Social distance and Covid-19

Since the beginning of the Covid Pandemic, one of the recommendations to avoid the transmission of the virus has been social distancing. Public places where we used to interact with others are now closed or have restricted access, things that were natural for us, like hugging, kissing, or just hanging out with our friends have become potentially dangerous.

Somehow we have handled this. But the question that comes to my mind is how are we going to do to go the other way around. How are we going to be able to approach others with confidence?

Several patients tell me how afraid they are of being close to other people, how they can´t stop thinking that they are getting too near to others and how maybe this can be risky. They feel anxious, some of them even develop sleeping problems or panic attacks because they don’t want to go outside. We are not made to be isolated, we need contact, social and physical. Isolation has lead to several consequences like depression and also anxiety.

So here we are facing a big dilemma, we need contact, but contact in these circumstances makes us afraid. This is also happening to little children that can’t approach others with the same naturalness that they used to do.

I think the first important thing to know is that is normal to be afraid of being close to others, but also that is normal to feel sad and even overwhelmed because of the isolation. We shouldn’t isolate more than is necessary, we have to keep in contact with the people that we love, technology is of course the great ally, but we will have to relearn to be physically near others, and it is going to take some time and in some cases help from mental health professionals.