Behind the toilet paper fiasco

With the Covid 19 virus outbreak spreading around the world, one common phenomena is the rush to stock up toilet paper. It is reported that toilet rolls are flying off the shelves in many countries.

I thought it rather irrational but on further thought hoarding toilet paper can be some form of emotional projection. Maybe it is a psychological defence mechanism, an essential item to wipe away something abhorrent, detested and threatening. My husband goes a step further. He thinks more toilet paper is needed because of the constant emotional urge to pass out unwanted and unwelcomed material.

Both of us are probably too imaginative. From a practical point of view, toilet paper unlike other essentials has no substitutes. A psychologist opines that making sure there is sufficient toilet paper gives people a sense of control. It addresses the feeling of helplessness in times of threat and uncertainty. Another professor thinks that people are so accustomed to wide consumer choices that the thought of scarcity derails them.

To try and understand more deeply such behaviour, I imagine what I will do if I really run out of toilet paper. Yes it will be inconvenient but certainly won't be catastrophic. as long as we still have newspaper and water supply that is. It really boils down to deviating from habitual practices of modern living. Perhaps then toilet paper is a necessary symbol of 'life as usual' and any disruption of toilet habits can be nerve racking. People have to cling to it as a minimum standard of normalcy.

Well, an Australian newspaper has reserved 8 pages of print with perforated toilet paper for their readers!