Illness anxiety disorder takes people of all age-groups in its grip

Bhubaneswar: The outbreak of Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on people’s lives. Such is the fear of catching the infection that a large number of people are frequently getting their body temperatures and oxygen levels checked apart, of course, from using sanitisers excessively, cleaning and wiping their homes several times in a day. Psychiatrists are flooded with complaints of illness anxiety disorder from people triggered by the life-threatening virus and post-Covid complications.
“We have noticed many changes in the behaviour of my father since the outbreak of the pandemic. Neither has he stepped out of home for the last six months, nor does he like people coming to our house. God forbid if someone comes, he immediately starts wiping the places s/he touched. He keeps a close watch on any slight change in his health and measures his body temperature and oxygen levels frequently,” said Arabinda Panda, an IT professional. His father is 71-year old, is diabetic and also has heart problems.
Such behavioural changes are being noticed in people of all age-groups.
Debansh Sahu, an employee of a private company, said, “After a colleague tested Covid positive, I grew panicky thinking what if I have also contracted the virus. I did not come out of home for a week, started using sanitisers more frequently than before, wearing two to three masks and taking multi-vitamins.”
Psychiatrists said there has been a significant rise in such patients. “Complaints of illness anxiety disorder has gone up to 60-70%. Anyone showing even a minor symptom or no symptom at all is also thinking that he or she has Covid and starts going for tests repeatedly. Those with pre-existing anxiety disorder or having friends/relatives, who have tested positive, are more prone to this,” Dr Suvendu Narayan Mishra, department of psychiatry at Sum Hospital and secretary of Indian Psychiatry Society, Odisha branch, said.
Explaining the illness, doctors said it is the fear a person feels beyond the normal risk factor. “Taking precautions like wearing a mask, using sanitiser and washing hands are common and good habits to keep the virus away. But if a person does it more than the normal level, it causes anxiety. If this anxiety continues for a longer period in a person, it can lead to mental illness,” Dr S K Padhy, additional professor at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, said.
He added that the anxiety may be caused owing to lack of knowledge, wrong information or processing of information in a wrong way. “In case of such patients, we have to identify the gap in knowledge, address the issue, create awareness through proper counselling and ask them to relax,” Padhy said.
Doctors advised such people to divert their attention from Covid and engage in other things. “The best way is to keep your mind away from corona and not to go by the number of deaths and infections caused due to it. Not speaking about the disease with people and instead developing some hobbies like listening to music, watch films on TV, doing yoga, pranayama and light exercises can do them a world of good. Think positive and don’t lose confidence,” Dr Rakesh Mohanty, assistant professor at department of psychiatry at Sum Hospital here, said.
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