out I was definately more susceptible to colds for the following few days. I stop after a couple of drinks and I haven\\\'t had a cold in a long time.

    going green, one breathe at a time.

    Certainly panic is one of the central negative externalities created by any crisis. In order to minimize this panic we must first start by giving the public the full truth about ReDS, that is a critical public health task. As others have noted the early AIDS epidemic, in absence of good hard information fear and rumor mongering will rule the day. That said research tells us that information alone is not enough to stop panic on such an emotionally charged topic. When the health of your loved ones is at stake your heart will beat your brain 9 times out of 10 and twice on sunday. One of the most important attributes to add into the response in order to calm the public is a sense of empathy. Facts are not enough, we must show people we understand what they are facing and that we are doing everything possible to help them.

    Lets start with what I\\\'m not doing. Beating the homeless, hiding in my house, or declaring that we\\\'ve reached the end of days. Already a fan of hand sanitizer, I might be a bit excessive with it on occasion now. If someone is coughing, I certainly don\\\'t get close to them. But that goes for my general hatred of being sick with a common cold, let alone REDs. But honestly? I\\\'m in a temperate, not tropical or sub-tropical zone (though some would like to argue the point in August). Having left Baltimore for suburbia before the worst of it hit, I don\\\'t particularly live in or around poverty. In short, much like HIV in the 90\\\'s, I don\\\'t engage in hazardous behavior and I don\\\'t allow myself to give into the FUD that the media thrives on and unscrupulous politicians use to illicitly extend their power. That\\\'s not to say it\\\'s not scary - but you have to focus on what you can actually do to minimize your chances. After that, worrying is just a waste of energy. And on nights where none of that works - there\\\'s a decanter of Bushmills that I keep filled.

    Avantgame - have you been in touch with the local health authoroties? I also live in San Francisco, and I work with many of the people coordinating the REDS response. There have been no confirmed cases of ReDS in San Francisco yet, but we\\\'ve had a few scares. I\\\'ll ask a co-worker of mine to have a team dispatched to your house first thing in the morning. Please stay indoors until they are able to assess yor symptoms. When you flew back from Hong Kong, were you screened at the airport?

    I have to admit that medication helps. Happiness through chemistry could work if you\\\'re not enclined to nervous breakdowns and such. You will be able to sleep better and the nightmares will fade away.

    I am creating a video game based learning program that would allow kids to stay at home, thus minimizing potential exposure to ReDS. We are beta testing it with a variety of groups in areas particularly vulnerable to ReDS.

    I took the ReDS test today... doctor had to send off to a lab... results pending... here's my video story. http://superstructgame.net/StoryView/260

    Well, off the record I can suggest a few things for your anxiety. One thing we've found incredibly helpful while we're working on this bug, is to spend time on the foosball table. Many hours and brainstorming standing around that thing. Some other things physical activities, we go outside and play parking lot hockey. It's a little difficult wearing our filter masks. But, we manage. Other things we're doing, we have a movie theater on base. So we've set it up so people from San Antonio can come on for free. The only catch is that they have to register with us and get a ReDS test. But, they want something safe and cheap to do they don't mind. We alternate days with non-infected people, and ReDS infected people. Although we require everyone to wear masks. Since we have plenty of resources available, we also fire up the BBQ and invite the airman and trainees out for the afternoon. The officers and drill sergeants cook. And they can grill! The government can afford a few hamburgers We've also opened the chapels up to the public. Our main church seats a thousand or so. We also have made use of the 319th, they're all waiting for discharge anyway, so they file paperwork. In return they get a full 8 hours of sleep and get to sleep in past 4AM. We also heartily encourage piracy. Anything to keep people inside. Although we're hearing whispers of some kind of assembly restriction. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but we'll enforce that.

    meditation, yoga, physical therapy, house yoga. every day.

    Wait, Jarrett... Did I read that right? You're filling a theater full of heathy people, when the room was full of ReDS patients less than 24 hours previously? Unless you're scrubbing the theater down with bleach after every time the ReDS patients file out, you're exposing all the healthy people to the disease. I recommend you stop this practice immediately. Or else soon you won't have to alternate days, as everyone will have ReDS.

    Well, even though we don't have ReDS, being able to work and collaborate remotely via the Net is a great way to take one's mind away from the problems of the day; whatever they might be. When the government not only quarantined us but cut us off from the world electronically, our collective appreciation for simply being able to make a call to a family member or friend went through the overhead. I'm sure I speak for most of the ship's passengers when I admit to our having taken ubiquitous connectivity for granted.

    Anxiety is all in the mind, for me I just try to not think about it, its hard I know but for me I just play games to make the best of life. ^_^ but all else fails, maybe take a anti-depressant

    Although it may be tempting, avoid self-diagnosis of your symptoms using the Net. The common cold can seem like ReDS when an eDoctor "diagnoses" you.

