COVID-19 and Touch Deprivation

No-one can escape the fact that the world has changed beyond recognition in just a few short weeks. The body count continues to rise and is a stark reminder to us of how vulnerable humans can be to nature. Furthermore, usually frantically busy streets and cities are now deserted, shopping malls are closed, restaurants and bars are shut down and much of the world’s population is under virtual “house arrest.” Social distancing and lockdown are the buzz phrases of the hour. How can we look after our mental health in a world where isolation (by necessity) has become more prevalent than ever and in fact, the new “norm.” What will the world be like after this threat passes? How many of these new and supposedly temporary “norms” will continue long into the future? One of my biggest concerns as a therapist relates to the subject of touch deprivation and its future effect on society. People of my age group will remember with great sadness the horrifying images from Romanian orphanages back in the 1980s (at the time the communist regimes across Eastern Europe disintegrated). News reports showing hundreds of babies and toddlers, in endless rows of cots, who had died or gone insane, because they had never been picked up or touched. What this reminded the world in a very graphic manner is that human touch is a basic human need just as much as food and water, without it humans simply cannot thrive. In South American, France, Italy and Spain, warm hugs, affection and touch are...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Family Psychology Relationships coronavirus COVID-19 quarantine social distancing touch deprivation Source Type: blogs