Isolation & the Brain, 5

There are things you can do to minimize the effect of social isolation as experienced by many during the COVID-19 pandemic. For one, select the behaviors you choose to exhibit with care, to avoid being incarcerated and placed in solitary confinement! This can result in the development of or exacerbations of many emotional problems including psychosis. There is an old saying, “Those who eat alone, die alone.” One of my favorite activities has always been eating with people I dearly love. Since I live alone, that ran into a cement wall when lockdown occurred. At first, I tried playing music while I ate. That probably helped my digestion but did little if anything for the isolation from human contact. My best solution was to find a documentary, favorite sit-com, National Geographic programs, or Blue Planet and watch that as I ate my meals. Not only do I find those programs very interesting, but the visuals and sounds of human voices made a huge difference. I no longer have a live dog, what with so much traveling, and cats make me sneeze and my eye’s run. I do have a fluffy white Persian “adult” toy cat that sometimes sits on my lap. Try strategies until you find what works for your brain. Know that when you reach out to connect with others, they can be benefited as well.