Welcome to Pandemic Stories, a living history about the deadliest pandemic outbreak of the last century.
At this rate, the botched handling of the COVID-19 virus and the global fallout is likely to become one of the most significant events in modern history. It will take an untold number of lives — projections are in the millions, possibly tens of millions — and it has stopped the world in its tracks. There is no element of society that has gone unaffected. Wars and famines are tragedies with narrow scopes, allowing more privileged people to go about their lives untouched; COVID-19 has impacted everyone.
As a New Yorker, I’m in the new epicenter of the outbreak, and as a journalist, my first instinct is to go out and document this unprecedented story. Unfortunately, I’m quarantined in my apartment and lost my full-time job, making both of those things more difficult. The silver lining is that I have a lot of time on my hands and I love interviewing people, so I’m doing what I’ve always done: I’m diving headfirst into a new project of my own (this is my other ongoing project), talking with as many people as possible and figuring out the details as I go.
Pandemic Stories will be a daily newsletter documenting the lives of people living through these crazy, scary times. Doctors and nurses, delivery workers, parents at home with kids, people who have fallen ill, the newly unemployed… everyone is experiencing some kind of significant shift in their lives. I truly believe this is going to be a flashpoint that fundamentally changes our world (for better or worse) and we need to document it from all angles.
I’m already collecting some of these stories and will send out the first few in a new edition tonight. But in the spirit of openness and what I’m asking of people, I want to share this piece that I just had published at HuffPost, about what it’s like to go through this event with OCD, a condition I’ve had since I was in middle school (and likely well before that).
For those who have contamination OCD ― a subset of the mental health condition in which people are terrified of getting an infection ― germs present the ultimate uncertainty. They’re an invisible threat that cannot be avoided. With work, you can achieve hard-earned moments of clarity where you know that, while life may be uncertain, it’s unlikely you’re at a heightened risk of catching any particular illness. But an outbreak as widespread and deadly as COVID-19 can seem to validate those original fears and inflame them even further.
Stephanie Jones, a woman in the United Kingdom who has contamination OCD, told HuffPost that she has severely curtailed her time outside over the last month. As a social worker, she’s considered an essential employee. However, she’s received permission to work from home three days a week and takes a taxi instead of public transportation to her job when she does go in.
At the same time, Tim Abbott, who lives with contamination OCD in Australia, said that the public response to the pandemic has somewhat eased his mind.
“Knowing that everyone is cleaning their hands and surfaces makes it actually a little easier to be able to cope with being in a social setting,” Abbott said.
People with OCD who have obsessions and rituals that have little to nothing to do with contamination or germs are also handling the pandemic and the quarantines in variable ways.
Personally, a lot of my OCD manifests in rigidity, from meals and exercise to work and places I visit. I’m very grateful and fortunate to be healthy, but suddenly having to be flexible with every aspect of my well-honed daily existence is its own exhausting battle.
You can read the rest of it at HuffPost; I hope it’s a little bit helpful.
Also: Here’s an incredible free stock photo I found while looking to add a splash of color to this very text-heavy first edition:
I’ll be back with other people’s stories this evening. Stay safe out there (or, hopefully, inside). The comments are open — I’d love for these newsletters to become a place where people can connect with one another, as well.
If you want to share your story, please email me at JordanZakarin@gmail.com. And if you think someone else might benefit from sharing, please send them my way!