Covid-19 How To Beat The Social Recession

BROOKE BENSON CAMPBELL (BHSc Nut Med) investigates how the new regulations and coronavirus guidelines are affecting us, both physically and psychologically, and gives some tips on how to overcome this current social slump…

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At this stage of the social isolation game, you may have noticed an obvious divide emerging among your friends. As distancing and self-imposed quarantine wear on and workplaces begin staggering employees in-office days to cope with regulations, the COVID-19 outbreak has left many people feeling alone and detached in ways never thought possible. Some of us respond by hunkering down into cosy domesticity: baking banana bread, reading books or taking long baths alongside a trusty IPA. Others challenge themselves to return from seclusion with inflated muscles and a spray tan in a show of over-exercise meets ‘whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger’.

And yet by this stage, more and more of us are beginning to fray: Zooming with friends (or colleagues that you previously wouldn’t have given any attention to) becomes a necessity rather than a luxury; the closure of a favourite coffee shop is cause for tears (and withdrawal tremors); and the walls are closing in Jumanji-style. Regardless of how hipster-hygge you’re feeling at the moment, experts suggest that the negative feelings and experiences associated with prolonged social isolation will come for us all. So, how are the new regulations affecting us, physically and psychologically, and what can we do to beat the social recession? Read on…