Juana Garcia/The Cougar
While in quarantine and practicing social distancing, it can be difficult to both make new friends and keep up with your current friends. This is why keeping up with our socialization habits in a safe way is essential for maintaining our mental health, and helping others who may be struggling with their own.
Although you may be thinking that the only way to properly socialize involves getting together in person with multiple people, I can assure you that there are a variety of safer alternatives that guarantee everyone’s safety.
Socializing may not seem as easy as it once was, but it is equally as important that we don’t become neglected or neglect the people in our lives.
Effects of not socializing
Everyone has different preferences on how and how often they socialize with others, but for many who do this consistently, the effects of a lack of socialization can be truly detrimental to their mental health.
An overall lack of socialization can cause serious effects, such as depression and anxiety, due to the constant isolation imposed upon us by the pandemic.
Any individual has the potential to face psychological effects from not socializing. This is why it is important to safely interact with others, not only for our sake, but for those around us too.
We all have feelings and needs that are equally valid, and a huge example is the need for socialization.
This is why we need to remember that we aren’t alone, however we may be feeling; don’t forget to reach out to your family and friends sometime soon. Get out there and meet new people, without actually going out of course.
There are numerous positive outcomes that can come out of socializing during such uncertain and alienating times, so don’t let a pandemic get in the way of continuing to build and maintaining relationships.
Safely socializing
Finding ways to safely socialize with others so that you don’t feel alone during quarantine can seem like a difficult task, but the reality is that there are plenty of simple and effective solutions.
Nobody wants to get sick, but almost everyone wants to just go back to living life pre-pandemic style. One of the easiest ways to do this is to reach out to people through technology and the Internet.
Today, there are plenty of ways to communicate with the people around you and even people you’ve never met before. Some simple ways include texting, calling, communicating through social media and even communicating through school related apps for students and staff.
Although this isn’t the same as simply leaving your home to hang out with all of your friends and family, it’s the safest and most beneficial way for everyone. It makes sure we don’t completely lose out on important everyday interactions and begin to feel down and estranged.
Socializing is important and so is everyone’s mental health, which is why nobody should be isolating themselves in this day and age where we have access to so many forms of communication and support.
Kimberly Argueta is a political science freshman who can be reached at [email protected]
