Constantly washing out of panic lowers the body’s resistance
The detection of a coronavirus case in Turkey has caused widespread panic and anxiety among the public. Experts are issuing warnings to those who are stockpiling food at grocery stores, isolating themselves at home in an attempt to protect themselves, and experiencing panic attacks. Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen, emphasizing that the situation should not be turned into health anxiety, points out that a person cannot take real precautions if he is consumed by the fear of getting sick or dying.
Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen, a psychiatrist at Üsküdar University NPİSTANBUL Brain Hospital, shared important advice for individuals psychologically affected by the coronavirus.
“Panic leads to mistakes!”
Stressing that people should not panic, Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen said, “Panicking or fretting over every possible disaster does not improve the situation—it makes it worse. In very acute disasters—for example, when a fire breaks out in a building—those who can calmly make their way outside survive, while those who panic may lose their lives. We see the same thing during earthquakes; people jump out of windows and lose their lives, even though when you look around, you see that no one else has been harmed. Therefore, we must set panic aside. Of course, precautions must be taken; the coronavirus is a pandemic that has affected the entire world in recent years. The World Health Organization has also declared this a pandemic,” he said.
“We Should Not Try to Protect Ourselves by Isolating Ourselves from Life”
Noting that only 2 or 3 percent of those infected lose their lives, Erkmen said, “The coronavirus is a virus with a deadly aspect, but it’s not the case that everyone who comes into contact with it will die or that everyone will get sick. This situation should not be turned into a health-related anxiety; once anxiety sets in, the fear of ‘I’ll get sick’ or ‘I’ll die’ overshadows the need to take real precautions. When we look at the people in the grocery stores, it seems as though we’re heading into very crisis-ridden days; that’s how outsiders perceive it. There are people stockpiling large quantities of dry goods at home—what’s the purpose of this? They think they’ll escape a major disaster by never leaving the house. In modern times, this isn’t possible because people rely heavily on what others produce. It’s not possible to live for months on what’s grown in the garden or bought at the grocery store; bread, milk, and cheese will inevitably have to be delivered to the home. If we don’t go to work, life comes to a standstill—and that’s when the situation turns into a major catastrophe. Therefore, people will still go to work and use public transportation. “We need to stay calm; there’s no point in shutting ourselves in at home and waiting for this process to pass while isolating ourselves from the world,” he said.
“Constant handwashing isn’t the solution—it creates problems”
Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen said he had received questions about the coronavirus from patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and continued: “People with this condition have taken things to extremes. Therefore, we can say that they do not need to take extra precautions. On the contrary, if there is excessive washing similar to OCD, they have already compromised their immune systems in their daily lives. They need to reduce their washing habits because, while they think they are doing the right thing, they are actually increasing the level of danger for themselves. Those with panic disorder also engage in behaviors that prevent them from living their lives, driven by the fear that something negative will happen at any moment. “In a country with a population of 80 million, the occurrence of two cases is not an extraordinary situation. Hospitals see diseases far more harmful than the coronavirus, but since they aren’t as well-known, they don’t attract anyone’s attention. We live in a country that is large both in terms of land area and population, so the occurrence of cases should not be viewed as abnormal.”
“Healthcare facilities should not be overburdened”
Erkmen stated that he has patients reporting symptoms of the disease and continued: “We advise them to consult the relevant specialists immediately. Those with flu-like symptoms must definitely see a doctor, but we do not consider it necessary to go to the hospital just to wonder, ‘Has my immune system weakened?’ Determining whether the virus is present is a difficult process. At this point, the healthcare system should not be overburdened. If everyone rushes to hospitals out of fear, our healthcare system may not be able to keep up with the demand, and specialists from other fields may have to be reassigned to treat the virus. As a result, people with other illnesses will receive inadequate treatment, and that is when the real major problem will arise.”
“Turkey Is Managing the Situation Well”
Erkmen, who stated that Turkey has been successful in protecting its citizens from the coronavirus outbreak, said, “As many scientists have pointed out, the virus is expected to lose strength and slow down day by day within two months. We can say that, despite everything, our country has fought the virus well. By taking the necessary precautions in the early days, we did not allow the virus to take hold or spread. Some countries are facing major problems today because they failed to take precautions. China, where the virus first emerged, was caught completely off guard; Iran and Italy were also caught unprepared and became countries severely affected by the virus. To be honest, our public institutions are managing this process well. Public transportation vehicles are being disinfected, warnings are being shared, border crossings have been kept under control since day one, and the spread of the virus is being prevented through many measures like these,” he said.