3 ms·
Moral fatigue in the article is very much a thing, but moreso for people living together. As someone who fits into what I call the "untroubled loner" category,
by motohagiography 7y ago
Moral fatigue in the article is very much a thing, but moreso for people living together. As someone who fits into what I call the "untroubled loner" category, I'm the source of zoom respite for a lot of people stuck together, which takes energy for me, but nothing compared to what it means to a relationship where suddenly you need to be emotionally present and "on," all the time when previously you didn't. I'm regularly in touch with about 30 people in different places via zoom, slack, etc, and the impact could be described on a Pareto distribution.
Too much mental health concern and sympathy bothers me a bit because it can be a social license to behave terribly, and the self-care narrative can seem like an enabler instead of a mitigation for a crisis. I'm advising friends to remember how abnormal this is. Their normal might not come back, but being just a bit more charitable with each other as they adapt can turn a relationship breaker into a deeper level of trust. Marriages and family are wealth, and right now they aren't earning interest or returns from the outside. Some people are starting to spend and draw down their emotional capital by being needy or subconsciously giving in to conflict for the excitement. If you lacked personal boundaries going into this, it's going to be hard when they necessarily build up just to stay sane in confinement, so being charitable about that mental space is key.
All I can say is the best way through this will be to exercise, read the stoics, and work on mastering something. This too shall pass.