4 ms·

Yep, this me. I haven't been able to see friends or family since March 15th. So I haven't even touched another human in that long. It's been really bad for my m

Yep, this me. I haven't been able to see friends or family since March 15th. So I haven't even touched another human in that long. It's been really bad for my mental health. I have a hard time empathising with people who say they've been super lonely but still live with family.

wwweston 6y ago
Feeling it too. Last few weeks I decided that I was going to negotiate some limited contact (occasional masked walks and hugs) with a few select people. This is arguably a little irresponsible of me; I have a housemate who is a social worker and not isolating, which makes me a potential link in a transmission chain. But on the other hand, we're spending nearly zero time together in shared spaces (we literally go weeks w/o seeing each other) and I'm very conscientious about what I touch and when in shared spaces. And delivery or random passers-by on walks are my only other form of exposure, so it seems like a managed risk if not absolutely minimized. I think some who live alone are going to find this kind of quaran-team approach important as we break past the first few miles of the marathon. The trick may be in really doing it thoughtfully in a planned-out conscientious manner rather than waiting until arriving at some breaking point and throwing caution to the wind.
- kaybe 6y ago
  I think it should be fine if you form a very small group and only ever meet these same people (optimally outside with a bit of distance of course). It shouldn't be that much different from people living in a medium-size household and much better for mental health.
- J-dawg 6y ago
  > This is arguably a little irresponsible of me I'd say it isn't irresponsible at all. You've got to do what you need to do to look after your own mental health. One thing I am utterly sick of is the shaming of anyone that breaks "the rules" that seems to have become normalised. Especially when it comes from people who have families and partners at home. We seem to be obsessed with the idea that you could be somehow responsible for someone's death if they get infected via you, even after several degrees of separation. I guess this idea has some logic to it, but it's such a departure from how we think about things normally. By the same logic, many of us have probably helped to "kill" a few elderly/vulnerable people in the past by passing on the influenza virus. I'm not saying we shouldn't all take sensible precautions, like isolating when you have symptoms and hand washing etc. But this shaming needs to stop.
vmception 6y ago
Yeah, similar boat. I was content with the arrangement for about two months. I finally relaxed my shelter in place a little before memorial day. The point of living in a desirable area and within a city was to randomly meet people that also had their life together, while working on the career and financial circumstances that allow you to do this. With SIP, everything closed, and ongoing social distancing none of that is possible and you're also cut off from other social circles if you hadn't locked in a core friend group or significant other. I could really the see value of these areas plummeting much harder than before. Even when thinking of the protests as having some allure for being social, many of the people are from surrounding suburbs coming in for the action, whereas the wealthy transplants have already left indefinitely. I don't get the impression that those with family are overwhelmingly content. But some have routine at this point and aren't considering the social starving that people in different arrangements may be going through.
- taneq 6y ago
  > Even when thinking of the protests as having some allure for being social I have wondered if there’s an aspect of that in the huge turnouts. People are unemployed and isolated, and joining the protests gives them a chance to feel like part of something.
  - dominotw 6y ago
    All my friends are doing this to get out and protest. I've also started doing it from the weekend.
ericol 6y ago
I'm sorry to hear that. The reality is that there's no substitute for human touch. Obviously it's an incredible complex decision, but have you thought about getting a pet? (If that's within your possibilities)
colechristensen 6y ago
I feel you, me too. I also had a relationship fall apart late last year and did quite a lot of my own social isolating at the time combined with my natural inclination to hibernate around the winter solstice because of lack of light. My closest friends also moved away in part motivated by the situation. I really don't remember the last time I interacted with another human who wasn't selling me food or through a computer or phone (which helps of course but is no substitute). There are probably a lot of us out there. If it weren't for a couple of cat monsters I probably would have lost all of my marbles by now.
- fdsgnr0g90n0fw 6y ago
  >There are probably a lot of us out there. If it weren't for a couple of cat monsters I probably would have lost all of my marbles by now. I think you might be underestimating yourself as a human being. I spend about 8 months with little human contact. I spoke twice with my parents for about 10 minutes each, once for 2 minutes to ask some questions, and maybe 10 seconds each time to the cashier when buying food (however it never deviated from this script; "Would you like bags?" "Yes." "How are you paying?" "Cash." "Have a nice day."). That was it. Nothing else. I won't say that it was an easy or enjoyable thing to do, but I think given enough time and focus, almost anyone can probably acclimate to a complete lack of human contact without loosing all their marbles.
austincheney 6y ago
Long periods of isolation like this are really hard the first time you go through it. Having gone through this many times I can honestly say you learn to adjust like it were a change in seasons. The hardest part of isolation, though, is the complete inability for somebody who has never experienced it to relate or appreciate the changes it imposes upon people.
- ericol 6y ago
  Dude. Seems you didn't have it easy. Also, I'm curious as to why you have been through this several times?
  - austincheney 6y ago
    Military deployments and military schools. My first one of these that I count was my first deployment in 2004 because my first kiddo was 4 months old.
dominotw 6y ago
I've been going to protests. Can you try that maybe? I felt lots of camaraderie. I've been wearing facemasks and a face shield which makes it a little hard to interact with people in crowd though.
EE84M3i 6y ago
Do most people consider going 2.5 months without touch a long time??????
tripzilch 6y ago
> I have a hard time empathising with people who say they've been super lonely but still live with family. This. They have no idea. Point in case, my friends group starting organising weekly group video calls, to see each other and play scribl.io. After a few weeks it quickly became apparent who was really isolated and who had a partner or even just flat mates. The isolated people were really looking forward to the video chat (also you could tell they were more grumpy / on edge than usual). People who don't live alone, started missing the video chat evenings because video chat is such a poor substitute for actual social contact, it really wasn't bringing them anything. I'm glad to hear (elsewhere ITT) that isolation is worst the first time you go through it. Because I'm fully expecting a second wave when autumn hits or something. And I fully expect people who do not live alone to continue being oblivious to the mental state of the isolated ones.
kf 6y ago
No reason to stay so isolated now that covid testing is widely available. Get tested, have your friends get tested, hang out, be human.

