In a panel discussion led by Dr. Sneha, clinicians address the rise of obsessive‑compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms during the Covid‑19 pandemic and how to differentiate them from appropriate hygiene practices. They emphasize that while frequent hand‑washing and surface cleaning are essential, urges that are irrational—such as repeatedly cleaning an item that has not been exposed to the outside—signal OCD. The experts cite recent guidance recommending 10‑12 hand washes per day (after bathroom use, before/after meals, and after touching objects from outside) and advise against excessive use of hand sanitizer when proper washing is performed. They stress the importance of adhering to public‑health guidelines without over‑doing cleaning, and encourage individuals who feel their urges are excessive or irrational to seek professional help.
Chapters
The idea is that OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, is suddenly, you know, is on a rise. So how do you differentiate? For some individuals, the question is more about how do you differentiate between if it's just the need to correctly wash your hands or it's become an obsessive compulsive disorder. So if Dr. Preeti, you or Dr. Luha, you want to attempt to answer this question?
Dr. Sneha, you are the practicing psychiatrist over here.
Yeah, yes, yeah, I, I just wanted you to probably to hear your inputs on this. So, uh, to, to that question, I would want to say that, uh, as an individual, yes, there is definitely a need to be practical about this pandemic. It's very important to wash your hands, uh, more than usual, be ensure that things Things are clean, surfaces are clean more than usual. But at the same time, if you feel that the need to clean a surface is irrational, for example, you've not gone outside, a thing is lying inside the house and you've cleaned it once, the need to or urge to clean it again, that's completely irrational. And that is where the OCD factor comes in. In this time, if it's about washing hands or cleaning surfaces, it's very important that stick to what the guidelines say. Nobody can be 100% sure about the safety or the practicality about these steps. Just stick to guidelines, don't overdo it. And wherever the urge to overdo comes in, that's where the OCD— you can probably think about this being an OCD and can see inappropriate help can be sought.
Yeah, Sneha, just to add what you have said, now recent studies say that if you wash your hands 10 to 12 times a day, you are perfectly all right. And how they have said that is, you know, you wash after every time you go to the washroom, you wash your hands before and after your food, and whenever you've touched especially something from outside. Otherwise, you're good. Second step, now they are also saying do not use a lot of sanitizer. If you're washing your hands, then using sanitizer doesn't make sense. Don't overthink about it, right?
Right. So yeah, exactly the same thing, ma'am, that yes, don't overdo things, but at the same time stick to the practicality. So washing hands now after every thing, after every step that requires washing hands is okay. Like, don't focus on the number, don't focus on how other people are washing it, just focus on what seems like a more practical thing to do rather than thinking about it or worrying about it more than often.
