Control freaks are common freaks. To put it another way, control freaks are not so freakish. ‘Freak’ usually means unusual, rare, exceptional. When therefore we say someone is a ‘control freak.’ we’re saying they have an unusual and extraordinary determination to control everyone and everything in every situation.
Some do this actively and some do it passively, but we all do it to some degree. We try to control or micromanage our environment, our emotions, our surroundings, our relationships, and it all eventually overwhelms and exhausts us. ‘Controlitis’ is rooted in the fear of the unpredictable or the fear of being at the mercy of unpredictable people. It’s often a reaction to the fear of losing control and can be related to a time in life when we suffered abuse, neglect, trauma, disruption, or chaos in childhood.
COVID-19 will only multiply controlitis because there’s never been a time when we’ve been so out of control. Work, school, sports, church, are all out of our control. It doesn’t help when Chinese rockets are falling out of the sky! Who is in control? (Daniel 11).