wwweston 6y ago

Feeling it too. Last few weeks I decided that I was going to negotiate some limited contact (occasional masked walks and hugs) with a few select people. This is arguably a little irresponsible of me; I have a housemate who is a social worker and not isolating, which makes me a potential link in a transmission chain. But on the other hand, we're spending nearly zero time together in shared spaces (we literally go weeks w/o seeing each other) and I'm very conscientious about what I touch and when in shared spaces. And delivery or random passers-by on walks are my only other form of exposure, so it seems like a managed risk if not absolutely minimized. I think some who live alone are going to find this kind of quaran-team approach important as we break past the first few miles of the marathon. The trick may be in really doing it thoughtfully in a planned-out conscientious manner rather than waiting until arriving at some breaking point and throwing caution to the wind.

kaybe 6y ago
I think it should be fine if you form a very small group and only ever meet these same people (optimally outside with a bit of distance of course). It shouldn't be that much different from people living in a medium-size household and much better for mental health.
J-dawg 6y ago
> This is arguably a little irresponsible of me I'd say it isn't irresponsible at all. You've got to do what you need to do to look after your own mental health. One thing I am utterly sick of is the shaming of anyone that breaks "the rules" that seems to have become normalised. Especially when it comes from people who have families and partners at home. We seem to be obsessed with the idea that you could be somehow responsible for someone's death if they get infected via you, even after several degrees of separation. I guess this idea has some logic to it, but it's such a departure from how we think about things normally. By the same logic, many of us have probably helped to "kill" a few elderly/vulnerable people in the past by passing on the influenza virus. I'm not saying we shouldn't all take sensible precautions, like isolating when you have symptoms and hand washing etc. But this shaming needs to stop.