    We need a way to prevent information overload and in tern get the appropriate information to the people who need it, i propose that we establish an international organisation (with domestic branches for each country/ReDS effected area) that releases information on the ReDS epidemic classed by its significance, eg: yellow would be non vital information (eg: news about ReDS, low scale development and so on) Orange would be important but not vital information (eg: new travel warnings, Non domestic outbreaks, Treatments (the importance of this would depend on the area you live in and weather you are infected with ReDS) and so on) and then there would be Red, this would be absolutely vital information for every one, these alerts would be screened far more regularly than the others and on as many media sources as possible (eg: Domestic outbreaks, Domestic quarentene, Large Scale Development and so on) these steps would ease the anxiety caused by the information overload associated with the panic caused by ReDS and give a sense of safety because of the knowledge that any vital information will be delivered to people who need it where ever they are. Any one willing to build on this concept feel free to send me a private message.

    Don't forget, that the stress caused by worry makes people more susceptible. I hate to say it, but maybe some 'security theatre' is in order.

    I try to burn some insense and play video games whenever i'm stressed i just turn on my wii and i play until i forget why i'm stressed i find it works or i watch some tv. Try it it really works! :)

    One of the best ways to deal with fear and anxiety is to start up a support group for those who are affected. Since this is an airborne and global problem, we use the internet to do this. We can find solace in talking to someone else or a family member caring for sick love ones. They may be able to share tips as to how to deal with caregiver stress. There are many things that an internet base support group can do to alleviate stress and anxiety. Local, state and federal government should be the beacon of hope for the prevention and treatment of ReDS.

    It seems that lots of stress is being cause by people thinging they have been exposed to ReDS, when they really only have a cold or flu. They are likely to go to an ER and get an even worse diesase there... maybe even ReDS! What would help would be a cheap, simple, easily,-distributed home test kit to give out to communities to allow them to test themselves and see whether they really do have Reds. However, we will have to be careful with the false positives - every test has a small percent of false positives. We will have to ask people who test positive to come in for further evaluation, rather than simply diagnosing them based on the home test.

    We have noticed that attendance at botanic gardens, and museums with outdoor sculpture gardens, has jumped 20% since the ReDS epidemic began. Visitor studies show that people find public gardens to be places of solace and consolation in a time of great stress. "I want to get out of the house and be around people" said one young mom, "but not in an enclosed space where I feel like I am breathing their air! Here I can feel like I am back in the normal, pre-ReDS world." Some botanic gardens are encouraging this trend by holding Tai-Chi and yoga sessions outdoors, walking meditation, or stress reduction classes. Many have converted large amounts of their land, formerly lawn or decorative landscapes, to community garden allotments, and these are reported to contribute significantly to people's sense of well being (not to mention their food supply.)

    What we need to do in this age of ReDS is to be careful what we do. ReDS can strike anyone. I encourage all biologists to come up with a cure or prevention quickly. In the mean time, I think that we should spread information about this disease through documents, websites etc.

    I agree. I loose many hours of sleep each night worrying about the health of my parents and how to prevent this outbreak from touching my family. lehall is right in saying that the first priority has to be research and funding it. Until we find out more about ReDS we can't begin to treat and prevent it. We just have to work to raise awareness and dialogue.

    Turn off the television. I know everyone here is calling for more information on ReDS, and yes, more information is needed. However more information is needed from reliable sources, such as the CDC & WHO. Media has blown ReDS way out of preportion. They make everyone think that everyone they encounter has it. I work for the subways in NYC. I don't believe (correct me if I am wrong) that NYC has ANY confirmed cases of ReDS, yet in the subway I see people constantly with sanitizers, and even clothes covering their nose and moth. Recently one conductor was taken out of service putting on his emergency gas mask (issued in the event of terrorist attack), when he encountered a group of forigen tourists coughing. Visit the CDC's website for information, stay in contact with your local helth office or emergency management office, and purchase an emergency alert radio to keep yourself informed. And turn OFF bigtime media outlets.

    To relieve any pressure im going to lock myself inside for a few days and chill out!

    ReDs is a serious problem right now and until a cure is found its victims have little to look forward to. I am proposing a new Super Structure to organize strays and other animals who are unwanted to not only find them homes, but to support those suffering from ReDs? It has been long proven that sharing your life with a cat, dog or any other animal that you enjoy will greatly reduce anxiety and even lengthen your life expectancy. This can be expanded to generation exile and even ravenous. Do we have any studies or knowledge about specific species being immune to ReDs?

    I'm scared too! I'm an animal trainer can animals catch it?

    I'm scared too! I'm an animal trainer can animals catch it?




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