The social experiment of whether or not technology can replace in-person interactions is underway. It could have serious implications for our mental health.
- As people are forced to stay inside, mental health experts warn we don't know if social media and video calls are enough to fulfill their ingrained need for social interactions.
- Experts believe prolonged changes in how people use technology during quarantine could change people's habits after the quarantine is over.
- Quarantine is likely to cause a rise in suicides, substance abuse, domestic abuse, and health issues.
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Most of the nation has been in quarantine for a couple of months or so to slow the spread of COVID-19, and it's likely there are months more ahead. Such a significant lifestyle change for most could have large effects on mental and physical health, and in particular, a lack of social interaction is a concern.
Since the advent of social media and other new forms of digital communication, we've never seen a time when essentially the whole country was relying on digital tools to meet all of their social needs, and psychology experts say we're in uncharted waters in terms of what the long term effects could be.
Humans need social interactions. Can technology fill the void in quarantine?
Humans are social animals, and loneliness can actually impair immune function and increase inflammation in the body, according to a body of research. We evolved to rely on each other for a myriad of purposes, so our brains are wired to encourage social behavior. When you're stuck at home because of a pandemic and have to rely on social media and other digital tools to fulfill these needs, what effect does that have on your brain?
"The big challenge of sheltering in place and quarantine is the loss of human connection," Johannes Eichstaedt, an assistant professor of psychology at Stanford University, tells Insider. "We are a social species. A large part of our neural infrastructure is dedicated to other people — tracking other people, having a sense of belonging, being part of a tribe — it's all deeply ingrained."
Eichstaedt, who studies the psychological states of groups and individuals on social media, says the big question is how much of that human connection can be substituted in the digital domain. He says research has shown that phone calls and especially video calls can be effective ways to substitute in-person human interaction, but none of that research touched on extended periods of time, so we don't yet know how well these things are working for people during this quarantine. What we do know is humans require regular social interactions.
"It's one of these fundamental traits about humans," Eichstaedt says. "It's not really socially constructed—it's culturally elaborated."
We're currently living in an unprecedented social media experiment.
In terms of social media use, Eichstaedt says it's a common misconception that elevated social media use leads to anxiety or depression. He says the truth is that people who are depressed simply tend to use social media more.
During this pandemic, we've seen people using social media to support each other and keep each other entertained in ways we've never seen before, so you could argue that's one way social media has been helpful psychologically during this pandemic. That said, there's also the risk of getting overwhelmed by too much COVID-19 news if you overdo it with social media.
"The problem we're facing right now is the fact that we have very limited options in terms of connecting to people," Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Bringham Young University, told Insider. "I think everyone wants to know: Are these options good enough?"
We may not have an answer to that question for some time, because we're essentially living in an unprecedented social experiment. Holt-Lunstad says she worries about the health effect this quarantine might be having on people, as there's nothing we can do about the fact our brains are hardwired to crave social interactions. She says a lot of research will have to be done when this is over to understand the short-term and long-term effects of this quarantine.
"There's neuroscience evidence that suggests that our default processing is social and when we lack proximity to others—particularly trusted others—our brains use more metabolic resources," Holt-Lunstad says. "In essence, we have to be more alert if we're either alone or not with others that we trust."
Stress and trauma could have other health ramifications.
Holt-Lunstad says there's also evidence that adverse life experiences like this can have long-term health effects, so research will need to be done to determine what effect living through a prolonged stressful and traumatic event like a pandemic might have.
Many psychology experts have warned that suicides will likely rise significantly during this quarantine because of loneliness, fear, a loss of hope and other factors. Eichstaedt says we should be greatly expanding our critical mental health infrastructure to help people who are at risk. If we're going to social distance to keep people safe, we should also be thinking about how to keep them safe while they're socially distancing, he says.
Not only are suicides likely to go up during this quarantine, health experts warn that substance abuse, eating disorders and domestic abuse are also on the rise. Unfortunately, prolonged quarantine can put people's mental and physical health in danger in numerous ways.
Quarantine could change our social habits forever.
We know that humans tend to stick with habits they develop when a situation requires them to change their routine, so another big question is how our social and professional lives may be different once things go back to normal. Will we use social media more? Will we keep doing so many video calls? Will we be more insular?
Karen Kovacs North, a professor of digital social media at USC, tells Insider that she thinks we've now grown accustomed to utilizing video conferencing in many different contexts, and she believes that will continue to happen to some degree. That said, she thinks we'll still desire regular in-person interactions.
"When the world reopens, we will have all of these new tools, and new groups of people will have these tools, such as older people who have now learned how to interact socially and professionally via digital technology, but my guess is that it will take its place and people will return, for the most part, to getting together in the world," North says.
Since we've been getting used to this kind of behavior, we may end up missing social interactions less simply because of our location. We may find ourselves joining parties, classes, meetings and other social interactions via a video call more often because we no longer find it odd to do that.
Eichstaedt says he used to host lectures that were primarily in-person events but would also be streamed online, and the lecture would have maybe 50 attendees and 20 people watching online. Now that in-person events aren't happening, he says the video streams are getting thousands of viewers. He says he believes there is a psychological reason for this, and he's thinking they may never return to in-person lectures.
"When you're live streaming an event that's really in person, you feel like a second class citizen," Eichstaedt says. "You don't feel like you're really there. You don't take it seriously in the same way. When it's something that's purely online, then everyone has a primary sense of being there like everyone else."
North says people like brands that are reliable and that they feel they can trust, so the digital platforms that prove useful during this quarantine will not only benefit during this but will likely continue to be used by consumers once the quarantine is over. She says Amazon is already greatly benefiting from a rise in people ordering the things they need from home, and we could find that those shopping habits don't go away once the virus does.
"Amazon has the country turning to Amazon to shop for them because we're afraid to go out and are told not to go out, but that's a habit that people may in fact embrace," North says.
It seems we may be developing a new relationship with the digital world and the world around us that could remain intact long after this crisis is over. We may find ourselves missing social gatherings less as we video into them, and we may find ourselves changing our priorities in terms of what social interactions are actually necessary. It's possible we're entering a time when working from home will no longer be considered an oddity. How this quarantine will change our daily lives remains to be seen, but based on what we understand of the human brain, there will almost certainly be lasting effects.
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