Currently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, especially those related to contagions, are experiencing a significant increase in obsessive-compulsive behaviors and continuous anxiety crises. However, this is not only due to the fear of catching coronaviruses, but also to the feeling of guilt that is often present in people with OCD.
The constant thoughts of having to do several bleach cleanings a day so that no one in our family gets it, the fear that if one of us gets it, we will all get it, etc., may seem like exaggerations, but there are people who are experiencing it this way.
It may seem an exaggeration, but in psychological consultations we receive patients with OCD of this type on a daily basis. If even before the virus appeared they used to clean the house exaggeratedly and shower 10 times a day, now they do it 50 times a day and on top of that they force their relatives to do the same.
So, many people ask us how they can know when it is a preventive behavior and when it is an obsessive behavior. In this sense, we have to follow all the official recommendations, but we should not take them to the extreme. This is impossible for an obsessive patient to comply with.
It must be taken into account that the obsessive patient does not admit doubt, wants to see everything clear, does not tolerate uncertainty at a time when we are totally immersed in it. He considers that not having “prevented” a harm is morally equivalent to having provoked it.
Clinical psychologists are not the ones to give advice on how people should act in their daily lives, but our job is to assess, diagnose, relieve and treat people who are suffering from psychological disorders, which complicate and aggravate even more the exceptional situation we are living in.