vmception 6y ago

Yeah, similar boat. I was content with the arrangement for about two months. I finally relaxed my shelter in place a little before memorial day. The point of living in a desirable area and within a city was to randomly meet people that also had their life together, while working on the career and financial circumstances that allow you to do this. With SIP, everything closed, and ongoing social distancing none of that is possible and you're also cut off from other social circles if you hadn't locked in a core friend group or significant other. I could really the see value of these areas plummeting much harder than before. Even when thinking of the protests as having some allure for being social, many of the people are from surrounding suburbs coming in for the action, whereas the wealthy transplants have already left indefinitely. I don't get the impression that those with family are overwhelmingly content. But some have routine at this point and aren't considering the social starving that people in different arrangements may be going through.

taneq 6y ago
> Even when thinking of the protests as having some allure for being social I have wondered if there’s an aspect of that in the huge turnouts. People are unemployed and isolated, and joining the protests gives them a chance to feel like part of something.
- dominotw 6y ago
  All my friends are doing this to get out and protest. I've also started doing it from the weekend.

ericol 6y ago

I'm sorry to hear that. The reality is that there's no substitute for human touch. Obviously it's an incredible complex decision, but have you thought about getting a pet? (If that's within your possibilities)

colechristensen 6y ago

I feel you, me too. I also had a relationship fall apart late last year and did quite a lot of my own social isolating at the time combined with my natural inclination to hibernate around the winter solstice because of lack of light. My closest friends also moved away in part motivated by the situation. I really don't remember the last time I interacted with another human who wasn't selling me food or through a computer or phone (which helps of course but is no substitute). There are probably a lot of us out there. If it weren't for a couple of cat monsters I probably would have lost all of my marbles by now.

fdsgnr0g90n0fw 6y ago
>There are probably a lot of us out there. If it weren't for a couple of cat monsters I probably would have lost all of my marbles by now. I think you might be underestimating yourself as a human being. I spend about 8 months with little human contact. I spoke twice with my parents for about 10 minutes each, once for 2 minutes to ask some questions, and maybe 10 seconds each time to the cashier when buying food (however it never deviated from this script; "Would you like bags?" "Yes." "How are you paying?" "Cash." "Have a nice day."). That was it. Nothing else. I won't say that it was an easy or enjoyable thing to do, but I think given enough time and focus, almost anyone can probably acclimate to a complete lack of human contact without loosing all their marbles.

austincheney 6y ago

Long periods of isolation like this are really hard the first time you go through it. Having gone through this many times I can honestly say you learn to adjust like it were a change in seasons. The hardest part of isolation, though, is the complete inability for somebody who has never experienced it to relate or appreciate the changes it imposes upon people.

ericol 6y ago
Dude. Seems you didn't have it easy. Also, I'm curious as to why you have been through this several times?
- austincheney 6y ago
  Military deployments and military schools. My first one of these that I count was my first deployment in 2004 because my first kiddo was 4 months old.

dominotw 6y ago

I've been going to protests. Can you try that maybe? I felt lots of camaraderie. I've been wearing facemasks and a face shield which makes it a little hard to interact with people in crowd though.

EE84M3i 6y ago

Do most people consider going 2.5 months without touch a long time??????

tripzilch 6y ago

> I have a hard time empathising with people who say they've been super lonely but still live with family. This. They have no idea. Point in case, my friends group starting organising weekly group video calls, to see each other and play scribl.io. After a few weeks it quickly became apparent who was really isolated and who had a partner or even just flat mates. The isolated people were really looking forward to the video chat (also you could tell they were more grumpy / on edge than usual). People who don't live alone, started missing the video chat evenings because video chat is such a poor substitute for actual social contact, it really wasn't bringing them anything. I'm glad to hear (elsewhere ITT) that isolation is worst the first time you go through it. Because I'm fully expecting a second wave when autumn hits or something. And I fully expect people who do not live alone to continue being oblivious to the mental state of the isolated ones.

kf 6y ago

No reason to stay so isolated now that covid testing is widely available. Get tested, have your friends get tested, hang out, be human.