It’s March 380th, y’all! Can you believe it has been 1 year since the Covid19 outbreak was declared a pandemic? That’s right - on March 11, 2020, the WHO announced that it was officially a pandemic because of the speed of infection, the severity of the virus, and the lack of action to control it.
“We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.” - World Health Organization on March 11, 2020
This week, I just want to reflect on how things have changed in the last year. It feels good to reflect. And there’s some comfort in commiserating. So maybe reading this will help you feel less isolated and gloomy.
One disturbing thing that surfaced? Adults had to re-learn how to wash their hands. How did we miss that big lesson as a society?! Also, I don’t know about you, but one positive (hopefully) is that we no longer blow out birthday candles on a communal cake; I’m perfectly happy with that tradition going away forever. It makes for cute kid pictures, but when you think about it, it’s pretty gross. Moving on..
Things will never be the same as they were before this pandemic for those of us living through it. I know that’s an overused phrase, but how else can we say it? We know that there are long-term impacts to isolation, which we’ve all been living in for the last year. There have been changes in our relationships with our friends, co-workers, and families.
We’ve learned about emerging and previously small-scale psychological phenomena. Zoom fatigue is a biggie for me and anyone fortunate enough to work from home. Our brains are confused by the amount of time we spend looking at close-up faces for hours at a time. Why? There are several reasons, but these 2 resonated with me most.
The majority of communication is done non-verbally. When we’re only looking at the faces of our coworkers, we have to compensate for that missing context. So a conversation or concept that may take minutes during a face-to-face meeting may take 2-3 times longer because we have to verbalize so much more than normal. This is an exhausting task for our brains.
Zoom meetings trigger our fight-or-flight reflex. Without things like seeing relaxed body language, looking at someone in the eyes while you’re talking (instead of looking at a camera so it looks like you’re looking at the other person in the eyes), and constantly seeing so much face, our mind can perceive this as a threat. So the physiological responses ensue.
So if you’re feeling exhausted after sitting at home working, which includes several Zoom meetings, you’re justified! Our bodies are not built for it.
Another observation: Social skills are taking a hit! With so little time with face-to-face gatherings, it’s going to take us some time to get comfortable with human interaction when we’re on the other side of this! We’re out of practice! Simple things like voice volume will be awkward. And big things like physical contact will need to have boundaries established. I’ll speak for myself, but I love people at the store having to keep their distance. But I also miss hugs from friends and family. So it’s going to be challenging for a while for us to all find our comfort zone.
One of the most important things that will never be the same is complacency towards racism and misogyny. Do these things still exist? Of course - and they always will. However, victims and allies have found that their voices are being heard. It is awful that it took so much death, violence, and shaming to get the attention it deserves and needs. But because we have been quarantined, we haven’t been able to hide from it any longer. Changing minds and laws will take time, but I’m hopeful.
Be kind to others, especially now. We’re all battling some pretty significant mental health challenges, societal norms, and fatigue. Let’s all be a little more patient with each other after this thing, too! We have this once-in-a-century shared experience that will have a HUGE mental health impact for years to come.
So don’t forget: be kind, wash your hands, and get vaccinated!
Articles & Resources
A Neuropsychological Exploration of Zoom Fatigue by Jena Lee, MD, Psychiatric Times
Social skills in the COVID-19 era by author unknown, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Stanford researchers identify four causes for ‘Zoom fatigue’ and their simple fixes by Vignesh Ramachandran, Stanford University
The pandemic has made us more socially awkward. Here's how to cope. by Anna Medaris Miller, Insider
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020 by the World Health Organization
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