Sunday, March 22, 2020

Hoarding and Bullying during the COVID-19 Pandemic



The hoarding behaviors that are occurring over the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic may not be a form of bullying. If a person already has bully-type responses, then hoarding behaviors may be an extension of their personality and embedded personality disorders. However, hoarding during times of extreme stress and fear is a normal human response because humans have individual comfort and survival needs. If these needs remain unmet for some time, the flight or fight response is activated and induces panic and unhealthy responses. Hoarding is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and hoarding as a fear response to the COVID-19 crisis falls into this category because of the anxiety associated with a critical event, and the mental distress of the unknown and the future course of the pandemic. Hoarding is a form of self-medication because it is the individual's way of coping with the stress of the pandemic. 

Because there are adverse outcomes concerning hoarding in this situation, such as guilt, untreated anxiety disorder, increased fears, the increasing concern of unmet needs, and the lack that it may create for others, treatment is essential. It is necessary to realize and identify the psychological reasons behind unhealthy drives and motives so that rational decision-making and healthier responses to the COVID-19 pandemic may result.  Humans need to gather the necessary supplies in a sensible way to survive any crisis; however, it is also critical to foster humankind's survival and the greater good.








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