One thing I’ve seen about the necessity of staying at home is an underlying assumption that having to socially isolate for long periods of time is harmless, especially these days with the internet. But I’ve seen others talk about PTSD and how we’re social animals and how such a thing could be psychologically harmful.
If everyone had to stay indoors for the entire time of this crisis, not go outside at all except for necessity, would that have any negative effect on the average, mentally healthy person?
I go out to check the mail every day (OK, not yet today because it was raining) and I take a very long path home so I’m outside for about 30 minutes. The other day we sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the sunshine while it was here.
If you can’t go outside, invest in a full-spectrum lamp so you get something like sunlight and don’t get SAD.
My mom has always struggled with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and I try very hard to avoid it.
Where I live, we have to socially isolate, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay indoors all the time. We are allowed to go for walks, but we can’t drive somewhere to get to a walking path or trail. We are blessed to live in a golf course community, so we have a goo place to walk here.
I personally don’t understand why everyone around me is acting so “childish” about staying home. I guess I’m the one that is weird in not finding it that much of a challenge… Maybe it helps that I’ve been busy with work, but in general it doesn’t fill me with dread to have to stay home in order to STOP THE VIRUS.
I’ve had words with family members (far closer to being at risk then I am) numerous times the last couple of weeks, because not seeing each other for a couple of weeks is appearantly worse than torture.
Like I said, I guess I’m the weird one to think that is a small sacrifice…
I think partly it’s an extrovert/introvert thing, and this is a lot harder on extroverts than on us introverts.
And I think that’s just one of several dimensions along which people differ, in temperament or in circumstance, that makes it harder on some people than on others.
Well, my wife and kids are home. So I’m not really ever “alone”. Plus I’m used to working from home. Also, 90% of my work is calls with people. Plus my apartment has gigantic bay windows with a view of the Hudson River. So that’s kind of relaxing.
But I do miss going out to eat, hanging out with friends, and grabbing a drink at my favorite bar. Or even just walking around town.
Back in the day I spent a considerable amount of time on offshore drilling rigs. While maybe a bit less confining than what we’re talking about here, those rig could seem pretty small by the end of one’s tour of duty. Although the nominal hitch was supposed to be 28 days, it could be occasionally be much more than that. Most people could handle it; a few couldn’t. A few times guys had to be taken off because they went, for lack of a better term, stir crazy.
It certainly can be, but a lot of dating, lifestyle, and relationship coaches are advising to treat this as a sort of retreat, kind of like if you were to go hiking alone somewhere for peace, reflection, and serenity.
I think a lot of the negative effects can be mitigated if one uses this time to meditate, read, physically exert, learn, etc as well as keeps in touch socially, but at a distance. Even go outside, just outside your premises if that’s all you can do. If you are living with family members, all the merrier, because you can maintain human touch. That’s why the WHO changed “social distancing” to “physical distancing”. Easier said than done though. I need to get myself in this routine, but I’ve been wasting a lot of time on Reddit and watching the news which probably isn’t the healthiest and best use of my time.
I don’t think the negative effects should be much, may even be a net positive if the time is spent wisely. Personally, I’m two weeks in, and I’m not struggling too much, but then again I’m quite privileged and comfortable. My heart goes out, and I was actually grieving for a few days, about others who are in situations like financial distress, domestic abuse, unstable employment prospects, and severe mental illnesses in complete isolation without any direct human interaction as well as people missing out on once-in-a-lifetime experiences. I’ve really felt bad for people in these situations, but at the same time I do understand the necessity of why we have to do this. One thing that makes it easier and a counselor told me was to focus on the positive aspects of your sacrifice and how you’re indirectly saving lives as a result. That’s also been helping me stay positive about it, but personally while my life is on hold and I do miss aspects of my normal life, I have not been minding too much because of the positive impact and how I see many as being in a far worse position than I am.
Going outdoors isn’t forbidden. You can hang out in your yard, or go to the park, or walk the dog, as long as you’re distant from others.
I love being indoors, I have a project to work on, I have loads of TV and movies and podcasts to catch up on. I may go a little doolally, but that can be cured with a phone call or a healthy walk.
In a really weird way, I am sorta . . . less stressed . . . than usual. This is a huge surprise to me. I am very worried about the future of the world, of course, but certain pressures on me have been lifted and it’s been kinda freeing. I hate driving, I hate my commute (about 40 minutes each way, city traffic) and that’s gone. I always feel a lot of pressure to get my 8-year old son out of the house: he likes to be on the go, in any case, and I feel like I should support that. I want him to have novel experiences. But now I just can’t. It’s against the rules. As a teacher, I live or die by my scores: how did my kids do on the test? Well, no one is going to really care this year. AP exams have been shifted from 3 hour hand-written tests to some sort of 45 minute take at home exam that no one knows how it will work. So I am doing my best to prep my kids remotely but I don’t feel pressured. Also, tons of other stressful stuff at school–parent meetings, committees, planning for next year–is now on indefinite hold until we get some clarity on what the future will be. Our income is as secure as anyones, and we are spending much less. And, finally, I am getting enough sleep for maybe the first time in my adult life, certainly for the first time since my son was born 8 yeas ago.
So yeah, it’s weird. I read the news all the time. I worry about the future, about the healthcare system, about people I know. I worry intensely. But so many of these other sources of stress are gone, or greatly lowered. Which is something I worry about.
I’m pretty far out on the introvert end of the scale, and can happily go a week without talking to anyone in person (though the prospect of maybe making it several weeks seems unpleasant, even for me; a whole lot less unpleasant than being intubated, though.)
But I badly need to be able to spend time outside. Luckily, quite a few years ago I figured that out about myself; with the result that I can now self-isolate and still have multiple acres to play outside on. (And work on. Farming is an “essential business.”)
There are a lot of people who weren’t able to pull that one off; as well as, I suspect, a lot of people who feel crappy all the time and don’t realize that the reason for it is that they’re among the ones who need a lot of time outdoors, and either because they can’t choose their work or because they believed all the people telling them that of course indoor jobs are better than outdoor jobs, they’re not getting that outdoor time.
But there also seem to be a lot of people who aren’t bothered in the least by spending almost all their time indoors. Humans vary a lot.
ETA: Who I really worry about is the people who are now shut up in the house with family members/housemates who they don’t really get along with that well. Especially the ones shut up with someone who’s abusive.
Yes, but only due to loss of vitamin D. Human beings tend to adapt to their circumstances, so only something physiological would really matter.
Sure, there are people now who feel a bit stir crazy, but I think that’s more due to habits and redirecting their anxiety about the pandemic into the situation. It’s not them actually needing to go out as some requirement for good mental health.
With so many people talking about it, I assumed it depended on the population density. In particular, if you live in an apartment without a yard, where would you go?
Parks around me are closed. We are fortunate though that our building has some large grass areas, a courtyard and wide walkways along the water where one can go outside.
Also, our apartment has enough rooms where everyone can kind of go off and do their own thing. I sequester myself in my office, the wife tends to go to the bedroom and the kids sort of alternate between the living room and their bedroom.
Also, by my count we have at least nine “screens” so no one is ever fighting over the TV/computer (3 HD tvs, 2 smart phones, 1 tablet, my work laptop, wife’s work laptop, and an old personal laptop that sort of still works).
Plus my 5 year old son is mostly content to play with Lego.
