Aristotle, the legendary Greek philosopher said, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual.” Humans are inherently social beings, created in a way to live with relationships and to be a part of society. The concepts of family, friendship and other social relationships are integral to the human experience; where social needs are one of the five needs of the Maslow’s Hierarchy, according to which a man must fulfill five certain needs to live his best life. The concepts of family, friendship and other social relationships are integral to the human experience. This dates back to the beginning of time, when Allah created Adam (A.S), He also created Hawa (A.S) as his companion, in response to Adam’s (A.S) loneliness. This clearly shows how human beings are innately social beings and how we need each other to exist in this world. But suddenly when the whole of humanity was asked to follow social distancing, how did it impact us or make us feel? When Covid-19 struck the world, starting in Dec 2019 in China and spreading to the rest of the world just within the first few months of the new decade, there was a need to reduce human contact. Several countries went under lockdown and those that didn’t imposed the 6 feet social distancing rule as well as the use of masks in public places. For fear of their own health, people developed a sense of distrust towards others and in turn feared social interaction. In some cases, people who caught the virus were even ostracized. The effect of social distancing was and is prominent in certain age groups, such as children, adolescents and the elderly. Due to schools being shut down, children were not getting the required social interaction which contributes to their development and ultimately makes the school experience. Unable to meet their friends and family, particularly their children and grandchildren, contributed to an increase in loneliness in the elderly population. The differences in how various personality types were affected by social isolation are evident in statistics. Depression became highly common among extroverts - who rely on socializing and being around people to fill their cups, as opposed to introverts, who are happier by themselves and need alone time to recharge their batteries. However, this was the case during the initial stages of the pandemic. As time has passed, all groups and all kinds of people have struggled with feelings of loneliness and despair. Aside from social deprivation, social distancing has also deprived people of social touch. Research shows that social touch has positive effects on mental health, particularly in battling loneliness and stress. Being unable to hug loved ones or even shake hands with new acquaintances has taken a toll, especially on those that rely on physical touch as a way of expressing and receiving love. However, all is not lost, thanks to the rapid development of technology. Fortunately, unlike when previous pandemics or epidemics have taken place, the 21st century is blessed with globalization through the internet. Yes, the internet and social media cannot fulfill physical touch needs but they have been a huge help in staying connected with people around the world.
Now we understand the impacts of social distancing on human beings, but what next? How do we embrace this “New- Normal”? Well, we have some tips for that, first is online interaction, even though we might not be able to meet our friends and family in person, thanks to the internet we can still connect with them through social media, video calls etc. So try to talk to them whenever you can.
Next one is to find hobbies which interests you, along with that try to find online forums for those hobbies, which will help you to connect with like-minded people. Our next tip is to engage in any kinds of physical activity, it can be taking a walk-in nature or hiking or anything, but try to find something which makes you feel relaxed and stay connected.
The next one might require some amount of planning but it’s one of the most effective ones, forming a Quarantine Bubble. Forming a Quarantine bubble will help you to spend time with your loved ones meanwhile isolating yourselves from the rest of the world. The last but not the least, is prayer and connecting to God. Before the Pandemic due to the hustle and bustle of our lives, we distanced ourselves from God but the quarantine is an amazing opportunity to rekindle the connection.
We hope you find these tips useful to battle the loneliness and whenever it feels hard, just try to remember that “At the end of the day, all you need is Hope and Strength; hope that it will get better, and strength to hold on until it does”.
Author: Ummul Waheeda (GIO Associate) & Khadija Ali (GIO Member)
Pic. Credits: Google
Date: 22nd October, 2021
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