With the pressing need for social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19, many people are struggling to come to terms with their inability to socialize as they normally would.
This pandemic has brought with it challenges that the world has never experienced before.
“Much of our happiness comes from socially connecting with others—both close friends and the people we see during our daily routines—and we’re limited in this kind of contact right now,” said Yale University professor Laurie Santos.
Santos teaches a course called “The Science of Well-Being,” which has been downloaded by 1.2 million people in the last three weeks.
With everything closed, except for essential businesses, anxiety has raised due to concerns over school or work, finances, the cancellation of social events, and overall a loss of control over how we all live day-to-day.
“I’ve always had anxiety,” said Glendon College student Claudia Sinanios. “My anxiety is surrounded around getting sick.”
“All the bad thoughts kind of get the best of you, rather than when you don’t have to social distance and you’re going out and you’re distracted all day, so you’re not thinking about all those things that make you anxious or sad,” said Sinanios.
Even though the Canadian government has informed people to not leave the house unless it is necessary, they are not telling people to close themselves off from everyone.
It is day 14 of social distancing and staying home for Jill Mackereth.
“I am a social animal. I’m always out, I don’t usually cook, I don’t grocery shop, I don’t stay home,” said Mackereth.
“It’s lonely and I get bored. I am thankful that we live in an age of technology so that I can, you know, play games online with my friends and we’re doing words with friends,” she said.
Mackereth is currently working from home and is able to spend five days of her week working.
“My saving grace has been that I work,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t working.”
The news has been constantly updating or talking about COVID-19 which has created more worry.
“My TV’s on all the time so where my mood might not have changed my worry is growing, watching all this stuff on the news,” said Mackereth.
“I start panicking when everyone else started panicking,” said Sinanios. “I was trying to keep it together and stuff but when you see all these adults and people who are freaking out over this thing it kind of gets you going.”
Although rules are in place to help slow the spread, some people are still not taking the situation seriously, said Sinaios.
People are sacrificing their mental health and their sanity to slow the spread and people who aren’t being as careful are risking the continuation of the virus, said Sinaios.
To help protect mental health during this time, Anxiety Canada and the Canadian Mental Health Association have published ways to cope with COVID-19.
“The good news is that all of us can take steps to increase connection with others despite social distancing through technologies like Skype and Zoom. Using those kinds of tools is really important for protecting our mental health right now. Even if we can’t connect with people in real life, we can for sure connect online in real time,” said Santos.
“People need to check up on their loved ones, because I feel like this is a really hard time for everyone,” said Sinaios.
Feature image from file.
