Fear of Running Out

It's been said that the Fear of Running Out (FORO) is a universal phenomenon. You can see it when people make large purchases before a storm, a pandemic, or buy the same item multiple times for fear of one breaking.

We do this because we associate these things with our survival and having more of it means that we can survive for longer.

While I'm guilty of this too, I do find it irrational when thinking about it. The most wanted item, during the Pandemic, was toilet paper. 

The biggest fear my mother had was missing out on toilet paper even though she already had a year worth of it in storage (she buys in bulk when it's on special). In this case, it make sense for people to stock on food as we all fear that Covid can have a negative impact on the food supply but why in the world is toilet paper an issue? I mean, worse come to worse, everyone could just get a bidet (which we should all have to save water really).

For me, this fear of running out is mixed with an addiction. When it comes to video games, my addiction, I'm always afraid that I'm going to run out. I have a stack of video games that I haven't even opened yet just because I'll get to it when I'm done the current ones I'm playing (I also like to collect them). I buy 2 controllers in case one goes out and I also have 2 versions of a console (ex: PS4/PS4 Pro) for the same reason.

It's important to understand what the fear is and, in my case, the addiction as that's the first step in fixing things.

Do you have a fear of running out? If so, what is it about?