[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/01\/12\/covid-19-shame-examples-coping\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/01\/12\/covid-19-shame-examples-coping\/","headline":"The woebegone of Omicron: COVID-19 shame is real","name":"The woebegone of Omicron: COVID-19 shame is real","description":"Besides emotional and mental harm, COVID-19 shame can prevent individuals from reporting positive results and seeking medical intervention.","datePublished":"2022-01-12","dateModified":"2023-05-19","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/amanda-magee\/#Person","name":"Amanda Magee","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/amanda-magee\/","identifier":383,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31d192a92932f8061f51a1ebc0f27663f339079b63a5df3c859f0410e97e8775?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31d192a92932f8061f51a1ebc0f27663f339079b63a5df3c859f0410e97e8775?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/covid-positive_1200x375.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/covid-positive_1200x375.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/01\/12\/covid-19-shame-examples-coping\/","about":["COVID-19 and Business",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/employee-engagement\/","name":"Employee Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Employee_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q14937678"]},"HXM: Human Experience Management","Real Talk: Mental Health, Well-Being, and Laughter"],"wordCount":868,"keywords":["COVID-19 | Coronavirus"],"articleBody":"COVID-19 hit my household at the end of 2021, as COVID-19 shame was quick to follow. It felt as if there were an intruder in our home.The first thoughts upon seeing the first positive: “How did I let this happen? Maybe it’s a false positive.”\u00a0By the time the third positive arrived, my most rampant thought:\u00a0What if people find out?I ran through our decisions, the events we didn’t let our kids go to, the precautions we took when we left the house, and the types of masks we bought. There’s no way to know how we caught COVID-19. The shame, though \u2013 both for getting COVID-19 and judging those who did before me \u2013 is all-consuming.COVID-19 shame: What it is, why it matters, how to overcome itWhat is COVID-19 shame and why should we be worried about it? Bren\u00e9 Brown defines shame “as the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging\u2014something we\u2019ve experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connection.”Brown also notes that even the mention of the word shame can trigger a response so primal in people that they’re immediately hit with discomfort and an instinct to practice avoidance.1 in 4 Americans associate shame with COVID-19, according to a Johns Hopkins study. The study revealed that 42% of respondents believe the statement, “people who get COVID-19 have behaved irresponsibly.”This content is hosted by a third party ( twitter.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew WindowCOVID-19 shame can lead to:Isolation\u2014not wanting to tell family or friends, or even to reveal there might be a problemLack of support\u2014the more withdrawn a person becomes, the more removed they are from the comforts of support and benefit of medical resourcesRumination\u2014while shame may lead to rejecting a test, it does not stop the mind from replaying decisions and mounting anxiety, and even depressionMore illness \u2013 COVID-19 shame can lead people to avoid being testedIn order to do away with the stigma associated with COVID-19, Johns Hopkins suggests focusing on messaging with authenticity about the topic and thanking individuals who notify you of their status.      Station Eleven quotes: Pandemic and COVID-19 updates aren’t over                "It is possible to survive this, but not unaltered." Station Eleven quotes resonate deeply today, as the COVID-19 pandemic still rages, and the world continues to face many unknowns.      Facing a positive COVID-19 testInstead of finishing the holiday break with teenage dread about returning to school, we were scrambling to figure out how to manage virtual learning again.After calling the county department of health to report my daughters’ COVID test results, I asked my kids not to post about it on social media. “I just don’t want to broadcast that we have it. So let’s stay home, lay low, and take a minute before we say anything.” Writing that, I’m ashamed of my cowardice and not entirely sure what fueled it. It’s not like keeping our COVID-19 diagnoses would change anything.Before telling my business partners or extended family about our diagnosis, I reported my symptoms and test results via the COVID-19 tracker app. Less than 12 hours later, my phone rang \u2013 it was a New York State contact tracer.They asked about symptoms and when the positive result came through. I explained \u2013 with humiliation \u2013 that my daughters were the first to get sick. It felt like an admission of parental failure. They were, to their credit, very matter of fact, and I found my shoulders dropping. Then they moved into retracing my holiday steps.As we finished up, they asked if there were any remaining questions. I didn’t have any, but thanked them for what they were doing.The line went quiet, then there was a sort of laughter somewhere between a laugh and a cry. “Thank you. I haven’t heard that from anyone. Thank you. I hadn’t realized what it would feel like to hear it. This is hard. Thank you.”COVID-19, after stripping me of options, robbing all of us of the reassurance of touch, and isolating us\u2014reconnected me to people and shared purpose.Omicron is highly contagious, and the reality of long COVID persists. Hospitals are over-stressed by the volume of patients and the demands of staffing. Schools are stretched thin as workers get sick, making transportation, lunches, and instruction challenges, and daycares are in peril.Having gone through COVID-19, I don’t want this to happen to other people \u2013 not parents, children, or anyone. Unfortunately, this pandemic will continue to impact our lives.\u00a0But, I believe it can help us understand how interconnected our lives are, even without knowing one another.The contact tracers and health care workers, the school administrators, and the directors of human resources are all focused on our well-being. Now isn’t the time to let down our guard, but rather to recognize the shared humanity in all of us.  The future of healthhas entered the chat.See the solutions transforming life sciences HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2022","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"12","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/\/01\/\/12\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The woebegone of Omicron: COVID-19 shame is real","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/01\/12\/covid-19-shame-examples-coping\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]