Social distancing

The slight easing of lockdown over the last couple of weeks and uncertainty about what the next steps will be are creating anxiety. You might be stretching the rules or keeping them more strictly. Perhaps you’re feeling guilt at being reckless or alternatively you're asking yourself why you don’t feel the need to socialise more. Is it that you don’t care about spending time with others or don’t have enough friends? You might have divergent views on social distancing from other members of your household, creating tension.

My feeling about this is that it’s better not to compare yourself with others. You might be really struggling not seeing specific people and it might be difficult to see them one to one. Visiting family is one example of this. Not being able to hug people you love can be really tough.

Or it may be that some elements of lockdown have been a relief, alleviating the pressure to spend time with people you don’t really want to be socialising with. Perhaps you don’t have that many people that you could spend time with even if lockdown were completely lifted.

Wherever you find yourself, it’s okay because everyone's in a different position for a whole plethora of reasons, including what's happened in your life, the way it's made sense to deal with what's happened, your character and values. It's important to try and keep the social distancing rules but everyone is going to have their own unique struggles with lockdown and/or the way we come out of it. Try not to be too harsh with yourself about your own response.