Coping with COVID

It has been a long time since I published my last blog.  I guess I thought that I had run out of things to say.

Well, I haven't.

COVID came along and my patients have run into many new problems, including and above all, problems with interpersonal isolation.

I have become convinced that we are creatures evolved for close, intimate contact, such as one would find in tribal and village life.  City life with its anonymity is relatively new (in the last 100-200 years).  We are suited for interpersonal contact and interactions.  Our brains function optimally when we have to look each other in the eye and have to talk to each other.

Now even before COVID, there were some problems with people being too isolated.  People stayed in their homes with central heat and air and rarely acknowledged each other on the street.  But COVID has created isolation on steroids.  We are more isolated than we want to be, than we should be.  The effect on most of my patients has been lethargy (a blah feeling) and depression.

For that reason, I am encouraging my patients to see me by Zoom rather than by telephone.  I want them to look me in the eye, and I want to do the same.  I want to experience the illusion that we are in the room together, and I want them to have that, too.

(However, if Zoom and Facetime are not available then telephone is the next best thing.)

Our physical bodies need to distance from each other, but isolation is terrible for our minds.  Our brains need the stimulation of being right there with someone.

I am very fortunate.  I am able to practice what I preach.  Here is what I might be able to experience in a week:

Sunday: Zoom Sunday School

Monday:  3-5 hours therapy by telephone or Zoom

Tuesday:  3-5 hours therapy by telephone or Zoom

Wednesday:  3-5 hours therapy by telephone or Zoom

Wednesday evening:  Sunday School socializing

Thursday:  3-5 hours therapy by telephone or Zoom

Friday: Psychologist consultation and support group by Zoom

Saturday: My wife's extended family meets on Zoom

I am not trying to toot my own horn here.  I am simply saying that I practice what I preach.  I know that I need the interpersonal contact, and I believe that my patient's need it, too.

There are exceptions.  Some of my patients with agoraphobia find it easier to tell others why they stay home so much.  They feel less need to explain themselves.  Other than that, most of my patients appear to be negatively affected.

So, in summary, get on Zoom.  If you can't, then get on the phone with people.  Get out of the house and drive around.  (You can keep your distance or even roll up your windows to be safe if you like).  Stay out of stores if you can, but be creative in how you can interact with others.  Get some visual stimulation.  Drive some places that you haven't been before.  Give your brain something new to look at.

Social contact is not so much like a drug that makes you feel better immediately.  It is more like a vitamin.  If you don't have it, you eventually start to pay the price after awhile.