Thoughts on a Quarantine

There is a lot of bad stuff going on out there.  People are sick, and dying.  People are losing jobs, and suffering corresponding losses of financial stability and the ability to afford medical care, just when they may need it most.

This post is not about those things.

Instead, it's about the emotions of isolation.

There are a multitude of scientific studies investigating the benefits that social contact can have on both mental and physical health.  (Here, here, and here are just a few links.)  Yesterday, there was a story on NPR about the spike in suicide rates which is expected to follow in the wake of COVID-19 -- as a consequence of many things, of which social isolation is only one.  Prior mental health issues, job loss and related financial struggles, illness, and relationship stresses obviously also play a role.  These are real and devastating consequences, and I don't intend to dismiss them.  But what I'm talking about here are the less acutely severe results of isolation, the more day-to-day issues of a relatively short-term isolation.

I am an introvert.  I have known for years that I am an introvert.  My Meyers-Briggs score is I = 19, E = 1.  (Is it even possible to get a 20-0 score?)  "But wait!," you may say.  "Aren't you always posting about the things you do all over town?"  Yes, that is true.  Though I typically enjoy loads of activities around town, I enjoy the activity, not necessarily the people there.  I would sooner go to a fancy dinner at the art museum where I am the only guest as go there with a Grand Hall full of strangers.  But unfortunately I don't have that kind of dough, so I put up with the strangers out of necessity.

Introverts have been getting more attention in recent years.  Prominent in raising that tide was Susan Cain's 2012 book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.  (Her TED talk, for the basics, is here.)  Someone gave me a copy of this book when it came out; I haven't read it yet, but I have been thinking about the difference between introverts and extroverts during the quarantine.  I am not the only one.  Google some of these keywords and you will finds loads of articles.

Initially, I did not know whether I would like working from home.  In many, but not all, ways, it turns out that I do.  Without a doubt, however, I am thrilled that -- for a period of time at least -- I was told I had to stay home, that I could not go out and interact with other people.  (Obviously, people were told this more or less forcefully depending on their particular state, county, or city, but I took it to the extreme by choice.)  What a relief to have a socially acceptable reason to refuse to see or speak to people!

In an article in The Guardian, one writer comments that she "can’t imagine what it would feel like to suddenly have to live life the other way round, with the government forcing me to socialise relentlessly."  Isn't that how we introverts live most of our lives -- forced to go to work and into the world and socialize with people even when we don't want to?  True, it's not the government forcing us, but basic everyday needs (like having a job to pay living expenses) and strong social norms sure do force us to behave in ways we don't like and aren't comfortable with.  So, for the moment at least, I am getting a little bit of perverse joy from all the extroverts out there complaining about being in isolation.  Finally!  You all know the sort of emotional turmoil we introverts deal with daily!

This all, of course, has limits.  I miss traveling, and much of our travel is to visit our families.  I miss them (you!).  If we travel for any other reason, it is usually to go do something fun and novel that we have not done before, to see the country and the world.  I miss that too.

But for the time being, I am happy to be quarantined for a bit longer, keeping to myself and enjoying the peace and quiet.