Den fænomenologiske oplevelse af afskaffelsen af COVID-19 restriktionerne - Blandt individer der er diagnosticeret med OCD

Abstract

Den 31. januar 2022 besluttede den danske regering at afskaffe COVID-19 restrikti-onerne (Ottosen, Sørensen & Ancher-Jensen, 2022). Dette skete pba. anbefalinger fra Epidemikommissionen, der ikke længere vurderede COVID-19 som værende en samfundskritisk sygdom (Epidemikommissionen, 2022, p. 1f). En samfundskritisk sygdom, bliver af epidemilovens § 2, stk. 4 defineret på følgende vis: ”ved en sam-fundskritisk sygdom forstås en alment farlig sygdom, hvis udbredelse medfører eller risikerer at medføre alvorlige forstyrrelser af vigtige samfundsfunktioner”. Efter to år, hvor omdrejningspunktet for danskernes hverdag var smitte- og dødstal, diverse restriktioner og nedlukninger, er Danmark mere eller mindre tilbage til en "normal" hverdag. Afskaffelsen af restriktionerne sker i kølvandet på, at der i december 2021 stadig var et højt smittetal, samt tiltagende bekræftede COVID-19 tilfælde. Ifølge Danmarks statistik sker der fra 1. december 2021 til 1. marts 2022 en stigning på 2.159.746 COVID-19 tilfælde (Danmarks statistik, 2022). Stigningen i smittetallene, har ledt til undren om, hvilken indflydelse det kan have på individer, der har en frygt for både at blive smittet samt at smitte andre. Særligt med fokus på de indivi-der, som man i eget tidligere studie har undersøgt, hvor fokus var på, hvordan indi-vider diagnosticeret med angst og/eller OCD har oplevet COVID-19 nedlukningerne (Zaar, Holm, Eriksen, Nielsen & Larsen, 2021). Med det sidstnævnte in mente har det vakt en nysgerrighed om, hvordan individer med OCD vil håndtere afskaffelsen af restriktionerne. Dette er desuden pba., at respondenter i tidligere egen undersø-gelse gav udtryk for en bekymring om en genåbning af samfundet samt en tryghed ved de implementerede restriktioner. Specielt blandt respondenterne med OCD blev der beskrevet en frygt for at blive smittet og smitte andre, hvilket kan tænkes at gøre denne gruppe særligt udsat i denne tid. I kumulation af de førnævnte refleksioner samt interesser har disse været bærende elementer for dette speciale, som desuden har ført til udformningen af følgende problemformulering: Hvordan kan man, vha. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, for-stå individer der er diagnosticeret med OCD’s oplevelser af afskaf-felsen af COVID-19 restriktionerne? Der er blevet udformet underspørgsmål, hvis formål er at præcisere hvilke elemen-ter, der findes relevante og interessante at belyse i dette speciale. Disse under-spørgsmål er udformet pba. erfaringer og viden der er opnået gennem egen tidligere undersøgelse (Zaar et al., 2021). Herigennem fandt vi ligeledes ud af, at de under-spørgsmål, som er blevet udformet til dette speciale, kunne have givet os nogle an-dre mulige forståelser for respondenternes besvarelser og fænomenologiske oplevel-ser. Det er på baggrund af disse, at følgende underspørgsmål er blevet udformet: Hvilke(n) indflydelse(r) har afskaffelsen af restriktionerne på det mentale helbred blandt individer med OCD? Og I hvilken grad spiller personlighedstræk og copi-ngstrategier en rolle i håndtering af fjernelsen af COVID-19 restriktionerne, blandt individer, der er diagnosticeret med OCD?

On the 31st of January the Danish government decided to terminate the COVID-19 regulations due to a recommendation from The Danish Ministry of Health. The ter-mination of the regulations was received by the Danish populace with mixed feel-ings for various reasons. One reason was that the regulations were part of the Danes' lives for two years and the termination was therefore cause for relief. Another that due to the fact that the infection rate was at its peak, which meant that the risk of getting infected was high. The ascending infection rate sparked an interest and curi-osity which led to the writing of this paper, regarding how people who have a fear of getting infected and/or infecting others would be affected by the termination of these regulations. This led to interest in how and if this would affect individuals diagnosed with OCD. Especially because some of the regulations had similarities with the symptomatology of OCD, such as a focus on hand sanitization. For these reasons the main purpose of this thesis is to get an understanding of how individuals diagnosed with OCD have experienced the termination of the COVID-19 regula-tions. To shed light upon this phenomenon the following problem statement was formulated: How can one understand how individuals diagnosed with OCD have experienced the termination of the COVID-19 regulations by using the method of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). To further understand this phenome-non, the following sub-questions were formulated: Which influences does the termi-nation of the regulations have on mental health among individuals with OCD? And to what degree does personality traits and coping strategies affect these individuals' management of the termination of the COVID-19 regulations? The method chosen to collect empirical data was an online survey with qualitative questions and to analyse the responses of the participants the method of IPA was applied. By using IPA, the following themes were identified: Regulations, Mental Vulnerability, Psychological Diagnoses, Treatment, Personality Traits and Coping Strategies, Family and Uncertainty. The conclusions of this thesis are as follows: The termination of the regulations have been experienced differently among the participants, where some have experi-enced relief, and some distress, while others have experienced relief and distress simultaneously. Furthermore, the treatment of these individuals has been challenged by the changing regulations, and the risk of getting infected by the virus. Some of the participants have experienced a higher level of distress which possibly led to medical treatment. Additionally, the participants have shown a higher level of the personality trait neuroticism and a lower level of extroversion which is consistent with earlier conducted studies. The personality traits appear to have negatively af-fected the way the participants have experienced and handled the termination of the regulations. In addition, it has been identified that individuals with a comorbid di-agnosis tend to use negative coping strategies. Finally, it has been identified that the participants have been influenced negatively by the uncertainty brought by the pan-demic and by the risk of infection which has caused worries concerning family members. Given the unfamiliarity of the phenomenon and the lack of studies, further research is necessary to get a better understanding of how individuals diagnosed with OCD have experienced the termination of the COVID-19 regulations and how it has af-fected their mental health.

A master thesis from Aalborg University

Den fænomenologiske oplevelse af afskaffelsen af COVID-19 restriktionerne - Blandt individer der er diagnosticeret med OCD

[The Phenomenological Experience of the Termination of the COVID-19 Regulations - Among Individuals Diagnosed with OCD]