The official advisory in the advent of the coronavirus pandemic is to work from home and avoid almost all but crucial travel and to stay indoors. Many countries are challenged to undergo self-isolation and social distancing measures in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The imminent social isolation could result in significant mental and physical health problems. Other illnesses could interfere with your day-to-day activities. Loneliness during the novel coronavirus outbreak has become a major concern.
For mitigating loneliness, Quarantine Chat, created by artists and long-distance friends Danielle Baskin and Max Hawkins, may help. The pair developed the free digital voice service in 2019 to help connect people across the world.
You can be alone, but not lonely, despite the coronavirus.
Writer Lily Burana spends hours and hours working alone at her home, about an hour from New York City. The extrovert in her relies on her social media network to balance out the lonely hours.
Burana said, "It's really hard, because at the end of the day, I look forward to shutting my laptop and taking my daughter to a playground, or going shopping, or meeting a friend at a museum, or having a coffee." She noted that this is out of a sense of obligation to not turn herself into an accidental vector.
Being cut off from the outside world, alone or with only a few close family members for long periods, people can report getting "cabin fever."
As a by-product of loneliness, when people lack social connections, they are more susceptible to physical health problems. But the duration of self-isolation required for coronavirus should not cause any marked changes in how your immune system functions. You can also improve your immune response by exercising and getting enough vitamins.
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The urgent implementation of social distancing is essential to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Aside from the virus threatening to cause economic recession, it is also wont to cause a "social recession."
Older people are vulnerable to this as they are reportedly worried about plans that would see them having to self-isolate for 12 weeks.
Being lonely or socially isolated can negatively impact your wellbeing. Supporting research showed these can increase the risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and depression.
Loneliness and social isolation may lead to poorer health because they increase inflammation, researchers suggested.
In this uncertain time, it can be natural to self-isolate and keep to yourself but it is crucial to maintain human interaction to keep anxiety levels in check.
Talking to your support network while practicing social distancing will help you feel more pleasant and surrounded by positivity, which mitigates low energy levels.
"While people can still talk to their friends and family virtually, the experience of spontaneously talking to a stranger is now missing from many of our lives," Baskin and Hawkins said.
"When we are bored, we tend to focus on negative things in our lives," noted Nancy Molitor, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Illinois.
