Coronavirus has sparked an almost apocalyptic public response. The media’s coverage has led people to bulk buy certain items in a state of panic, making supermarkets appear like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Furthermore, the mainstream media has mainly just been posting stories of the coronavirus, leading people to think this is the worst pandemic ever. This response from the media has had a very negative effect on the mental health of many. Anxiety is shown in the act of panic buying, however, for people with pre-existing anxiety disorders, it is almost unbearable.
The media’s response to the coronavirus, whilst necessary to scare people into performing better methods of personal hygiene, is problematic in many ways. It is scaring citizens beyond the extent it should be. The coverage is extremely problematic for people such as myself suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Many have the preconception that this is actually what is known as OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder), an obsessive disorder making sufferers uneasy when they are surrounded by mess. OCD is not simply an obsession with things being neat and ordered, but sufferers can struggle with the presence of germs due to seeing them as a threat to their health.
As a sufferer of OCD, I have experienced a fear of germs since I was very young. OCD is essentially an overprotective voice in your head, finding threats that appear ridiculous to people who lack knowledge in this area. A common intrusive thought patients suffer is recurring stories of their families dying if they do not do certain rituals and obsessive behaviours. These obsessive behaviours can be paired with anxiety around germs. As they are a threat to our health, many sufferers exhibit obsessive behaviours such as handwashing, intrusive thoughts usually going along the lines of “if I don’t wash my hands and I bring germs into the house, a loved one will die and it will be my fault”. I myself used to wash my hands at least six times every time I washed them due to a similar intrusive thought. With therapy, I overcame this particular behaviour, though the urge never fully goes away and I still struggle. Others are not so lucky.
Therapy for OCD is normally CBT or ACT, which work by exposing the patient to their intrusive thoughts in order for them to see these thoughts as non-threatening. Behaviours are usually performed to avoid senses of stress and guilt, which is why it is so important for sufferers to become ok with feeling anxiety. My therapist once told me he used to have to do work with a patient where he would get them to lick their shoes to expose them to the feeling of anxiety and force them to sit with the stress. Of course, I am not recommending people suffering at this time to lick their shoes: this is merely an example of what some therapy entails.
To see a fear this bad at a time when we are not surrounded by the public obsession with health suggests the extent to which sufferers of OCD are struggling at this time. Our work to sit with our uncomfortable feelings appears to be being undone by the media’s coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. We are told to be clean the whole time: for non-sufferers this is great, however, there is a darker reality for those who do suffer from OCD.
Public encouragement to wash hands is of the smaller threats to sufferers attempting to manage their OCD. I myself was terrified, and partially still am, of going home, contracting the virus on the way, and then giving it to a loved one. Considering the majority of the intrusive thoughts sufferers struggle with are related to harm coming to loved ones or themselves, this pandemic is worsening the struggle significantly. The media’s coverage of the virus and it being a conversation piece seemingly everywhere we turn is not allowing sufferers to distance themselves from their intrusive thoughts. When someone attempts to sit with their guilt and anxiety surrounding these intrusive thoughts we do not have our fears reaffirmed externally. However, the obsession with COVID-19 is reaffirming sufferers’ intrusive thoughts and telling them that they must act on these thoughts as it is a real threat. Whilst this virus is a public health crisis, we have survived far worse pandemics: swine flu and ebola to name a couple. The media is covering the virus as though we are at war, and the shortages of essentials are fitting with this also.
Furthermore, the physical effects of OCD and obsessive behaviours such as hand washing, which are on the rise again from the virus, are dangerous. The shortage of hand sanitiser means that sufferers of OCD are forced to resort to washing their hands more frequently, resulting far easier into long rituals. This handwashing leads to chapped, dry skin that usually needs steroid cream to be fixed, not to mention the low moods and low self-esteem one experiences after performing a behaviour. This dryness can force sufferers to go to their doctors, which they are probably terrified of doing in the current climate, and have a cream prescribed. If the skin becomes chapped and bleeds, it creates more entrances for the virus to enter the body through and so worsens the cycle of the intrusive thoughts.
In summation: please be mindful of sufferers of OCD and other anxiety disorders at this time. Try to refrain bombarding people with the coverage the media has bombarded you with. My advice for sufferers like myself is to limit your media exposure, tell the people you are surrounded with that you struggle with this and ask them not to share horror stories with you. You are not alone and you will get through this: you have every time before.
Olivia Surguy
Image: Ready Elements.