Social Distancing

We live in strange times, I have heard this over the last few days from various people and places. We are unable as a service to continue working with people face to face but I wanted to offer some help and support for those of you who are facing huge uncertainty and disruption at this time. Let me say that this is not a substitute for professional and ongoing help but I want to offer some of the things that have helped me and my clients at various times in the past. These are my personal thoughts.

My first thought and this may seem a bit strange is people and our contact with each other. We are being told to socially isolate in order to control the spread of the Corona virus and yet at this time we need each other more than ever. Our interconnectedness as a human race is something we are discovering is vital for health and well being. We cannot learn, grow, develop and thrive without one another. There is a whole area of psychological study called attachment theory that is to do with how babies bond with a primary parent or care giver. Without this bond forming strongly, babies become sick and fail to thrive in their development. However more recent studies have developed this in our understanding of how we relate as adults and this tells us similar things, that without interaction with other humans, we become ill.

All very interesting, however I have always been a practical sort of person and want to think about what I can actually do.

We have the benefit of phone, text, email or actual written letters to enable us to keep in touch. When the isolation policy came into force earlier this week, I texted various friends just to check they were ok. There was something about just making that contact, some I heard back from straight away, others were a bit slower to respond. Even if I am not usually the one to make the first move, maybe I can make one contact a day with someone.

It is also good for our mental health to look outside of ourselves to see if we can help others, so maybe we could widen our circle of friends to include neighbours or people we know may be more isolated and see if we can talk to them or help in any way. One of the things I love about living in Ambleside is how people are friendly and smile and always say hello and we can still do that. Maybe I can smile and say a friendly word to one person at least a day (at a distance).

Social media can be a great way to keep in touch, I have family in Australia and we have a Whats App group as well as using Facebook. This can be a good way to feel that you are not alone. However there can be some negative comments on social media so it might be good to monitor and remove any that cause us concern. If I use social media, maybe I could post one good or positive thing a day.

Judith