How loneliness and covid are related?

February/March 2020 changed the life of all of us dramatically. It was when we learned about the deadly virus, COVID-19. The virus led to a global pandemic and required isolation from family, friends, and what felt like humanity. COVID-19 forced us to choose between loneliness and death. Unfortunately, for many of us, the loneliness felt like death. We had to live with the constant fear of getting infected and not knowing how our body would react to the virus, and the fear of infecting others and causing death. As humans, we were created to be social and have a physical connection; we were never meant to be alone. COVID-19 required us to go against our very nature and plummeted some of us into darkness.                                   

ISOLATION

The COVID-19 virus spreads through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying the infectious virus. The droplets are spread to one another from our coughing, sneezing, talking, and even breathing. This meant we had to severely limit our contact with one another, especially since the symptoms could be mild or fatal once infected. Initially, social distancing (6 feet from each other) was the answer, but ultimately the best-case scenario was isolation. Not just the country, but the world was expected to isolate from non-in-home-familial persons. To ensure isolation, cities closed except for essential workers expected to the social distance at work and returned straight home afterward. Many of us were lucky enough to have someone to go home to, so the isolation was somewhat bearable. Unfortunately, others returned to an empty home where the lack of human interaction was unbearable. The isolation exacerbated our fear, sadness, anger, frustration, and loneliness. The COVID-19 virus caused isolation that led to loneliness that most of us have never experienced. 

LONELINESS

Loneliness is when we are alone against our wishes, and it causes us to feel sad and angry. Everything about the COVID-19 virus was against our wishes, and we felt sad and angry about it. Our lives were flipped upside down and inside out. We were stuck with the huge but small benefit of knowing we were trying to save lives. For some of us, loneliness feels worse than death. Loneliness can cause cortisol levels (stress hormones) to increase and put our whole body in distress. At times like this, the isolation and social distancing may not seem worth it. Following the protocols for COVID-19 has been unbelievably difficult for us all in one way or another. 

The loneliness COVID-19 brought may seem everlasting, but now that we have vaccines, there is a light on the horizon. The loneliness we all fear, hate, and struggle; this too shall pass. As we slowly win the fight against the COVID-19 virus, we will start living a new normal, bringing us all back together, and the loneliness will be a distant memory.