Social stigma compounds coronavirus problems

New Mexicans worried about negative association, ostracism

Sheila is quite open to talking about her COVID-19 experience.

The Santa Fe resident in her 70s is comfortable recounting her onset of symptoms, her trip to get tested, the positive diagnosis she got last week and how she now is on the road to full recovery.

But there’s one thing Sheila doesn’t want to reveal for publication: her last name.

“I don’t want to get any negative or crank calls,” said Sheila, who is recovering in Southern California because she was there when she contracted the virus. “There are nuts out there, and I’d just as soon not encounter them.”

It’s become a common theme in interviews with people who’ve tested positive for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a respiratory illness, and even those who haven’t: New Mexicans want to share their stories, but they don’t want to be fully identified.

It happened with a woman in her 60s who tested positive, a 28-year-old woman who had symptoms but didn’t get tested, the father of a teenager who is still waiting for test results and even a

young woman who wasn’t ill at all.

While some don’t want attention on social media, even if it’s positive, others say they’re afraid of being ostracized by their communities. Their reactions suggest people who get sick not only have to deal with feeling bad physically but might face an additional challenge: social stigma.

Consider a 29-year-old Albuquerque man who works at a towing company. A family member got upset with him for spending time with her children before he began to experience symptoms of COVID-19, such as difficulty breathing.

He was tested for the new coronavirus when he became seriously ill, but it turned out he had bronchitis, not COVID-19. Even though he had medical proof that he had not contracted the coronavirus, he was afraid of telling anyone he had been sick and tested for it out of fear of being shunned.

“I didn’t want to be socially ostracized,” said the man, who, of course, asked not to be identified.

He didn’t return to work until after he recovered, but he was still concerned about telling co-workers and customers. The man’s company is still operating — automobile repair facilities are considered essential businesses — and he has to climb inside people’s vehicles when he tows them.

“I was worried that people would get angry at me,” he said.

Then there was a 34-year-old Santa Fe woman who showed no signs of sickness at all. But a man intentionally coughed on her at a local store, and the incident made the news after police charged him with two counts of assault.

The woman, who also asked that her name not be used, said she was afraid she could lose her job, also an essential occupation, if her superiors thought she may have contracted the virus in the coughing incident.

Soon, people were ridiculing the woman from the coughing episode on social media, even though they didn’t know her name.

“I’ve seen comments on Facebook talking crap about me,” she said. “That’s why I’m glad my name wasn’t in the paper.” And a family member did it, too. “She said, ‘Oh my God, thank God I didn’t go to your house,’ ” the woman said, recalling an interaction with her aunt. “It’s like I have a disease. It’s an awful feeling.”

Not everyone is afraid of speaking publicly.

Sally Marquis was one of the first people in Santa Fe County to test positive for COVID-19. After the diagnosis, her family encouraged her to write about her experience on social media to educate friends who didn’t know anything about what it was like to have the virus.

She did, and the responses were overwhelmingly positive.

“Today, dare I say it and hope that it’s true?” Marquis wrote in a March 27 post. “I think we’re coming out the other side. I’m feeling better!!”

A stream of commenters responded with thoughts such as, “This brings tears of happiness and relief to my eyes,” and “So relieved for you!” Marquis has since fully recovered.

Asked about her posts, Marquis said her willingness to share online helps make the experience of having the virus concrete for people who don’t know anyone going through it. She said people wanted her to share the emotional side of the journey as well.

“When we’re facing the possibility of severe illness, a lot of people don’t want to have superficial conversations,” she said. “They want to share their struggles with other people. I think people are hungry for those kinds of conversations.”

Her decision to post messages about her experience also seemed to fill a void. She hadn’t seen anyone else with the virus talk about it publicly.

“Nobody is coming forth,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s because they don’t have it or they’re sick and are private.”

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, international organizations and local governments in the U.S. have been educating the public about the issue of stigma, giving tips on how public health officials, the media and citizens can avoid negatively associating people with the disease.

In its guide to preventing coronavirus-related social stigma, the United Nations agency UNICEF says prejudice is fueled by the fact that COVID-19 is a new disease with many unknowns, and people are often afraid of what they don’t know.

“It is understandable that there is confusion, anxiety, and fear among the public,” the guide says. “Unfortunately, these factors are also fueling harmful stereotypes.”

That’s dangerous, the organization says, because people who feel shunned may hide their illness in an attempt to avoid discrimination, or they may feel discouraged from seeking health care right away.

There also has been a tendency to stigmatize people in certain groups, such as people of Asian decent, those who have recently traveled, and first responders and other health care professionals who might be treating COVID-19 patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Santa Fe psychologist Thomas McCaffrey said the outbreak and its social-distancing rules can fuel stigma toward people of lower socioeconomic status because some tend to live in homes or areas where they’re in closer proximity to others.

Nonprofits and public officials say it’s important to use the correct language when referring to the virus and those who have it — for instance, using the official name of the disease rather than pejorative labels for the virus and those who have it.

The CDC, for instance, is encouraging people to “raise awareness about COVID19 without increasing fear,” “share accurate information about how the virus spreads” and “speak out against negative behaviors.”

Kate Cook, a clinical counselor and practitioner of psychotherapy in Santa Fe, said the onslaught of information about contagion that has consumed the media and life in general since the start of the pandemic has caused many people to have a physiological reaction known as a “fight-or-flight response.”

When that happens, people tend to view the world as a dangerous place and can perceive those who have or might have the virus as a threat.

“It’s nonrational,” Cook said. “Now, people are walking around and embodying all our worst fears of having our lives threatened.”

To calm the nervous system, Cook recommends people spend time in environments that help them become calm, such as nature, or listen to music.

“We have to counterbalance that with any piece of beauty we can focus on,” she said.

Sheila, who continues to self-isolate with her husband as she recovers, said she isn’t necessarily afraid of being stigmatized but wants to be cautious to avoid any potential attacks online.

“Having your name out there in public seems to invite weirdos to come out from under the rocks and try to find some fault,” she said.

She added it’s important for people not to panic amid the uncertainty and to remember that those who contract the virus get it through no fault of their own.

“I think you just have to exercise some common sense,” Sheila said. “I like to believe in the goodness of humankind, and most people are rational.”