The Psychology of dealing with Post-COVID-19 Quarantine

5 behavioral psychology lessons during Freedom

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in medicine but here is my take on how applying psychology can help us deal with Post Quarantine freedom.

There is enough material out there on the internet that emphasizes healthy ways to deal with the COVID-19 quarantine. I trust you got the hang of it now and I am not here to add to that.

However, what I am more concerned about is the time AFTER.

You are physically caged, not mentally.

This statement reminds me of my favorite regional Indian Movie called “Aravinda Sametha Veeraraghava”. The movie is pretty much about human emotions and POST war trauma. As supposed to finishing a cinematic experience with the glory of victory & bloodshed, the movie starts with it. Although it has glamour and other commercial elements, it does raise some thought-provoking ideas & theories.

Why am I comparing war to COVID-19? Well, let’s see what happens during a war:

1. Public Access: Citizens are forced to stay indoors.
2. Economy: A slump in the market and value of the currency, increased unemployment, global slowdown.
3. Public Health: Underprepared Leaders & Hospitals, usually flooded with more cases than they can handle.
4. Common Fears: Losing friends, family, loved ones, or our own lives.

And the similarities can go on……..

So, my friends, this is WAR in every way! Let’s swallow that pill. So, if you feel things haven’t been great for you, cut yourself some slack.

In that context, it becomes imperative to understand how we might respond to our freedom after quarantine ends. For that, I am going down my memory lane of reading “Man’s search for Meaning”- by Viktor Frankl. A large portion of it is about the traumatic concentration camps and the protagonist's journey of survival and how he learned to deal with losses. But the last few chapters give you a great perspective of the limitations and abilities of our minds.

As the book suggests, let us ensure to follow these key lessons:

1. PTSD:

Well, this could be a big word to throw here. But we are vulnerable to this in our own magnitudes. The history of PTSD comes from the research work conducted by Bruce Dohrenwend and colleagues at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, who found that traumatic experiences during combat predicted the onset of the full complement of symptoms.

3 factors that might contribute to COVID-19 PTSD:

• combat exposure — Were you affected or not? How is your quarantine condition?
• pre-war vulnerabilities — Were you a very socially active person? How are you coping with that now?
• Involvement in harming civilians or prisoners — Did you end up affecting a friend/family member with COVID or have you lost someone in the bargain?

Be mindful and aware of how you feel and what your background is. Meditate and calm yourself down. DO NOT enter the Blame game.

2. Being indifferent to death allowed people to survive:

Let’s not drive ourselves crazy every minute by thinking about the implication of COVID-19. Your anxiety won't save the day. Being indifferent towards the ultimate result might help us fight it a lot better by living in the present and making ourselves resourceful for our society at large. Anxiety makes us selfish, aggressive, and will only spread hatred.

3. Your life has its own meaning and it’s up to you to find it in any given moment.

A lot of things that should have progressed as “normal” in our lives haven’t happened. I am personally challenged with finding a job in these circumstances and I am sure there are several other battles we are all fighting.

What things promised us happiness, success, money, or fame have ceased to exist and we are all struggling to find that meaning again.

Just as there is no single best move in a game of chess, the meaning of life changes with every action and it is up to us to fill our actions with a sense of ultimate responsibility. We must learn to find meaning at every given moment and not buy into “destination happiness”.

4. Try to force your fears to come true to make them go away.

We all have our insecurities and we are afraid of it materializing. Contrary to fighting our fears and pretending to be a positive person, its best to live our fears out. This is not about wishing for it to happen or investing our energies that will make bad things happen.

What I mean to say is, immerse yourself into your pool of fear. Image living through it during those moments, talk to yourself about what you feel and how you might deal with it. Hop on a call with your loved ones and discuss the scenarios. Seek assurance and have the dialogue!

5. Mindfully accepting Freedom

After being freed from the concentration camps, the author talks about how several men and women choose different lives. Some became criminals (passing the agony to others), some lost sense of purpose and became isolated, others began to party hard like there was no tomorrow — burning their savings and a very small percentage exercised a sense of watchfulness and maintained composure.

We miss hugs /kisses, partying, traveling, attending concerts, or even dining at restaurants. Rather, we have all been denied those. So, when the gates open again and the world is your playground, you must choose to be wise and mindful of how you feel and how you respect the freedom of yourself, others, and most importantly, this planet.

COVID -19 has taught us once again how vulnerable human beings are, as opposed to our pretense of being the strongest beings on this planet. We are capable of great things but kind things too. Let us extend kindness towards animals, nature, and each other and learn this lesson once and for all.

We are either coming out of this together, holding *sanitized* hands or NEVER at all.