Wash your hands up to 26 times a day. No, more, 40. Don't shake hands, don't hug anyone, don't have contact with anyone.
Keep a distance of up to 1.30 meters from others.
Do not go to crowded places.
Use your non-dominant hand for everything; open a door, carry something, take something.
That anxiety that we all have been feeling to perform our day to day activities, that stress of thinking that you touched something and then without thinking you touched your face, that fear of thinking that that person who spoke to you very closely could have spit something on you without meaning to, that repulsion that causes you to feel someone’s breath very close to you. It is something I have lived with all my life.
I am 35 years old and I am diagnosed with OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And although these past few years I’ve managed to control my distress, for the first time in my entire life, I’m a little happier.
Happy that when I meet someone for the first time they don’t want to shake my hand and I don’t have to feel their sweaty, dirty skin.
Happy because when I go out in the street I see more and more people wearing masks every day, preventing their saliva from flying through the air towards my face. Happy because they take a distance to talk to me.
Happy that the neighbors in the building don’t want to grab the door handle, that they disinfect the door every time they pass by, that they prefer to walk up the stairs rather than touch the elevator buttons, that they try to open and close the common doors with their elbows.
I feel better knowing that today my anxiety is shared. That what we are living through will always make us think about how easy it is to contaminate each other. And even though no one is talking about not sharing a straw, a spoon, drinking from the same glass, or not using public restrooms, I feel like we are making some progress.
I’m a little calmer from washing my hands vigorously, thinking that we’re all doing the same thing and that tomorrow, when we unfortunately have to shake hands, yours will be a little cleaner than before.
It gives me a little peace, that at least for a few months, we are all living with a little OCD.
