"When we interact with other people, a lot of the meaning conveyed between two people is actually not conveyed in the actual words, but in nonverbal behavior," he says. "We are fortunate to live in an era where technology will allow us to see and hear our friends and family, even from a distance," Christakis says.Įven so, those modes of communication don't entirely replace face-to-face interactions, Segrin says. Texting, email, and apps like Skype and FaceTime can definitely help people stay in touch. One trait that predicted their long-term psychological health was optimism: Prisoners who believed that, no matter how bad things were, they would survive and the war would eventually be won had better mental health later on in life.Ĭan technology help compensate for some of the downsides of social distancing? prisoners during the Vietnam War who were confined in tiny cells called "tiger cages," sometimes in water up to their chin. And many have endured far worse situations. Overall, though, people are remarkably resilient. "Someone who is already having problems with, say, social anxiety, depression, loneliness, substance abuse, or other health problems is going to be particularly vulnerable." It's important to remember that not everyone is going into this with the same level of mental health, he says. There's enormous individual variation in people's ability to handle social isolation and stress, adds Chris Segrin, a behavioral scientist at the University of Arizona. But a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences (of which she was a co-author) highlights some reasons older people may be more susceptible, including the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments like hearing loss that can make it harder to interact. People of all ages are susceptible to the ill effects of social isolation and loneliness, Holt-Lunstad says. "We'd love to be collecting data on that," she says.Īre certain people or populations more likely to be affected? "On the one hand, I am concerned that this will not only exacerbate things for those who are already isolated and lonely, but also might be a triggering point for others to now get into habits of connecting less."Ī more optimistic possibility, she says, is that heightened awareness of these issues will prompt people to stay connected and take positive action. "I have a couple competing hypotheses," Holt-Lunstad says. What effects, if any, might be caused by social distancing in response to the coronavirus is an open question. "Just knowing that you have someone you can count on if needed is enough to dampen some of those responses even if not physically present," Holt-Lunstad says. There's even a correlation between perceived social connectedness and stress responses. Lab studies by Holt-Lunstad and others have found that having a friend present can reduce a person's cardiovascular response to a stressful task. ![]() That may be because social contacts can buffer the negative effects of stress. A 2015 meta-analysis of the scientific literature by Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a research psychologist at Brigham Young University, and colleagues determined that chronic social isolation increases the risk of mortality by 29%. Over long periods of time, social isolation can increase the risk of a variety of health problems, including heart disease, depression, dementia, and even death. What's known about the effects of social interaction on mental and physical health? The effects of short-term social distancing haven't been well studied, but several researchers-most of them scrambling to deal with disruptions to their own lives because of the coronavirus-recently took time to share some thoughts with ScienceInsider on the potential social and psychological impacts, and how to mitigate them. "Pandemics are an especially demanding test … because we are not just trying to protect people we know, but also people we do not know or even, possibly, care about." "The coronavirus spreading around the world is calling on us to suppress our profoundly human and evolutionarily hard-wired impulses for connection: seeing our friends, getting together in groups, or touching each other," says Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist and physician at Yale University.Īnd social distancing also tests the human capacity for cooperation, he adds. Such social distancing-avoiding large gatherings and close contact with others-is crucial for slowing the spread of the virus and preventing our health care system from getting overwhelmed. ![]() ![]() In response to the coronavirus pandemic, public health officials are asking us to do something that does not come naturally to our very social species: Stay away from each other.
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