This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Susqu chapter.

There have been a ton of articles about how depression, anxiety and eating disorders are affected by COVID-19. Since I haven’t seen anyone writing about OCD, I thought it was about time. It’s no secret that OCD is a cruel mental illness. It’s impossible to live with sometimes. The stereotype is that it’s just a lot of hand washing, and sometimes that’s true, but most of the time there are other behaviors. I used to check the door four times before I went to bed to make sure it was locked. Once, even twice, would have been enough for most people. Also I would, and still do, compulsively straighten any papers on my desk that looked a little crooked. Some nights I have to clean every surface of the kitchen before I sleep. These are common OCD behaviors. However, with the anxiety associated with the coronavirus, it’s been startling to watch so many people engage in similar behaviors.

More people are obsessive-compulsively washing their hands than ever before, which is both alarming and surprising. The handwashing that people used to joke about was only for OCD people, but is now a part of daily life. With everyone afraid to catch the virus, everyone is washing their hands or using sanitizer 24/7. I did use to wash my hands a lot, but I would stop when I was getting out of control. For the people with OCD who wash their hands a regular amount, I can only imagine that they find other people’s behaviors right now alarming, not the other way around. If anyone who’s ever been ridiculed for having a mental illness and now feels frustrated at the ironic situation of today’s world, you’re not alone. Hopefully, people will come out of this pandemic and realize that people with OCD just wanted to be clean too.

sad girl in blue sweater near window — Anthony Tran

As far as self-care tips go, there are a few things you can do to help your OCD during the quarantine. First, I limit how much cleaning I do. This may sound counterproductive because we should all try to be as clean as possible right now, but it’s different for people with OCD. If you’re someone who obsessively cleans every day, this may be good for your immune system but stressful for your mental health. Try to be aware of your actions during this time. Ask yourself the questions: How recently did I clean? How did I feel afterward, relieved or anxious? How many times do I clean the same rooms every day? Do my hands need lotion from all the times I’ve washed them? Is there something else I can do to take the edge off? I enjoy living in a clean space, especially since I’m in my house all the time now. However, I quickly realized that if I clean everything every day, I would go stir crazy. I worked with my family to establish a schedule. Every day I would do basic cleaning: making the beds, washing the dishes and spraying doorknobs with Lysol. After that, I would stop for the day. Once a week I will do a deep clean of my room. Now that I have a schedule I feel both clean and calm.

napping cat — Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

As a side note, don’t feel guilty about your emotions right now. If you feel happy one day, that doesn’t mean you’re happy about the pandemic. Feeling happy is what’s going to get you through this. Think of it this way, if everyone was sad all the time while in quarantine, the world would be a wretched place. Also, there have been articles and social media posts by individuals expressing their lessening mental health issues during the quarantine. Instead of feeling more depressed, anxious, or obsessive, they feel okay overall. I expected my OCD to flair up during the pandemic. Instead, seeing everyone else seriously washing their hands has calmed me down. Strangely enough, seeing so many people show compassion to OCD individuals has made me feel less obsessive. This is certainly a strange time to be alive, but at least people are beginning to empathize with people who have a mental illness.