What are the psychological effects of pandemic isolation?

The spread of COVID-19 worldwide during 2020 has totally changed our way of life, and that has had different consequences.

One of the ways in which the average citizen has been able to experience such changes has been due to isolation imposed for health reasons. Next we will analyze this phenomenon as well as the consequences that it has been able to unleash at a psychological level in some people, that is, the psychological effects of pandemic isolation.

• Related article: "How to overcome loneliness: 5 keys to break isolation"

The main psychological effects of pandemic isolation

In order to immerse ourselves in the problem of the psychological effects of isolation due to pandemic, we must make an introduction that helps us to situate ourselves contextually. The arrival of the coronavirus and its spread to practically all regions of the world, supposed a break, at least momentary, with the lifestyle of many people.

This abrupt change was given, mainly, by a series of confinements, more or less harsh in depending on the region where they were decreed, but severe in almost all countries Westerners. As a result of these new norms, established to control the sources of contagion and thus alleviate the collapse Of the health systems, most of the population was forced to stay at home.

Among all the complications that this confinement could have entailed for citizens in many spheres of their lives, we are going to focus specifically on the psychological effects of isolation by pandemic. It must be taken into account that, of course, this issue did not affect all people equally, since the personal, social and psychological conditions of each one make their case unique.

However, some generalities can be drawn that, although they do not apply to the total population, they do for a sufficiently significant group as to become a notable factor. Taking these considerations into account, in the next point we will be able to explore some of these effects, delving into the causes and consequences of each of them.

The most important psychological effects of pandemic isolation

Once we are clear about the context in which this problem is situated, and that the impacts caused by it must not act the same on all people, we can go on to analyze the different psychological effects of isolation due to pandemic.

1. Anxious and depressive symptoms

The first effect and surely the most abundant, since many people have experienced it to a greater or lesser degree, is the development of anxiety and / or depressive symptoms. It is important to take into account the setting in which this isolation occurred, to understand this factor.

And it is that it was not only a confinement, but it entailed a situation of total uncertainty and fear of an element, in this case the coronavirus, about which the population hardly knew anything. As if that were not enough, the media bombardment about the infections and the victims was constant. These variables were the ideal breeding ground for increasing anxiety and negative emotions in many people.

This is how a large part of the population suffered the first of the psychological effects of isolation due to a pandemic. And its consequence was shocking. To reflect it graphically, we can look at the data on the sale of anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs during the period of the pandemic and compare it with that of other years.

In countries like Spain or Mexico, this comparison is chilling, since the number of medications dedicated to treating anxiety and depression has doubled, which shows the scope of this question.

• You may be interested in: "What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do"

2. Increased social phobia

Social phobia is a form of anxiety, but in this case triggered by social situations, that is, when interacting with other people. It seems paradoxical that this is one of the psychological effects of pandemic isolation, but it has a logical explanation. Actually, this has been an effect that has affected a posteriori, but a very specific range of the population.

These are those who already suffered from social phobia or had a certain tendency towards a behavior that fits into this picture. These people, who were already leaving with difficulties to cope with social relationships, were suddenly faced with a situation that practically completely prevented such interactions, which at first reduced the option of suffering from anxiety due to they.

However, once the confinement was over, these individuals had to face their day-to-day life again, fulfilling with the measures required by the new legislation, but still exposed to the possibility of interacting with other people. After a long period in which this could not happen, this fact led to a worsening in the management of anxiety by people with social phobia.

• You may be interested in: "Social phobia: what is it and how to overcome it?"

3. Impaired cognitive functions

Another of the psychological effects of isolation due to pandemic was, according to a study by Joanne Ingram et al., That of cognitive impairment. This group of authors found that part of the population, especially the elderly, suffered from this condition due to the lack of social interaction imposed by confinement.

The performance of a group of people on tasks related to memory, attention, learning and other exercises was compared over 13 weeks. The authors were able to observe that subjects performed better when they were in a personal situation in which could interact with other people, while their performance was worse during confinement conditions and isolation.

4. Posttraumatic stress

The experience lived by many people throughout the coronavirus has had a greater emotional impact than that they have been able to endure, especially if they have lived closely with some serious case or even death. This fact could have been traumatic for some individuals and have generated post-traumatic stress., which could lead them to relive that malaise in the future.

This is one of the psychological effects of isolation due to a pandemic that makes the impact that the coronavirus crisis had on the mental health of the population, since some of its consequences have been able to remain hidden for a time and have emerged some time later, such as stress post-traumatic.

People who have suffered from this pathology would need help to be able to reprocess those vital events that, having a burden excessively high emotional level, were not processed correctly and continue to generate these negative feelings in a repeated.

5. Development of hypochondria

But these are not the only psychological effects of pandemic isolation. Having lived a climate of extreme tension in a context of insecurity about health, those people who had a certain predisposition to hypochondria could have developed this psychopathology.

In addition, it should not be forgotten that the information that was initially had about COVID-19, when the confinement began, was scarce, even in relation to the symptoms. For this reason, it was common for many individuals, at the slightest symptom of discomfort, such as pain in the head or cough, they felt that they had been infected, with the consequent anxiety that it produced.

6. Physical impairment

Although we are talking about the psychological effects of isolation due to pandemic, we cannot stop paying attention to the deterioration that many people suffered on a physical level, either due to the lack of exercise to which they were subjected due to not being able to leave their homes, or the lack of vitamin D by not being exposed to the sun practically at any time.

These issues also have an impact on the state of mind and ultimately, the psychological state of individuals, who could experience discomfort for it.

7. Separation anxiety

As with other psychological effects of pandemic isolation, separation anxiety is a later issue, especially in some children. Confinement caused many members of the same family to spend together 24 hours a day over several weeks, not being able to attend school or work, in many cases.

When this situation changed and the obligations and therefore the corresponding transfers were resumed, many children had developed so-called separation anxiety, and thus experienced discomfort psychological when they were estranged from their family for the first time in a long time.

8. Exploration gaps

To complete this list of psychological effects of isolation due to pandemic, we come to the deficit of exploration behaviors suffered by many children, especially those of younger ages.

The obligation to stay at home and therefore not be able to go to other places or interact with more people than those who lived made babies and toddlers unable to explore as much as would have been desirable.

Although these are not all the effects that isolation could generate, they are some of the most notable.