The pandemic is still with us, obviously. March seems like a long time ago, let alone the blissful ignorance of January when it all sounded like a distant problem being faced by people half-way around the world.
Back then, it felt like the world was being turned on its head by the evolving spread of the disease, and the ever-changing advice as new facts emerged. Precautions appeared at first unthinkable, then laughable, then became incorporated into everyday life.
Now we are settled in for the long haul. Who knows when a vaccine will be available, or how effective it will be? Meanwhile, the world has to keep turning and we continue living our lives as best we can. Masks, distancing, and other changes in how we live and work have become an accepted part of life.
But, underlying all the more obvious disruptions and anxieties, I've noticed a more subtle source of stress. It's not something I've heard people talk about, because most people I know work from home most of the time, and this stress is most noticeable in the office.
Social distancing means deliberately and consciously keeping your distance from other people. That requires constant awareness, and active avoidance behaviors. That is not normal behavior for a social animal. In fact, it goes fundamentally against our very nature.
Intellectually, I understand the reasoning. Heck, I'm doing exactly the same to my co-workers – keeping distance, backing off if I see someone coming the other way in a narrow hallway. But on the receiving end, it feels like being shunned, rejected, cast out from society.
Casting people out is a harsh and cruel punishment practiced by societies since time immemorial. It hurts.
Of course, this isn't punishment, it's precaution. But knowing that there's a good reason, that it's not about you, doesn't lessen the hurt. When intellect conflicts with gut feeling, intellect loses. I don't know what the answer is here, but it doesn't feel like something I can just “deal with” or get used to.
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8 comments:
Hi Ian - yes that lack of close communication is difficult for people in general - your post rings true for me ... being on my own and I'm finding it too - but adjust by keeping in contact in other ways.
Your thoughts are well put ... I hope it doesn't last too long - but have my ideas. Take care and stay safe to you and the family - Hilary
Hilary, the Catch-22 for me is that those other ways to keep in contact are no substitute for actual physical closeness when someone needs comfort or reassurance. And there's a lot of comfort and reassurance needed these days.
That's a good point. We were not meant to live in isolation and the distancing is really getting to people. Here they say about forty percent of the people are stressed, depressed, and/or mentally ill from all this. That's bad.
Alex, I have a feeling things like this could turn out to be more damaging in the long term than any physical health or economic fallout.
I get what you're saying, Ian. One of my questions after about a month of social distancing was--this behavior has been going on long enough to become ingrained. Will we ever go back to the "normal" before, or is this a "new normal" that isn't very nice? It's tough. I've gone to work everyday. Lab work doesn't have the option of being done at home. Even with social distancing at work, though, I realize that I've been blessed with (albeit modified) social interaction through the entire last six months that many have been deprived of. It's a crazy time and a crazy world. I hope we humans do what we're actually pretty good at doing--bounce back from this challenge. (Virtual hugs to you, my friend.)
Teresa, I've also been at work most days. The kind of stress I've noticed recently isn't the lack of social interaction like being isolated at home, it's the active avoidance of any kind of natural interaction. That's the part I can't see a ready answer for.
Being so distant does hurt. "This isn't punishment, it's precaution." <--- That. Well said.
Trouble is, Chrys, that is the head speaking. The rest of me isn't listening :)
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