COVID-19, pandemic trauma and why the hantavirus anxiety is hitting us so hard

A hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship last week, which led to several passenger deaths, stirred up anxiety and feelings of unease for many people who are still grappling with the long-lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 10, an American passenger tested positive for the Andes strain, which is the only hantavirus known to spread between humans. 

While the World Health Organization maintains that the public health risk from the virus remains low, the outbreak's origins feel eerily familiar to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a coronavirus outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February 2020 infected over 600 of the 3,700 passengers and crew (17%).

The effects of COVID − emotional and physical − still weigh on the American health care infrastructure and workforce. Long COVID, which can impact multiple body systems and significantly disrupt daily life, affects 5%-7% of U.S. adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health and Human Services. Roughly 1 million people are out of the workforce at any given time because of long COVID, according to the NIH. 

Experts say news of the recent hantavirus outbreak can be "especially alarming” following the collective trauma experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The evolving, prolonged impact of news surrounding illness, loss, and loneliness, as well as lingering questions of if, when, and how we would survive it took an enormous toll on our lives and psyches,” says Dr. Vanessa Kennedy, clinical therapist and director of psychology at Driftwood Recovery. "We may be experiencing the resurfacing of familiar anxiety, fear, and confusion as news unfolds.”

People have turned to TikTok to express those fears. 

“Trying to work like normal while also having raging anxiety about hantavirus,” one user said in a video with over 500,000 views.

“I have really bad health OCD and anxiety," another content creator shared. "When I tell you I do not play, like, I heard about bird flu and I haven’t eaten a runny egg in like two years.” She added that misinformation around hantavirus has made it more difficult to navigate the anxiety. 

But health experts say we are not in the same situation we were in six years ago. While this outbreak is a "serious incident," according to Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, this is "not the start of a pandemic."

At this point, Americans should be aware of hantavirus, but not too alarmed, said Dr. Nikhil Bhayani an infectious disease expert. Hantaviruses do not spread as easily as other respiratory illnesses like influenza or COVID, he said. Close, prolonged contact is needed for hantaviruses to spread between individuals. 

Excessive exposure to alarming news can trigger the nervous system

“Flight, fight or freeze” is an automatic response to threatening events or stressors, in which adrenaline and cortisol levels rise in the body to prepare for survival. 

“As traumatic events become chronic, prolonged, or complex, as in the case of the evolving effects of COVID-19 over several years, our trauma responses can become overactive, depleting our energy, taxing our bodies and minds, and causing irritability, emotional volatility, or numbness,” Kerkhove explains.

This leaves people more vulnerable to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, aka PTSD. Those who experienced the death of loved ones to COVID, were personally ill or suffered emotional distress from prolonged isolation may have more severe trauma responses, Kerkhove says. 

Some avoid anxiety by ‘emotional distancing’

Stephanie Sarkis, a psychotherapist specializing in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety, says emotional desensitization can happen after prolonged exposure to stress.

"Many people are still carrying unresolved trauma and anxiety from COVID, while also navigating political conflict, war, financial strain, climate anxiety and a constant stream of distressing news," she explains. "At a certain point, the mind may create emotional distance as a form of self-preservation."

This can result in "emotional numbing." On TikTok, some people have joked that they’re going to participate in TikTok trends “this lockdown,” chasing the clout and success that many influencers found during COVID. Some people are even betting on the next pandemic via Polymarket. 

However, Sarkis says some people use dark humor to cope with tragedy or fears surrounding a health crisis, while still exhibiting emotional intelligence or empathy in their interpersonal relationships or other parts of their lives.

But the more people emotionally distance themselves, Sarkis warns, the more desensitized they become to human pain.

Coping with health anxiety

So how can people stay informed without engaging in constant doomscrolling, spiraling into anxiety or taking dark humor too far? 

Kerkhove says it can be healthy to limit yourself to checking news updates only once or twice per day. Seeking out trusted news sources and relying on public health officials, rather than unverified social media posts or conspiracy theorists, can curb unnecessary anxiety that arises from misinformation or fear-mongering. 

It’s also important to "keep perspective" and remember that "not every health-related headline represents the beginning of another pandemic," says Nicholas Desisto, therapist at Serenium Therapy and Wellness.

For those experiencing extreme anxiety, reaching out to a support system – friends, family or a licensed mental health professional – is the next step.

Contributing: Sara Moniuszko