I'm Schizoaffective and I Have COVID-19

I just tested positive for COVID-19 on top of managing schizoaffective disorder and anxiety, and having just had the second of double knee replacements.

Testing Positive for COVID-19 with Schizoaffective Disorder

By “just tested positive,” I mean I tested positive for it today. I talked to my general practitioner, and he said that since I’m under 65, I just have to use over-the-counter treatments like acetaminophen. (For those over 65, there’s an anti-viral medication whose name sounds very similar to a psychiatric medication, so I’ve just been calling it by the psychiatric name. This amuses me. Hey, it’s important to keep a sense of humor.)

Despite my schizoaffective anxiety, I’m not very concerned about having COVID. I know a lot of people who have had it, and the only thing I worried about was contracting long COVID. But my doctor said that won’t happen with the strains that are out now. Also, I am fully vaccinated, and I don’t smoke or anything. Even my husband, Tom, is calling it quits as a smoker—the best Christmas present ever. And by the time this article goes live, this COVID bug should be gone.

COVID-19 and Schizoaffective Anxiety

I was very anxious about my husband’s health this fall. He had a large cyst in his neck, and I was afraid it was a tumor. After three tests, we found out it was benign. He has to get the cyst removed next week, and I was afraid he would have COVID, too, and would have to delay his surgery. But he tested negative for COVID. Hopefully, the surgery will stay on track.

It is astonishing to me that I have COVID. Because of my schizoaffective anxiety, I know I’m going to be wearing masks everywhere again and taking other precautions.

On one of our mother-daughter trips to Door County, my mom and I had just gotten the first two vaccinations, and we, like many people, thought we were invincible. We were sitting in a bar (I was drinking a ginger ale because, per my psychiatrist’s advice, I don’t drink alcohol); it was extremely crowded, and people were talking about how they hadn’t been vaccinated at all. We thought we were safe because we had been vaccinated, but we still felt vulnerable on our first time out in such a crowded space. We moved to stand by the door until our table in the restaurant was ready.

I’ve been vaccinated, and I’ve gotten every single booster shot I was supposed to get, and I still got COVID. I like to think that I’d be in a lot worse shape than I am now without all the injections. According to all the medical experts, that’s true.