Is the treatment worse than the disease?

(Public Domain)

With literally millions of people being asked to shelter in place, it seems important to also ask:  Is the treatment worse than the disease?

In other words, can relative isolation do more to undermine health than the virus itself?  Business Insider recently reported that people with “weaker social relationships are 50% more likely to die over a given period than those with more robust connections.”  Sheltering in place is apt to weaken social ties in many instances.

A better term than “social distancing” might therefore be “physical distancing.”  Those who are sheltering in place should be encouraged to keep connections alive via telephone, texts, e-mails and video-chats.  Snail-mail cards, photos and letters can be heartwarming, too.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/happens-body-brain-youre-quarantined-181300203.html 

Copyright March 21, 2020 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved