Suddenly, everything seems to have come to a standstill. All offices are closed or preparing to shut down, shutters are going down on our favourite market or hangout places, people are being asked to stay at home as cities are advancing towards a complete lockdown in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
Behind every day, WFH struggles of faulty Wifis and cranky bosses, closed favourite restaurant or the distance between you and your favourite person, lies the pain of being isolated from the world. When this isolation is voluntary it can be a blessing, but this sort of forced social isolation can be quite detrimental to one’s psyche.
This phenomena even has a term: “social recession”.
“Social recession” is the state where our social and mental health goes down, much like our present economy. And just like our leaders shouldn’t take economic recessions lightly, so shouldn’t you be taking this social isolation casually.
Don’t believe us? Well, you might believe this recent study that studies the effects of social isolation over a period of years and what it can do to one’s health. This data points out that loneliness can increase the chances of death by 26%, social isolation by 29% and living alone by 32%.
So, how can you deal with it?
Talk to 2 of our friends every day.
Talking to friends is the best therapy and we all know it. One simple way to get out of social recession is to keep in touch with your pals. Want to make it even more fun? Video conference your friends over a meal and have a virtual lunch date.
Go out and talk to your mother
In case you didn’t realize it has been work from home for some of our mothers since forever. Make a genuine effort to reconnect with your mother (keep your phone aside during this time). And while you are at it, go help your mother with her chores.
Meditate
Accepting the fact that staying home is going to be the new normal at least until the virus is contained is the need of the hour. While you are at it, you might want to try practising solitude. Solitude is different from aloneness, or loneliness, it is the state where you feel content with your own being.
So, start by taking small actions, maybe one call a day instead of two, maybe failing miserably at meditating, but as long as we don’t give up we can get over this stage pretty fine.