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Omicron is changing the game a bit. Those who got vaccinated and tried to be responsible during the pandemic are now seeing more breakthrough infections, which reasonably has led to a lot of unsettling feelings \u2015 including some guilt and shame.<\/p>\n
But make no mistake: If you contract COVID-19<\/a> this winter, it by no means indicates that you made a mistake, behaved selfishly or weren\u2019t \u201cgood enough\u201d at preventing its spread.<\/p>\n The coronavirus has mutated to be significantly more infectious than it was in 2020, and even those who have been strictly adhering to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s guidance and recommendations are now testing positive.<\/p>\n Omicron is sweeping through entire cities at record speed, and many of the precautions we previously relied on \u2014 like cloth and surgical masks, distancing by six feet, and vaccines \u2014 will no longer be able to prevent all transmission. Yes, these tools will still help us reduce<\/a> and slow the spread and our vaccines continue to provide strong protection against severe outcomes like hospitalization and deaths, but COVID exposure is quickly becoming unavoidable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt happens \u2014 people get infectious diseases. This particular one is a highly transmissible respiratory virus and so a lot of people are going to get it, especially with omicron,\u201d Monica Gandhi<\/a>, an infectious diseases specialist with the University of California, San Francisco, told HuffPost.<\/p>\n Since the start of the pandemic, COVID has been a highly stigmatized disease<\/a>. For most of the pandemic, we were encouraged to avoid activities and stay at home in order to save lives. Yes, precautions were necessary \u2015 particularly early on \u2015 but the judgmental attitude toward anyone who struggled with it created a morality around the behavior.<\/p>\n This type of all-or-nothing messaging disregards the fundamental needs people have. (Not to mention it also ignores a large group of people who can\u2019t just stay home \u2015 essential workers.)<\/p>\n \u201cHumans are social beings, so there is always that desire\u201d to feel connected to others, said Sheehan Fishe<\/a>r, a psychologist and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. People are craving that connection now more than ever.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been quick to criticize people for engaging in certain actions such as dining indoors, traveling and going to gatherings. \u201cWe added shame and stigma to our messaging from the very beginning,\u201d Gandhi said.<\/p>\n As a result, a COVID diagnosis can now feel like a negative reflection of one\u2019s character or poor decision-making. This, in turn, can create excessive guilt and excessive external judgment by people if and when someone is diagnosed with COVID, Fisher said.<\/p>\n Omicron has showed us that as long as we are out and about and around people, the risk of being exposed or infected will never be zero. A recent study<\/a> from Hong Kong found that omicron replicates 70 times faster in the upper airways, suggesting the new variant is significantly more contagious than its predecessors.<\/p>\n COVID has become so transmissible that many epidemiologists suspect a simple cloth or surgical mask will be less effective at preventing many omicron cases. The virus is airborne, meaning tiny viral particles can hang and travel through the air \u2014 likely for hours. People who are vaccinated are having a hard time reconciling that they may have practiced all of the prevention recommendations but still got infected due to the nature of this virus, said Jessica Stern<\/a>, a clinical psychologist at the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Center at NYU Langone Health.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason that this virus is spreading so easily is not because we\u2019re not good enough,\u201d Gandhi added. \u201cIt\u2019s because it\u2019s endemic, it\u2019s highly transmissible, it has a long infectious period \u2026 that\u2019s why this virus spreads.\u201d<\/p>\n All this shame, guilt and stigma around COVID comes with a hefty tax. When people are feeling emotionally uncomfortable, they often become a bit avoidant \u2014 which can have negative consequences on public health efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople tend to then be inclined not to get tested or tell people who need to know about exposure because they don\u2019t want to be viewed in a negative light,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n Some may excessively isolate themselves \u2014 more than what\u2019s necessary to prevent transmission \u2014 due to a fear of being judged.<\/p>\n \u201cThat makes people, once again, more afraid to be honest about what they\u2019re going through or even get social support or emotional support,\u201d Fisher said. After a two years of this pandemic, the last thing we need is more isolation.<\/p>\n In general, it can also just add undue anxiety on top of an already stressful time. COVID is difficult enough to handle without having mental health repercussions on top of it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to recognize that you aren\u2019t alone \u2014 the pandemic has happened to all of us. \u201cMany of us are either afraid of [COVID], at risk of getting it, or may even contract it,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n It can also be helpful to accept what you cannot change. We live in a world where an extremely infectious virus rapidly spreads through communities.<\/p>\n \u201cAnytime you leave your house, essentially you are exposing yourself, and that doesn\u2019t mean we should limit everything we do,\u201d Stern said. We also can\u2019t control how other people view and judge those who get infected. Getting sick does not mean you\u2019ve failed. Blame the virus, not yourself.<\/p>\n Infectious diseases experts say it is no longer a realistic goal to eliminate COVID. The virus is sticking around to the point that it\u2019ll become endemic \u2014 people are trying to adjust to life with the virus and making very complicated and emotionally draining risk calculations.<\/p>\n Stern advises her patients to recognize two truths at the same time: One, that we should continue to be as cautious as is reasonable in our lives, and two, recognize that we can only do our best in a world where there is a prevalent risk of transmission.<\/p>\n If you do catch COVID, don\u2019t feel the need to explain yourself. While you might owe close contacts a quick heads up so they can test and adjust their plans, you should not feel obligated to defend or justify why you made certain choices, Stern said.<\/p>\nWhy a Diagnosis Comes With So Much Guilt<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s Not Your Fault COVID is so Contagious<\/h3>\n
The Consequences of Shame and Guilt<\/h3>\n
How to Reframe Shame and Guilt<\/h3>\n