The stresses of social distancing and what we can do about it

With social distancing upon us, it reminded me of some research I came across for a previous dissertation on the psychology of extreme environments. Isolation and confinement are part and parcel of space and polar exploration and are well studied. As you might imagine isolation/confinement can present lots of problems - they are mundane environments, we are removed from normal social networks and experience disruption from our normal routine. This brings feelings of deprivation and stress. 

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Experiences of isolation and confinement can be positive experiences. These experiences be an important part of peoples lives, an impetus for growth, developing strength and remembered with pride. People have reported and increased appreciation of others some have even be gripped with a sense of frustration on leaving these experiences/environments. 

The point of this post is to talk you through some of the findings of a paper called ‘The Environmental Psychology of Capsule Habitats’ by Suedfeld and Steel (2000) so that you are best equipped to leave this episode of social distancing more successful, resilient and insightful that when this all began. Remember, humans like to engage in challenges for their own sake. See all the silly youtube and instagram videos of home challenges? Let’s embrace this time - it might just make us more tolerant, less superficial, and all with a greater sense of self-confidence. 

Other than discussing the applications of their findings to psychology, the paper conceptualises four types of stress that we might experience in these types of environments. By working through them, the aim is to provide you with some considerations on how to better manage your time during ‘lockdown’.

Physical stress

This is not especially relevant as we’re (probably) not in a submarine, on a polar research station, or in a space. As such the effects of industrial machinery, noise and anti-gravity are far from our minds. Important to not however is that most medical issues presented by these threats are combatted with appropriate diet and exercise. Concentrate on these to preserve your health. 

Psycho-environmental factors 

These are our reactions to the environment we are in. They are mostly concerned with increase density, physical confinement and monotony (your house remains the same) You might be lucky and have a large house, but likely that you will experience decreased interpersonal distances, and increased sense of confinement and a decrease in novel psychological stimuli.  You’re not exactly being strapped into an Apollo module, hurtling through space, but changes to routine could cause some sleep disruption, which will only decrease you ability to psychologically respond to the challenges you face. Exercise often provides opportunities to enhance onset of sleep and can offer a ‘break’ from the drudgery of day to day life and increase a sense of variation and novelty. 

Social Factors

We don’t only need to worry about sensory monotony, but social monotony too. The key thing to focus on here is the behaviour of others, which can be a key source of conflict. Ensure how you act is in line with and tolerable to group norms. Set these out early and with clarity, while you still have your sanity! 

Communication is also vital, and isolation can lead to an increase in intimacy and depth of disclosure. This might often be followed by regret of loss of informational privacy, so depending on who you’re with and the context, be aware of this. Rumours circulate fast too, true or not. Break this up with by staying in touch with friends on Skype (or similar), and maybe even remotely contact strangers. Notice the positive effect of this in many contexts, from hookups on ham radio of Antarctic radio stations, passing ships or Italians singing from balconies. 

Dependent on context, privacy is vital too, people will receive bad news/no news which can be very stressful. Feelings of depression, anger, anxiety, helplessness will all be common.

Temporal factors

There are several types of temporal factors to consider.  Total duration in isolation can have different impacts. Motivation and morale might decline over time as we begin to become aware of shortcomings in the situation. But equally, as time passes a sense of confidence in ones ability to cope might increase. Remember that stress has a cumulative and pervasive influence. Have some strategies in place to recognise and manage this. Strangely, passing a ‘half-way’ point often seems to initiate shifts in a changes in morale and performance. 

As mentioned earlier, cycles such as sleep-wake and circadian rhythms might become disrupted, meaning we will need to rely more heavily on social, rather than physical cues for shifts to a different phase of a cycle. This adds stress, so concentrate on the things we know improve sleep. Light exposure, temperature and regularity.

You might be lucky enough to still have work, which will give you a somewhat fixed ratio of work to ‘leisure' time. It seems apparent that ‘empty’ time is more stressful than having too much to do. In this context you have no distraction from the unpleasant aspects of life at home so try to impose some level of structure and regularity to your day. 

Other guidance

Consider your personality traits. Maybe even take a personality test, we’re looking for good scores of conscientiousness and agreeableness. If you’re neither of those, be aware you might not be that fun to be around.  

Structure the environment, so different rooms have different purposes. 

Solitude is also important, 60% of peoples waking time can be spent alone, so don’t feel like you have to be with people all the time. Auditory privacy can be trickier to achieve than visual privacy.

We have a transactional relationship with stress, that is, our appraisal and response to the types of stress listed above depend on our understanding of them. If we feel well suited to be able to cope with them we will respond more favourably. So be aware of the sources of stress that social distancing measures might bring and use this awareness to manage them more appropriately.