Post COVID Anxiety: How to Eliminate Cleaning Rituals

Although for many people leaving behind certain restrictions and protection measures against the coronavirus represents a relief, for others it can be a source of discomfort.

As paradoxical as it may seem, removing norms of this type can reveal the presence of psychological problems associated with anxiety and fear of contagion, such as Difficulty detaching ourselves from cleaning and disinfection routines raised months ago to prevent contagion when touching surfaces.

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Understanding Post-COVID Anxiety

Post-COVID anxiety has to do with the way in which we adapt to a reality in which it no longer makes sense to adopt certain measures to prevent contagion, either because the presence of the virus in our region has decreased or because part of these actions and regulations have proven to be ineffective and involve an effort Useless.

And is that many people find it difficult to “let go” of certain self-care and protection routines against the coronavirus

, to the point that although from an intellectual point of view they know that nothing happens if they stop doing some prevention actions, when they go into practice they feel that something is wrong, that they have become very vulnerable to disease. It is an irrational phenomenon that seems to ignore logic, something very characteristic of anxiety disorders in general (for example, it is clearly seen in phobias).

Thus, post-COVID anxiety has to do with how complicated it can be to stop associating certain actions with the avoidance of a source of anxiety or fear: by dint of reinforcing this overlap between concepts over the months, this bond becomes so strong that breaking with it on an emotional level costs a lot of. And in this sense, getting rid of the cleaning and disinfection routines that have been part of our daily lives for a long time is an uphill battle.

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How do problems arise from cleansing rituals?

We have already begun to see what is the psychological mechanism behind these protective rituals against the coronavirus; Let us now focus on the case of cleansing rituals.

Some time ago, the habit of washing hands very well and disinfecting purchases made during the day represented a way to minimize the risk of transmission of the coronavirus. However, for some people it was also something else. Specific, these routines became a way to interpose a psychological defense between oneself and the fear of getting sick or transmitting the disease loved ones.

The objective act of cleaning hands and spraying or wiping disinfectant wipes over certain objects was no longer a rational measure to combat the pandemic to be a ritual, an action with a strong emotional charge that served as a reference to distinguish between situations of relative safety and those of danger.

Aside from thinking again and again about the importance of performing these cleaning actions and incorporating them into daily routines, they began to merge with the concepts of "security" and "protection" that some people maintain in their thought patterns, that is, those maps of ideas and beliefs from which they interpret the reality. Therefore, by dint of consolidating that fusion, that the end of these recommendations and regulations does not mean that this link between actions and concepts is undone at the moment: sometimes it is necessary to go through a process of readjustment to normality.

Saving the distances, this class of problems have characteristics in common with psychopathologies such as posttraumatic stress and the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Although both are much more severe than what we can understand for post-COVID anxiety and always require psychological treatment, in these alterations we see how there are certain inertias emotional reasons that do not attend to reasons, and that lead the person to adopt certain strategies for managing anxiety and stress that can become dysfunctional and to "continue feeding" the trouble.

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What to do to leave this vicious cycle behind?

These are some tips that as a general rule tend to help break these dynamics caused by anxiety (although the the best way to remedy them, and the most effective, is to go to the psychologist and obtain a personalized and adapted treatment).

1. Identify problem routines

At first, limit yourself to monitoring your routines and detect those that, in particular, show that you are not managing post-COVID anxiety well. In that way you will be clear about the fronts on which you must make progress.

Focus on this goal for the first couple of days to make sure you meet it.

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2. Set simple goals for small wins

Don't try to cover it all when fighting anxiety. Limit yourself to proposing one small goal after another, making simple and modest advances that are constantly happening, without taking steps back. For example, set a goal to reduce the time you spend washing your hands by several seconds if you usually do it without having left the house, just by having touched a surface of your home from which "Suspicions".

3. Direct your attention to new stimuli

Instead of trying to “block out” those insecure thoughts that make you feel anxious, limit yourself to accept that they will be in your mind for a while and direct your attention towards other stimuli more nice.

4. If necessary, go to therapy

If nothing works, don't worry, that doesn't mean that discomfort is going to stay in your life forever. Tstill only seek professional help going to psychotherapy, so that you have an anxiety intervention program that takes into account your characteristics and your specific way of life.

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Do you need professional psychological assistance?

If you are considering going to psychological therapy to improve your impulse and emotion management skills, please contact me.

My name is Javier Ares Arranz and I am a General Health Psychologist expert in emotional problems and related to anxiety, as well as in couples therapy.

My way of working is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy combined with therapeutic resources such as Mindfulness and the techniques of relaxation, elements that allow people to gain fluency in the modulation of their emotions and their behavior patterns during the day to day day. Ask me without obligation about my online therapy services by video call.