# Am I becoming agoraphobic, claustrophobic or something new? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [November 1, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-becoming-agoraphobic-claustrophobic-or-something-new/924458 "2020-11-01T02:55:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 8
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-becoming-agoraphobic-claustrophobic-or-something-new/924458/8 "2020-11-01T17:19:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IMHO, and worth every penny you paid for it, anyone quarantining or disinfecting their groceries or their mail is engaging in irrationally overcautious behavior. Someone who sets up a handwashing station outside their home is likewise irrationally overcautious. If that provides them psychological comfort, it’s harmless enough. But if that is fomenting psychological _dis_ comfort then we have to conclude they’re hurting themselves with their decisions. Decisions which are not based on a a _rational_ balancing of _all_ their concerns. If memory serves, in the early days of the pandemic, epidemiologists were concerned that surface contact could be a significant factor in spreading the coronavirus, and such precautions were, if not universally recommended, at least were classified as “not a bad idea.” But, further research has told us that such transmission appears to be pretty rare, meaning that those sorts of precautions are likely unnecessary – but some people may not have gotten that message, or they don’t feel comfortable in stopping. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-becoming-agoraphobic-claustrophobic-or-something-new/924458)._