The Day America Ran Out Of Toilet Paper: Coronavirus Panic Buys

You probably know people who are going about life in the time of the new coronavirus with disinfectant wipes in their purses and briefcases and latex gloves in their pockets.

And then there are people who seem to be living in fear. In particular, many people are living in fear of running out of toilet paper. Egad, they may have to resort to corn cobs and tree leaves for the job.

Now, we’re not taking away from the serious threat the spread of the coronavirus poses to public health — and it most certainly does — but why are people filling shopping carts to the point they’re overflowing with toilet paper?

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“It’s being proactive and feeling like you are in control and prepared for whatever the next 2-8 weeks may bring,” Concord, New Hampshire, Patch reader Kyle Poirier wrote in a Facebook comment after we asked people if their toilet paper buying habits had changed.

“I bought some last week because I was out,” Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Patch reader Valerie Gronholm Higgins commented. “I read that running out to buy necessities makes people feel like they're doing something useful in a crisis situation. Makes them feel more secure. But I don't get the run on TP to the extent that now stores don't have any.”

Just two weeks ago, many of the people currently stockpiling toilet paper were probably picking up a 12-pack of big rolls, figuring that would hold them for a month or more. Now, we're getting reports of people standing in line for an hour or more to squeeze the last rolls of Charmin out of the stores.

They’re also stocking up on hand sanitizer (if they can find it), canned goods and other grocery items. But it’s the toilet paper run that constipates the mind. It isn’t as if diarrhea is one of the symptoms of COVID-19, as the illness caused by the new coronavirus is officially called. It isn't even a staple people normally think about — such as bread and milk — when stocking up for an emergency.

Babylon Village, New York, Patch reader Cat Bosco didn’t have toilet paper or tissues on the weekly grocery list — not that there would have been any on the shelves when Bosco stopped at a favorite West Babylon store.

Bosco said the store “was a madhouse,” with grocery staples like bananas, fresh meat at dairy either gone or in limited supply. “People had one to two carts, each overflowing with items. Totally ridiculous.”

Jennifer Maw, a Framingham, Massachusetts, Patch reader said she is “baffled” by the run on toilet paper. “What good is TP going to do?”

Unfounded Rumors Fuel TP Run

Here’s what's fueling toilet paper panic buying — and how it’s causing angst for those of us who just want to buy the quantity we always buy without finding empty shelves: unfounded rumors.

Like the coronavirus itself, a rumor of a toilet paper shortage that started in China has now spread around the world and eventually to the United States. In February, panicked shoppers in Hong Kong started a run on toilet paper (and rice) that prompted its government to release a statement saying the false rumors were “leading to panic buying and even chaos.”

Here in the United States, #ToiletPaperApocalypse is trending on Twitter.

The World Health Organization’s declaration Wednesday that the global spread of the COVID-19 virus is now a pandemic added to people’s concerns about running out of toilet paper. For the record, “pandemic” doesn’t refer to the severity of the spread of the coronavirus illness but rather its global reach.

And, as media psychology professor Christopher Morin recently told Patch, some of us are letting our primal brains do our thinking, in effect telling us the whole world is coming to an end.

It isn’t, of course. But shutting off the primal brain, unchanged in 500 million years of continuous evolution, isn’t as easy as flipping the switch over to the modern brain, where the ability to reason, solve problems and control impulses is located.

More On This: America’s Coronavirus Virus: The Psychology Behind Stockpiling

The fight-or-flight response is triggered by an “abnormal number of messages” conveying the same threat — in this case, coronavirus, says Morin, who teaches at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, and has written multiple books on media-driven consumer behavior.

“That's interpreted by our brain as a life-or-death challenge unless we start storing supplies — as if we had to hide in a bunker for many, many months,” he says, adding that “rationality becomes extinct and we shut off that part of our brain where emotions and reason are managed."

'A Little Bit Left'

The frenzied response to the false rumor of a global toilet paper shortage may be creating one.

“We only have a little bit left,” commented Jenn L. Downey, a Naugatuck, Connecticut, Patch reader. “Hopefully everyone who bought it actually needs it because if not, you just took it away from those who actually need it.”

Related: Coronavirus Panic Buying Puts Grocery Workers, Shoppers At Risk Of Infection

Jessica Lucia Foster, a Woodstock-Towne Lake, Georgia, Patch reader, said she has Crohn’s disease, “but have no toilet paper or access to a healthy diet to offset symptoms” because of the panic buying.

“I bought some because I'm worried that when I do need more there won't be any left,” wrote Jennifer Hurley, a Concord, New Hampshire, Patch reader. “ I didn't buy tons, just what I'd normally buy when I'm almost out.”

Enfield, Connecticut, Patch reader Heather Sullivan said that when the supply dwindled to three rolls for her family of five, she went shopping. “I figured if I waited any longer, I’d be up a creek,” she said.

Lynda Wood, a Patchogue, New York, Patch reader, applied the “better safe than sorry” maxim and picked up extra toilet paper in preparation for extended isolation or a lockdown, but said more stores should place limits on purchases, a practice some businesses have adopted.

Sarah DeBenedictis, a Milford, Connecticut, Patch readers, said she had only two rolls left at her house, and bought a 20-roll pack “because that’s all they had restocked at that point.”

A woman in line ahead of her bought four of those 20 packs, or 80 rolls of toilet paper, DeBenedictis said.

That should last a while. Massachusetts Institute of Technology student’s 2006 research paper showed Americans use about 57 toilet paper sheets a day, or about 20,805 sheets and 42 rolls of two-ply toilet paper a year, a pattern of toilet paper usage consistent with the findings cited in a 2009 Mental Floss. Other

Some other estimates show the average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper a year — so if you bought three jumbo packs of 72 rolls at the local Costco, you probably have two years of bathroom duty covered.

To be clear, public health officials emphasize the new coronavirus isn’t something to be taken lightly and that all Americans — particularly those over 60 and most vulnerable to a coronavirus infection — should self-quarantine and maintain at least 6 feet of space when they're with other people.

And it is a good idea to have enough groceries on hand and make sure you've filled your prescriptions. Health officials also advise Americans to make sure they have the same over-the-counter remedies they'd stock up on for a nasty bout with influenza or bronchitis.

But they don't need cases and cases of toilet paper.

“You don’t have to buy so much,” President Trump said in a news conference Sunday, urging Americans to stop stockpiling. “Take it easy. Relax.”

More Reading

Here are some links to help you navigate America’s new normal, including Patch’s national updates, which update throughout the day or weekend:

• Coronavirus: Live U.S. Updates
• The New Coronavirus: Your Questions Answered
• How To Talk To Stubborn Parents About Coronavirus
• Coronavirus: Tips To Prepare Your Home
• EPA Lists Disinfectants To Fight Coronavirus
• 12 Essential Work-From-Home Tips