The pandemic has been attributed many trends, including a very special one: the emotional support water bottle (free translation: the water bottle as emotional support). The hashtag has more than 140 million views on TikTok and the social network is full of videos of people talking about their attachment – ironic or not – to their water bottle.
Charlotte Bellehumeur and Sarah Bonnafous, both in their twenties, are among them. Their water bottle follows them wherever they go. “I don’t feel good when I go to places, like a bar or a show, and I can’t bring it,” explains Charlotte Bellehumeur.
His water bottle is by his side at all times – at work, on his bedside table when he sleeps and even in the restaurant. If she doesn’t have it with her, she feels “anxious that she won’t be able to drink if something happens,” laughs the geography student.
She puts forward some hypotheses on the reasons for her link to her bottle.
Maybe with my ADHD it helps me focus. I think that’s a comfort too.
Charlotte Bellehumeur
Her attachment has increased with the pandemic, she points out. The trend on social media was to always have an abundance of drinks, like her coffee, her smoothie, her water. ” I got used to. »
Sarah Bonnafous admits, she feels less anxious with her bottle of water nearby. “If there is anything uncertain, I drink water […] it looks like it will solve my problems,” she says.
The IT project manager puts stickers on some of her bottles. Passionate about the outdoors, she collected it as her adventures progressed. “I’m proud to have brought my bottle to these places, to have had it with me when it was -30 °C like 35 °C, she said. So when I’m anxious, just having it reminds me that I’m capable. »
Pay attention to safe behaviors
“For the majority of the population, it is not very serious to have this kind of behavior with your bottle”, explains Frédéric Langlois, full professor in the psychology department of the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR) .
Be careful though: always having your bottle with you can become a reassuring behavior. “It seems harmless at first glance, but in the long run, it becomes a problem if the person starts to develop reassuring behaviors like this,” he explains. It’s a way of feeding anxiety. »
PHOTO LEOPATRIZI, GETTY IMAGES
The water bottle has become an important part of the daily life of many more anxious people.
“It’s negative reinforcement,” he adds. If, to face a situation, you need these gestures or these objects to reduce anxiety and give you a feeling of security, it can reinforce the feeling that you need them to feel good. »
[Il faudrait] to limit oneself to the normal function of water, therefore to hydrate and not to secure oneself.
Frédéric Langlois, Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at UQTR
Could the pandemic have contributed to increasing these behaviors? Yes, he says. “Those with an anxious background developed more reassuring behaviors. »
Stay hydrated, but not only
This attachment to water bottles stems in part from the discourse on the importance of hydration, believes Charlotte Bellehumeur.
“Social media encourages that. I’ve been following a lot of sports accounts since the pandemic and everyone’s got their nice water bottle, their big bottle, and everyone’s talking about hydration. »
Some people also have many water bottles and different brands, depending on their activities. There’s the Stanley bottle, the frank green, the Hydro Flask, the Nalgene, the Owala, to name a few. Not to mention the multiple colors offered. Sarah Bonnafous, for example, uses her Hydro Flask for the office and her Nalgene for the outdoors. “It seems like there’s a bottle of water for every activity,” she says. It’s like different parts of our identity. »
Having a bottle of water with you is good – both from an environmental and health point of view – but you shouldn’t make it a dogma, reminds Frédéric Langlois. “At certain times of the day, we don’t have time to hydrate and nothing very serious will happen. »