Introduction
SARS, Anxiety, ambiguous sensations, anxiety, panic
CORONAVIRUS, DISEASE, SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME
Since its first appearance in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread exponentially. This culminated in a pandemic being declared by the World Health Organisation in March 2020 [One way to encourage continued adherence may be using a ‘fear appeal’. Fear appeals are messages which are designed to incite fear about a particular health-threat, to foster changes in one’s health behaviours [Threat and efficacy perceptions have also been identified as key predictors of the uptake of mitigation measures during disease outbreaks. Specifically, studies conducted during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 found that greater anxiety and risk perceptions were associated with uptake of health-protective behaviours [Previous research has also demonstrated that enhancing efficacy is more influential upon outcomes than threat [To date, just one study has assessed the impact of a COVID fear appeal. Heffner et al. [In addition to this, there is a need for additional research to investigate the cognitive processes which may be underlying emotional reactions to these threatening messages and maintaining fear and anxiety in the long term. Unlike the pandemics of the past, COVID-19 is the first to take place in a world where information is highly accessible due to social media and 24-h news cycles. As such, there has been no shortage of alarmist news pieces about COVID. Within this context, it is especially important to consider what impact fear appeals may have beyond increasing adherence to mitigation measures. Equally as important as promoting adherence is safeguarding the mental health of the vulnerable individuals within our communities. Crucially, within a pandemic, those with elevated health anxiety may be highly vulnerable to a worsening of their anxiety and unhelpful behaviours, such as excessively seeking reassurance from doctors or panic buying—both of which place additional strain on resources and systems which are already overburdened [One of the ways in which threatening COVID-related health messages could induce or exacerbate anxiety is by instilling an interpretation bias towards threat. According to the Cognitive Behavioural Model of Health Anxiety (CBMHA), it is the interpretation of ambiguous sensations as threatening that maintains health anxiety, as it leads people to focus on their somatic symptoms, which in turn increases their anxiety [