These are confusing times for people with mental health issues
The behaviour of the general public shows we could all be labelled with a mental disorder
A word that has been banded around quite frequently in the media of late and one which seems appropriate for describing the current global pandemic is ‘unprecedented’. Within a short few weeks, we’ve seen the borders to countries close indefinitely, entire states being placed on lockdown, and an inevitable, if not imminent, economic recession — all as a result of the proliferation of COVID-19.
Governmental impositions for citizens across various countries have ranged from mandating social distancing measures, to self-isolation, to hand washing. It may seem patently obvious to say, but these are confusing times for us all. As behaviours like self-isolation, item hoarding, and hand washing increasingly become the social norm, one must wonder how much more confusing these times must be for people who’ve spent years engaging in such behaviours only to be treated, or worse, stigmatised simply for engaging in them. Previously, these folks will have been stuck with labels such as suffering from ‘social anxiety’ or ‘compulsive behaviour’, only now to step into this Brave New World where these behaviours appear to be not only normal, but encouraged.
Compulsive hand washing and item hoarding are just two common behaviours often associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Though at present, one would struggle to differentiate between the habits of many OCD sufferers and those of the general public. Supermarket shelves have been left bare as people stockpile goods far beyond their needs. Hand washing, an act often done haphazardly by most, has been advocated as one of the best ways of preventing the spread of COVID-19, with rigorous instructions laid out on the length and duration one should wash their hands for in order to maximise the killing of germs. This simple act of hand hygiene was even the original, principal guideline for citizens from the British government before cases of COVID-19 spiked, when the government then escalated their strategy to one of ‘suppression’.
In the midst of the madness of recent weeks, a minority of people labelled as having ‘neurotic personalities’ or ‘anxiety disorders’ have had the logic for their behaviours vindicated by the ostensibly saner general public. Such folks on Reddit and other online mental health forums have now been making their voices heard in discussions on the unfolding of COVID-19 and its implications on their own mental health. One user posted the following meme:
Despite the apparent light-heartedness and humour displayed by this Reddit user, for those suffering from such disorders, this whole pandemic must be an incredibly bewildering experience. Witnessing the general public engaging in behaviours you’ve spent months, maybe even years, trying to curtail, must in itself be frustrating, as another Reddit user queried:
I was doing so damn well for months, wasn’t even bothered by the Coronavirus thing until everything started shutting down. I’ve been cooped up in my house and it’s been making the anxiety and intrusive thoughts so much worse. I’ve just been cleaning and cleaning all day. I’ve recleaned my kitchen 4 times now out of fear of getting corona and dying. Is anyone else’s anxiety spiking like this from this whole Coronavirus mess?
The confusion and angst felt by many other mental health sufferers at present was also palpable in this vivid anecdote:
I spent an hour last night sobbing in my boyfriend’s arms because I spent years racked with guilt that every doorknob, tabletop, [sic] pencil or computer that I touched was going to infect and kill someone. It would be my fault. I finally healed enough mentally that for the past several years I’ve been able to function like a normal person and now everything is haywire. If I don’t stand six feet away from people at all times and wipe down every single thing I touch someone will die and it will be all my fault.
These are, of course, confusing times for us all — not just people with OCD or other mental health issues. One lesson we can gain from this whole pandemic is that mental health is a continuum. It isn’t something we only cater to when it starts becoming a problem for us; we all need to take steps to maintain or improve it, and we can all demonstrate traits associated with some of these mental health definitions and labels. The behaviour of the general public in recent weeks has quite notably shifted the tide into what we can deem as normal and abnormal behaviour. There must be some sense of irony in this all for those who have battled with their seemingly ‘irrational’ beliefs about germ contamination and item hoarding, or for those who habitually ‘self-isolate’ to avoid social situations.
With such uncertainty about the future at present, things may still get a lot more confusing for us all. How we come together to support one another will define how we are to come out on the other side of this crisis. Spare a thought for those who are suffering due to pre-existing mental health or other issues during this ‘unprecedented’ period. As we are now all witnessing with the public’s fervent item hoarding, social distancing, and hand washing measures, we could all just as easily be hit with the label of having a mental disorder.
