Covid-19: How lockdown could affect our relationships

“One of the key things we know is that whenever people are in any type of quarantine or self-isolation like this, it does have a number of adverse effects, particularly the longer it goes on,” she said.

“It is not uncommon for people in a quarantine situation to develop depression and anxiety but also, on a non-clinical level, to develop a fear of being around other people, anger towards them and distrust. This is not surprising when a disease like Covid-19 can be spread through contact with other people – not even physical contact but just being in relatively close proximity.”

READ MORE: Scottish study to assess mental health impacts of coronavirus

There could be several long-term consequences, ranging from single people being hampered in developing romantic relationships to those who are already isolated becoming more lonely than ever.

“It does mean we are going to see generations of individuals who are being stalled in making connections with each other and that is going to have an impact depending on how long this goes on for,” said McAloney-Kocaman.

Another consequence is that people are missing physical contact with others.

“That is particularly important for human beings, as they are very social and very tactile creatures and, while a lot of work has been done on the promotion of social media tools to increase contact with each other, it is not the same as being able to see somebody in person and engage in the kind of reassurance and support that we would normally give to each other in terms of being tactile,” she said.

Those who are particularly isolated or experiencing loneliness may find themselves more vulnerable to a host of physical and mental conditions.

“The social isolation they would normally have is being compounded even further by being shielded and not being able to get out for their visits to the shops or daily walks,” said McAloney-Kocaman.

“We know loneliness can feed into things like cardiovascular problems and a range of other conditions, and it can also lead to participation in unhealthy behaviours such as eating more.”

READ MORE: Expert highlights how parents can help young people with mental health issues

SHE said there was a strong possibility the lockdown could have a long-term impact on health for all generations.

“If we look at situations where there has been really acute or specific types of trauma, such as wars, that are experienced by people, there is a legacy effect where the experiences of one generation are transferred to another generation, so we could see impact of this for quite a few years,” said McAloney-Kocaman.

“A lot of my research been done in Northern Ireland and we see there a generation growing up in a relatively peaceful situation but the trauma experienced by their parents and grandparents is being revisited on these children in terms of the mental health legacy that is being passed down.”

Consultant clinical psychologist at NHS Lanarkshire Dr Nicola Cogan said there was a real issue of loneliness as a result of the lockdown, as well as problems for those trying to build new relationships, whether romantic or otherwise.

Another aspect was those who had already been experiencing mental health difficulties and whose routine appointments have been curtailed.

“These difficulties do not go away and are likely to be exacerbated by this,” she said.

“We are all in this together but it does not affect everyone equally.’’

Those losing a loved one through the disease would be particularly hard hit, Dr Cogan pointed out.

“They might not see them from the point they are taken into hospital and may have to go through the process of arranging a funeral and dealing with a major loss while in quarantine.”

As funerals are subject to the restrictions, she said it would affect the way people grieve.

“We have social and cultural rituals built into the process of grieving and that involves physical contact like hugs and social gatherings but people are having to use Zoom or something similar to be able to connect with their loved ones.”

“Post-traumatic stress is a risk factor because if we can’t engage in normal processes and social rituals it becomes something very difficult to process emotionally and physically and has an aftermath.”

THE lockdown will also affect the communal rituals associated with fasting and reflection during Ramadan, which has just begun.

“People are not going to be able to engage in the same social rituals associated with fasting during daylight hours and congregating for prayers and festivity at the end as a community,” said Dr Cogan. “This tradition is very much part of the Muslim culture and religion and that will likely have a massive impact on these customs and a way of life.”

Dr McAloney-Kocaman said that while it was clear social distancing and self- isolation was necessary as the most effective intervention to protect people against Covid-19, some foresight was needed into how society is going to leave lockdown.

“We have to think about how people transition from this new learned behaviour of staying away from others and that level of distrust and fear,” she said. “There is going to have to be work done to help people to build bridges and learn how to integrate again together.”

She pointed out that masks may become the new normal.

“Our society is going to change and what we expect from people will change,” she said. “People will require support to reintegrate into a new version of normal to what we currently have at the moment.

“It is not something that can just happen overnight but has to be planned. We need to research and understand the implications of what this could mean for the health and well-being of people and put mechanisms in place to help support the population in the transition.

“We need to think about how we can work to reintegrate people again and support them into making connections.

“We have to plan interventions that teach people about what is acceptable as we move forward and can facilitate a change in attitude to that,” said Dr McAloney-Kocaman.

ONE POSITIVE aspect of the coronavirus crisis is the support for the NHS and key workers.

Consultant clinical psychologist and lecturer at Strathclyde University, Dr Nicola Cogan, said the appreciation was “fantastic” and would hopefully result in more support and funding for the NHS.

“All we have heard for the last five or ten years is NHS negatives but we are now seeing a galvanising of support and people are recognising the significant value of all NHS workers and social care workers,” she said.

“I would love to think that the under-recruiting of nurses is a thing of the past and that we start to see many more people recognising the value and work of the NHS.”

She said there was also evidence of more respect for essential workers’ jobs and roles.

“There is new found appreciation for roles that were once seen as less glamorous. This makes you see that shop workers and people collecting bins underpin society. It makes you think about what community is and what keeps it going and that is the essential workers to a large extent.”

Dr Cogan also believes that the flourishing of social media and the new ways it is being used to connect with people will continue both in people’s social lives and work lives.

“I think it will be part of the repertoire of tools of connecting that people will use on a regular basis and I think it will change most work environments and working practices so that people have more flexibility about working from home,” she said.

“People may also keep helping their neighbours and become more aware of those around them.”

She added: “I don’t think we can revert back to how we were. How, if we ever have a future pandemic, do we ensure our society is set up to accommodate such massive disruptions to the way it functions?”