Disaster, health, and panic buying

ABSTRACT

Disasters have complex direct and indirect effects on population health and healthcare systems. Direct effects include risk of death, acute injuries, and destruction of healthcare infrastructure, while indirect effects include risk of communicable diseases and scarcity of food, water, medicines, and essential commodities. A disaster that threatens health, disrupts social order, and provokes shortage of commodities may precipitate behavior changes in population. One such behavior change is the well-documented phenomenon of panic buying where individuals buy unusually large quantities of goods that are perceived as necessary in anticipation of price rise or scarcity. It has received increasing attention during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its resurgence. The phenomenon has significant negative implications for population health and disease control. Attempts to control panic buying are more likely to succeed if they are predicated upon insights from an integrated biopsychosocial model. The chapter will assist readers in comprehending the complex relationships between disaster, health, and panic buying. This has important implications for prevention, public health, and policy planning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)