Rajkumar Ravi Philip
Department of Psychiatry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, India.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Feb 24;12:652353. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.652353. eCollection 2021.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has focused the attention of researchers, civil authority and the general public on the phenomenon of "panic buying," characterized by the excessive purchase of specific materials-particularly food and hygiene-related products-in anticipation of an expected shortage. This phenomenon has been well-documented in response to several natural and man-made disasters, but its global scope and severity in the context of COVID-19 are unprecedented. This response can negatively impact health, food security, and disease prevention efforts. Attempts to modify such behaviors are more likely to succeed if they are based on insights from both the biomedical and the social sciences. From a biological perspective, the phenomenological overlap between panic buying and psychological disorders such as hoarding disorder and compulsive buying raises the possibility of a shared neurobiological underpinning. Evolutionary models suggest that these behaviors represent an attempt to enhance individual and group survival in the face of a threatened scarcity of resources. These phenomena may be influenced by specific genetic variants which are also implicated in hoarding-related psychological disorders. From a psychological perspective, attachment theory provides a conceptual framework that serves as a bridge between prior life adversity, current deprivation, and an increased attachment to material objects. Such a framework is of relevance when considering panic buying during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been associated with significant disruptions in attachment bonds. From a social-anthropological perspective, hoarding and related behaviors have been associated with social exclusion and rejection, as well a lack of social support. These risk factors have affected large sections of the general population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the governmental responses to it. This perspective also emphasizes the symbolic significance of the hoarded objects themselves. In this paper, an attempt is made to integrate these three perspectives and thereby formulate a biopsychosocial model of panic buying in response to this global health crisis. The existing scientific literature on panic buying is examined in the light of this model. Finally, suggestions are proposed as to how this model might inform social strategies aimed at preventing or reducing panic buying.
全球新冠疫情使研究人员、政府当局和公众的注意力都集中在了“恐慌性抢购”现象上，其特点是预期物资短缺而过度购买特定物品，尤其是食品和与卫生相关的产品。这种现象在应对多起自然和人为灾害时已有充分记录，但在新冠疫情背景下，其全球范围和严重程度却是前所未有的。这种反应会对健康、粮食安全和疾病预防工作产生负面影响。如果基于生物医学和社会科学的见解来尝试改变此类行为，成功的可能性会更大。从生物学角度来看，恐慌性抢购与囤积障碍和强迫性购物等心理障碍之间的现象学重叠，增加了存在共同神经生物学基础的可能性。进化模型表明，这些行为是在面临资源稀缺威胁时，为增强个体和群体生存几率而做出的尝试。这些现象可能受到特定基因变异的影响，这些基因变异也与囤积相关的心理障碍有关。从心理学角度来看，依恋理论提供了一个概念框架，它是先前生活逆境、当前匮乏与对物质对象依恋增加之间的桥梁。在考虑新冠疫情期间的恐慌性抢购时，这样一个框架具有相关性，因为疫情与依恋关系的重大破坏有关。从社会人类学角度来看，囤积及相关行为与社会排斥和拒绝以及缺乏社会支持有关。在新冠疫情及其政府应对措施的背景下，这些风险因素影响了广大普通民众。这个角度还强调了所囤积物品本身的象征意义。本文试图整合这三个角度，从而构建一个应对这一全球健康危机的恐慌性抢购的生物心理社会模型。根据这个模型审视了关于恐慌性抢购的现有科学文献。最后，就该模型如何为旨在预防或减少恐慌性抢购的社会策略提供信息提出了建议。
