The Stock-home syndrome: How to deal with panic buying during the COVID-19 pandemic

Instant noodles make for a delicious, if ineffective armour, against COVID-19. Yet, we have stripped supermarket shelves of them. They sit in our pantries in unwieldy piles, besides stacks of biscuits, potato chips and all the ready-to-eat food that could be swept into shopping baskets on that last, frantic, masked grocery run.

Why do we panic buy? As news of COVID-19 sweeps the world, we have been watching aisle after aisle being emptied in hapless supermarkets everywhere, despite governments repeatedly assuring shoppers that there will be no shortage of essential supplies. Even while hand sanitisers, gloves and masks were selling out, as people began to bulk buy and hoard, rice and noodles disappeared from shelves in Asia. In Europe, flour became almost impossible to find. In Australia, the now-infamous toilet paper brawl between shoppers turned into a viral video on YouTube.

Not that anyone can point fingers. As the pandemic grips the world, it is becoming increasingly clear that while we may panic buy and hoard different products, depending on cultures and geography, ultimately we all react the same way when faced with uncertainty: trying to wrest back some semblance of control in whatever way we can. “When there is so much uncertainty, you feel a loss of control. So you latch on to anything that makes it seem like you have control again — such as buying,” says Delhi-based psychologist Arvinder J Singh, director of the Ashoka Centre for Well Being.

She adds it is important to remember that right now, we are also suffering emotional contagion, as other people’s reactions and WhatsApp forwards heighten anxiety. “You tend to ape others, when you see them panic, you think, ‘Oh they must know something I don’t.” Hence even when you approach your supermarket with a calm mind and grocery list, it is easy to get carried away. Especially when you see just one bag of rice left on the shelf.

When faced with a dramatic threat, it is only natural to feel like our response should be appropriately dramatic. Instead we are being called to sit on our couches, to watch Netflix and attend endless meetings on Zoom in pyjamas. It just doesn’t feel like enough. “There is no emotional outlet here,” agrees Arvinder. “In a disaster, you can go out and do things to help other people. Here, there is a continuous threat to your life. People are measuring themselves by how vulnerable they are: ‘Am I 60 plus. Am I diabetic?’ And that makes you feel even more desperate,” she adds.

Something basic

Interestingly, it is basic comfort food that is selling out everywhere. Ignoring once popular gourmet cauliflower pizzas, kombucha and quinoa cereal, people are buying the staples — and snacks — they grew up eating. “It is atta, dal, chawal  flying off the shelves now,” says Arvinder. “People don’t want luxury. Just like if your head is dunked under water the only thing you want to do is breathe; when we feel vulnerable, we go to our basic needs.”

Kolkata-based psychologist Mansi Poddar adds that “people who hoard have a perceived inability to tolerate distress, and will try to avoid it by panic buying because they perceive extreme distress in the future.” She adds, “Plus there is a general mistrust of authority when they say goods will be available.” She explains how products serve a psychological need. “For example, you may love instant noodles because it symbolises good times in the past... People might buy it as a way to hold onto those moments. A sense of pleasure in a difficult time,” she adds.

The pandemic, and resulting lockdown, have given rise to a host of mental health challenges as people struggle to cope with toxic home environments, relationship issues and economic worries. Mansi says more people are reaching out now: “They are getting frustrated with the lockdown… there is a rise in panic attacks and people are facing anger issues.”

Arvinder states that it is important to acknowledge everything you have accomplished and learnt so far, to cope better. “Everybody is doing something new, whether it is cooking, or doing a virtual workout, or learning a new skill. Accept that these are, extraordinary circumstances, and the way each person deals with it will be different. Cut yourself some slack.” She suggests building some exercise into your day, dressing up for work and practising good sleep hygiene, saying “calmness lies in small things. Human beings are resilient, so we will bounce back.”

Both psychologists say that creating a daily routine is important to help you get through the rest of this lockdown as it effectively counters the feeling of a loss of control. “A routine is one thing that gives us control…knowing how the day is going to go,” says Arvinder. “Add to that simple things we have always learnt from grandparents: practise gratitude. Fear comes from a space of perceived scarcity. Gratitude comes from a mindset of abundance, if we are counting our blessings, we will feel abundant.”