Behaviour and mental health experts reveal the REAL reasons why Australians are still panic-buying toilet paper during the coronavirus crisis
- Doctors explain why Australian panic buyers are still stockpiling toilet paper
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly urged people to 'stop hoarding'
- But chaotic scenes at supermarket stores reveal many disregarded his plea
- Dr Brian Cook said people were dealing with stress by mass-buying toilet rolls
Doctors have explained the real reasons behind why Australian panic buyers are still stockpiling toilet paper during the coronavirus crisis.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly urged people to 'stop hoarding' toilet paper - but chaotic scenes at supermarket stores show many are ignoring his plea even though tissue manufacturers promise there is no risk of it running out.
Dr Brian Cook, from the University of Melbourne, said he believed people were mass-buying toilet rolls as a way to deal with their stress because they want an 'element of comfort and security' against COVID-19.
'Stocking up on toilet paper is also a relatively cheap action, and people like to think that they are "doing something" when they feel at risk,' Dr Cook told The Conversation.
Doctors have explained the real reasons behind why Australian panic buyers are still stockpiling toilet paper during the coronavirus crisis
Last month, dramatic footage emerged on social media showing hundreds of shoppers stampeding into an Aldi store in Sydney to get their hands on toilet paper
Dr Niki Edwards, from the University of Queensland's School of Public Health and Social Work, said toilet paper 'symbolises control'.
'We use it to "tidy up" and "clean up". When people hear about the coronavirus, they are afraid of losing control. And toilet paper feels like a way to maintain control over hygiene and cleanliness,' she said.
While Dr Alex Russell, from Central Queensland University's School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, explained that as people become scared by the thought of the coronavirus, they are 'hunkering down' by buying what they need.
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Consumer behaviour expert Dr Rohan Miller, from the University of Sydney, said shoppers have fallen into a 'herd mentality', where they act how others' act, rather than making than making their own conscious decisions.
'People are being panicked and they're just following the herd,' he said.
'We've been operating in an information void and in the absence of that information, the herd has indicated you need toilet paper.'
In recent weeks, shoppers have been stockpiling on toilet paper and grocery essentials
A pleasantly surprised shopper took a photo of three pallets full of Quilton toilet paper at Costco in Marsden Park, in Sydney's north-west, on Saturday
Dr Chris Moy of the Australian Medical Association, previously told Daily Mail Australia panic buying was just a 'psychological strategy'.
'There has been a significant level of anxiety. There's a widespread of toilet paper hoarding but when you stand back and take a look, it really is just a psychological strategy to cope with anxiety,' Dr Moy said.
'People can't control how they feel and they are worrying about their future so they are resorting to this psychological strategy - and that's by hoarding toilet paper.'
Despite the country facing a toilet paper shortage, shoppers around the country reported finding supermarket full of rolls for the first time in weeks - as panic-buyers finally slow down on hoarding.
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