“Have you ever panicked that what will happen if you run out of food, even when you have two cupboards full of essentials? My mother is a compulsive hoarder--she never parts with anything and when something new comes, she stows it away for future need. Initially, I thought it perhaps how she’d grown up belonging to a middle-class family where things were slightly scarce and needed to be used judiciously.
But now, when she came to live with me during the lockdown, and I witnessed her habit and behaviour myself--I am sure there is something wrong with her and I don’t even know whether she can be treated or diagnosed even,” said Kaavya Patil, a 27-year-old travel advisor working in Mumbai.
Vandana Patil, Kaavya’s mother always had a habit of hoarding things and especially food item--it gave her some kind of comfort, Kaavya believed, and let it be. But the pandemic has been extremely unsettling for her so much so that it seems like a clinical disorder now.
Vandana, her 62-year-old mother, lost her husband to cancer when Kaavya was 15. As per Kaavya’s knowledge, Vandana’s hoarding spree started off sometime then. She would buy snacks, rice, onions, toothpaste, soaps etc. in huge bulk quantities, worrying that either the prices of these things will increase or she will be deprived of these.
When the lockdown was announced officially Kaavya noted how her mother’s hoarding disorder peaked at that time, so much so that it made her mom’s daily functioning difficult. “Aai had gone all bonkers. She went to our grocers and ordered everything in quantities more than necessary--she bought 10 packets of bread, 20 kg of sugar, 10 kilos of tea leaves and 10 kilos of milk--just for the two of us!!! It didn’t seem sensible to me at all and so I cancelled out many items from Aai’s list. She was so furious with me that she went into a crying and abusing rage. I can’t understand why she was angry if I asked the grocer to reduce the 50 kg rice to just 5 kg and 35 kg wheat to 10 kg. After all, it’s just us both and our diet isn’t that extravagant either. She didn’t talk to me for one whole week straight.”
When the lockdown duration started increasing for an indefinite period, Kaavya’s worries grew as well. She explained, “Aai is not a NEWS lover. But during the whole lockdown she had glued herself to different news channels and frequently went into a state of serious panic. She’d be all restless, checking and double-checking the kitchen storage cupboards. I ran out of space and so everything was kept of the kitchen floor on one side and she would every morning and evening count the bags, do some calculations, make some notes and then re-start this entire process the next day. I repeatedly assured her that we had enough material to last us the next few months and that essentials and grocery shops would be open but that did not make any impact on her.
Her worrying increased when irresponsible whatsapp messages started doing the rounds that the world will be coming to an end due to starvation soon. She went to the grocers and bought innumerable packets of biscuits and readymade food--whatever that was available at the store. In fact the grocer was himself so surprised by her urgency and need for things, that he only called to update me of this irrational behaviour. On her part, she kept saying - everyone is dying of hunger, we cannot die like this, I need to keep the cupboards full, we have to bring everything we can…”
“Aai has changed way too much post the coronavirus outbreak. I don’t know what is wrong with her. She is always worked up about the smallest of things. Would you believe that I have atleast 30 unopened bottles of shampoo lying in my house?
If I even talk of returning them, she flies into a rage--raves and rants and abuses me and cries--it is too much for me to bear.
She panics even when the electricity goes off for just 5 minutes. She has become restless and shifty and it is getting difficult for her to sleep. She’s constantly blabbering things about less food and buying more of it to survive...always counting and recounting the grocery packets and making notes in her little diary. I love my mother and am extremely stressed about her. Is my mother going mad? Or is it a clinical condition that needs to be looked after? How do I know what my mother is going through? I need help for my mother…”