Delicious UK - (05)May 2020

food for thought.

deliciousmagazine.co.uk 43

issues(toputit gently)arenota majorsymptom

ofCovid-19.ThepsychotherapistPhilippaPerry

speculatedonTwitterthatloorollmightsymbolise

‘theonlythingbetweenusandthesh*t’.Thereare

otherexplanations.Toiletpaperis relativelycheap,

makingit accessibletomostbudgets,somost

peoplecanfeelasthoughthey’redoingsomething

bystockingup.Psychologically,thissomething

feelsbetterthanthealternative:feelinghelpless.

It’snotjustphysical

items– somepeople

hoardinformation

byavidlyreadingall

thenewspapersand

followingallthe

Twitterscience

accountsandnewschannels.Thisagainreveals

a wishforcontrolorhavingan edge: ‘The more

I know, the safer I will be.’

THENEEDTOFEELSAFE

Manyrisklosinglivelihoods,homes,loved

ones.Ourfundamentalsenseofsafetyhasbeen

disrupted.Whenthishappenswereverttoa sort

ofsurvivalmode.We’renolongerfocusedon

abstractidealslikestatus,focusinginsteadonbasic

physiologicalneedssuchasfood,waterandshelter.

Havingplentyoffoodinthecupboardsmakesus

feela bitsafer,andfrantic(perhapsirrational)

shoppingrestoresa senseofsafety.We’re

frightenedandwe’relooking for anything that

will make us feel better.

SO,WHATWOULDHELP?

Peopleneedtofeelreassuredoftheirsafety.This

couldcome,inpart,fromclearinformationfrom

governmentsandleadersabouttherisks,plus

reassuranceaboutthemeasuresbeingintroduced

tomitigatetheworry.Butweneedtotrustour

leadersinorderforthattowork,andthelatest

Ipsos Mori poll shows politicians are now among

theleasttrustedprofessionalgroup.Evenif wedid

trustourpoliticians,anxietyandtheemotional

needforsafetycaneasilyoverruleourreason.

Unexpectedly,rationingmightbeoneofthe

bestwaystolowerpeople’slevelsofanxiety.

Rationing,eitherformallybygovernmentsor

informallybyshops,asis happeningnow,is

a kindofexternallyenforced‘reasonmachine’that

putsa physicallimitonthepowerofouranxiety.

It takesawaythe

burdenofdecision-

makingandreassures

usthateveryonewill

getanequalandfair

share.Wefeelsafer

knowingtherewill

begoodsonthesupermarketshelves;thatwe

won’thavetogowithout.Andthatsense of

safetyis somethingweallneed.

KimberleyWilsonis a charteredpsychologistandlecturer

withaninterestin therolethatfoodandlifestyleplayin

mentalhealth.Herbook,Howto Build a Healthy Brain

(Yellow Kite £16.99), is out now.

THEPRACTICALBIT

Feelingnervousabouttheamountoffood

youhavetoliveon?Worriedyoudon’thave

enoughflourorpasta?It canhelptogo

throughyourcupboards,fridgeandfreezer,

if youhaveone,andwriteoutallthepossible

mealsyoucanmake.Firstly,thequantityof

mealsyouhavetohandmightsurpriseyou

• fromsardinesontoasttospicedlentils
  andriceorpastawithtomatosauce.If you
  knowyouhaveenoughfoodfora weekor
  moreanddon’tneedtogoshoppingbefore
  then,it’scalming.Secondly,you’llhavea far
  betterideaofwhattobuyfromtheshops,
  soyoucanfeelmoreincontrol.

Shopping,fillingourcupboards,

issomethingwecancontroland

itbecomesa wayoftemporarily

relieving the anxiety of the chaos

ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES