Understanding coronaphobia.

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to being a global health emergency, has multiple socioeconomic and psychological ramifications. COVID-19 research and media reports have revealed a rise in fears related to contracting the virus. Though fear is a common psychological outcome during pandemics, the COVID-19 pandemic is a continuously evolving disease outbreak and has unique risk factors. Therefore, fear related to COVID-19 might manifest in not only fear and anxiety related to disease contraction and dying, but also associated sociooccupational stress. We attempt to understand the psychosocial process of the development of coronaphobia and postulate what constitutes coronaphobia, a new emerging phobia specific to COVID-19. We present a conceptual model delineating the risk factors causing coronaphobia and the underlying mechanisms, for a better understanding of its developmental process. From review of relevant research, the factors identified are, an unforeseen reality, unending uncertainties, need of acquiring new practices and avoidance behavior, loss of faith in health infrastructure, contraction of COVID-19 by head of states, cautionary statements from international bodies, and infodemia. These factors are assumed to cause interference with routine life, catastrophizing interpretation of benign symptoms, and social amplification of risk which lead to coronaphobia. The conceptualization of coronaphobia and the model will aid future research in developing psychometric measure of coronaphobia for use in clinical and research settings and design of policies and interventions for mitigating risk factors.