OCD Center of LA On Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Health-Related OCD

I was considering writing my own post about Coronavirus and how I plan to deal with it from an OCD standpoint, but this post from the OCD Center of LA did a much better job than I ever could. I trust their professional expertise and have worked with them before so I know that they grasp some of the subtler OCD nuances.

My favorite passage from the post is below and details how to balance staying mentally healthy (by avoiding harmful OCD behaviors) and physically healthy (by protecting yourself as best you can from the virus):

(Start of passage)—How can people with OCD and Health Anxiety cope in a situation like this?

Unless you have a compromised immune system, the best response to this virus is to accept that it exists and that you might get sick with symptoms that resemble the flu. For our clients with OCD and Health Anxiety, we counsel them to address their illness obsessions in three ways.

First, don’t over-attend to your obsessive thoughts, to your perceived physical symptoms, or to media reports about the virus. If you struggle with OCD or Health Anxiety, that will almost certainly make you more anxious.

Second, don’t over-value your thoughts about the virus. If you have OCD or Health Anxiety, your typical response may be to over-value your exaggerated thoughts about the risks related to the coronavirus. It is important to remember that you have this tendency, and to remind yourself that you may be over-valuing your thoughts.

And third, don’t behaviorally over-respond to your thoughts about the virus. That means that you shouldn’t wash compulsively, you shouldn’t repeatedly go to the doctor or emergency room, and you shouldn’t spend hours looking up information about the coronavirus on Google.

All that being said, there is nothing wrong with being extra conscientious about basic hygiene during flu season or whenever there is an outbreak of a communicable disease. And of course, if you are genuinely feeling sick, you should get checked out by your physician. But just once, not repeatedly.

(End of passage)