Question

How have you seen the psychological concepts described playing out in your own life experience with social distancing? Have you seen these concepts in the ways your friends or family make decisions about social distancing?

Answer 1

The concept of Social distance refers to the extent to which people experience a sense of belongingness and alienation between themselves and from other people .Though it may not be static but it affects human interactions, which in turn affects different societies based on different social, ethinic, occupational and religious groups.

Social distancing affects both physcially and psychologically.

We are social beings and the concept of social distancing in the current scenario of spreading coronavirus creates embarrassment in people who practice it .in the midst of crisis,most of us are experiencing a struggle to delineate ourselves from the society and we tend to see everyone except our family members with a suspicious attitude. This practice creates a lot of emotional baggage in terms of guilt feeling of being rude or being suspicious out of insecurity for our own life.

The impact of social isolation on physical and mental health especially for people living alone often experienced as highly stressful which can be toxic to physical health.Decrease in physical health leads to poor immunity and it makes person vulnerable to physical illness. When It causes loneliness there is a possible increase in the levels of anxiety and depression. This may lead to an increased risk of using any drug- related behaviors.

Since last two weeks, I am not able to meet my friends, to exchange ideas ,not able to go for parties, movies , not able to move out of my house ,hears lot of informative news related to the importance of social distancing, hygiene through media which often creates uneasiness .To ease these feelings ,if we decide to go out of social norms ,the lawmakers create other restrictions .I believe this the best time to learn how to tolerate frustration and to improve our resilience. While spending quality time with family increases family cohesion and communication .But on the flip side, spending too much time within the family often leads to a lot of arguments and to relieve the stress we are not able to find a way as we are fixed inside four walls. To maintain physical distance between family members is difficult in daily life especially when someone lives along with kids and old age parents. Older people often get irritated for new minor restrictions or practices related to intimacy and hygiene. This issue often creates stress for people who live along with family members.

The term social distancing itself needs to change to physical distance as there is an increasing need for physical distance during this crisis. Social distancing can be reduced with the help of technology especially for younger people but for older people this is the time to learn new skills.The shift of focus from social distancing to physical distance may bring positive change within ourselves to maintain social contact while keeping physical distance to protect humanity.