WASH-ITARIANS
The fear of the unknown ways in which the virus is transmitted through objects created a fear of things brought into the house, especially edibles, since food products have an aspect of time within which it is supposed to be consumed while other products could be kept aside for a few days before consumption. Therefore in my vegetarian family, we stopped eating anything that could not be washed with a soapy solution. Liquids that entered the house and thoroughly boiled.This led to the exclusion of bread and anything with a loose packet.
WASH-ITARIANS
The fear of the unknown ways in which the virus is transmitted through objects created a fear of things brought into the house, especially edibles, since food products have an aspect of time within which it is supposed to be consumed while other products could be kept aside for a few days before consumption. Therefore in my vegetarian family, we stopped eating anything that could not be washed with a soapy solution. Liquids that entered the house and thoroughly boiled.This led to the exclusion of bread and anything with a loose packet.
ATTUNING TO MYSOPHOBIA
The world was in fear of the entire covid situation in the beginning, but with months passing by humans tended to accept and adapt to changes, decreasing the fear gradually. But for my dad this fear multiplied at an extent of him developing a phobia for it. As a symptom OCD gets exhibited in literally his every action like repeatedly washing hands ,re-sanitizing same surfaces to be double sure, over doubting every precaution and hence overdoing them, getting irritated and angry if his overdoing is questioned or not readily accepted by us, experimenting on like hundreds of teas and kaadhas to keep no stone unturned. I understood this extremity in the second month of lockdown,when we shifted to tetra packed milk and got cartons that could last at least a fortnight or a month to stop getting out on a daily basis, he not only takes a bath after coming from outside but also insist on washing the bathroom floor and tiles or wherever else his bathwater might have touched(bathwater assumed to have coronavirus!), with this OCD buying, wasing ,drying groceries by following an unreasonably long system becomes a full day job which also happens only twice a month to avoid going out regularly ,the list just goes on and on. There was a huge impact on his mental health with work, fear, stress ,arguments on disagreements with his fear etc. He lost about 10-12 kgs in the last 5 months because anxiety! Now we have made our peace with his phobia that keeps him calm, stopped cribbing about how much he is overreacting and very sensitively & gradually are trying to talk him through the reality, by giving examples from around to re boost his confidence and help him to see ways we can start living our lives with the pandemic rather than jailing ourselves.
ATTUNING TO MYSOPHOBIA
The world was in fear of the entire covid situation in the beginning, but with months passing by humans tended to accept and adapt to changes, decreasing the fear gradually. But for my dad this fear multiplied at an extent of him developing a phobia for it. As a symptom OCD gets exhibited in literally his every action like repeatedly washing hands ,re-sanitizing same surfaces to be double sure, over doubting every precaution and hence overdoing them, getting irritated and angry if his overdoing is questioned or not readily accepted by us, experimenting on like hundreds of teas and kaadhas to keep no stone unturned. I understood this extremity in the second month of lockdown,when we shifted to tetra packed milk and got cartons that could last at least a fortnight or a month to stop getting out on a daily basis, he not only takes a bath after coming from outside but also insist on washing the bathroom floor and tiles or wherever else his bathwater might have touched(bathwater assumed to have coronavirus!), with this OCD buying, wasing ,drying groceries by following an unreasonably long system becomes a full day job which also happens only twice a month to avoid going out regularly ,the list just goes on and on. There was a huge impact on his mental health with work, fear, stress ,arguments on disagreements with his fear etc. He lost about 10-12 kgs in the last 5 months because anxiety! Now we have made our peace with his phobia that keeps him calm, stopped cribbing about how much he is overreacting and very sensitively & gradually are trying to talk him through the reality, by giving examples from around to re boost his confidence and help him to see ways we can start living our lives with the pandemic rather than jailing ourselves.
MYSOPHOBIA
Mysophobia has been observed in members of the Sharma family who wash each and every note that is withdrawn from the bank and dry it on the dining table for 14 hours so that all traces of the virus (if any) are gone. Extensive washing of all the commodities that enter their house is mandatory. The commodities go through three buckets, Potassium permanganate solution, soap water, and finally clean drinking water before being dried for 14 hrs. Sometimes washing machines are also used.
STORIES OF FEAR
Since Corona is a virus and therefore it can only be perceived through experiences and stories of somebody else’s experience (until observed under a microscope of course), the fear of the virus and its impact manifested itself from the stories of deaths. But since the fear decreases over a period of time as humanity gets used to the idea, parallel stories of the impact of the pandemic started emerging in my house, where my father started to ask us to have the ’Patanjali kadha’ to improve our immunity or else ‘we will have to use disgusting toilets of the quarantine centres’. It is absurd since he chose to scare me with a dirty toilet against death. He tries to bring the virus into the everyday for us to associate with the impact of the pandemic.
STORIES OF FEAR
Since Corona is a virus and therefore it can only be perceived through experiences and stories of somebody else’s experience (until observed under a microscope of course), the fear of the virus and its impact manifested itself from the stories of deaths. But since the fear decreases over a period of time as humanity gets used to the idea, parallel stories of the impact of the pandemic started emerging in my house, where my father started to ask us to have the ’Patanjali kadha’ to improve our immunity or else ‘we will have to use disgusting toilets of the quarantine centres’. It is absurd since he chose to scare me with a dirty toilet against death. He tries to bring the virus into the everyday for us to associate with the impact of the pandemic.
FEAR
After 2 months of lockdown, my kaka started going to work. He works in Saifee hospital but not as a healthcare staff. His work is related to the heating systems of the building. He works in the basement so there was no contact of the healthcare staff and the patients with him. Regardless, whenever he used to come home from work during the lockdown, we all used to clear the way for him with masks on our faces and he directly used to rush to the bathroom. One could sense the fear back then in that situation.
BEHAVIORAL CHANGE
So, I didn't experience many changes in my street where I lived which is not crowded. If you are sitting outside on a veranda and looking at the street you'll notice that nothing has changed. There's nothing like a pandemic situation or a lockdown. However, this situation changed within two months when the first case was found. Then everything had become strict. The stores are all closed, transportation has stopped, traveling is restricted as checking had increased. Similarly in the house, people started to hesitate to visit each other. If anyone visited our house, after the person leaves my father immediately starts cleaning and sanitizing the place where that person has touched. They are not scared but they are more protective towards the family. But this leads to much workload for my mother which she managed easily. It was for the first time in my house that the food material and stuff which was bought was kept as it is. No one touches it for 3 days. While talking to each other now everyone is keeping distance and putting a mask while talking, and this emerged as a response from our body. Also, everyone is now health-conscious and started to go for a walk. The people who are lazy in the early days now wake up at 4.30 in the morning and go walking.