People who haven’t really resumed socializing at levels they used to, people who lost the capacity to regulate during interpersonal interactions, people who lost trust in others… I encounter lots of partial returners out there
Partial returners seems like a good name for it.
I’m in this post and I don’t like it. I used to be social as hell, now I’m almost a hermit.
I miss the pandemic. Socially isolating meant I got to spend more time with my kids and extended family than I had in decades due to limited sports and other activities. And even work, while it didn’t stop (luckily), provided more valance - especialy more than now.
When talking about people with ASD that’s called unmasking and is one of the main goals of therapy.
Assuming ASD stands for antisocial disorder, I didn’t realize there was therapy for it. I thought it was essentially just “I don’t like those people, and I don’t like THOSE people either…actually, I don’t like most people. I’m just going to keep to myself.”
Now, maybe I’m wrong, and ASD stands for something else.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
That would be ASPD.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
We don’t have a natural ability to infer emotions from body language, for a start. We have to learn to actively pay attention to it. Replacing natural instinct that a neurotypical person has with an active thought process is tiring, for a start.
Add to that most ASD people have trouble with emotional control, need to actively think about their own facial expressions, and often have social quirks that are unacceptable like nail biting which must be actively repressed… and being around others for hours on end is exhausting.
On top of this, most ASD people also have ADHD, and in the modern open office environment between the social aspect and never ending barrage of distraction, and the workplace is hostile, actively hostile to folks with ASD.
This combination of factors leads to having no where to unmask and relax until they get home. When they do, they are so exhausted from being something they are not for 10 hours (commute has to be included as its all public space) that when they get home they just shut down. They don’t call family or friends usually, they don’t get things around the house done. They have to turn off and try to re-energize themselves for doing it all again tomorrow.
I know all this as I am ASD and ADHD
Being able to work from home has brought actual balance to our lives as we can unmask the moment the camera goes off, we have rooms at home where we can close the door and remove distractions (well except mandatory work chats, but its a matter of muting that for focus) and at the end of the day we still have energy for our actual lives. In other words, this is the true work-life balance that I had always heard of but never truly felt I had.
Well, working from home it still requires discipline to optimize distractions, but it’s at least possible.
Absolutely, especially with ADHD in the mix. When demand aversion kicks in, your brain literally tries to undermine any attempt to focus unless you can force it to cooperate. Music usually helps me with this.
I’ve had bad anxiety my entire life, but I never felt like I really had social anxiety before the pandemic. Now I have a hard time talking to pretty much anyone unless they talk to me first.
…hi.
We had a name before the pandemic… It’s “introvert.”
I’m more referring to people who aren’t so much choosing to isolate. Not a preference, but a loss of the capacity or opportunities to socialize
That happens to almost anyone on a long enough timeline. You have to let yourself be uncomfortable while you rebuild those social skills.
Absolutely. It comes down to exposure therapy, basically. Reacclimation.
Informed? Did the infection rates start dropping lately?
Yes, it started dropping years ago and is now less than 1% of peak infection rate. It is endemic now and treated like the flu. Keep living in a bubble for the rest of your life if you want, I guess.
Fun fact(s): The COVID strains that were active at the beginning of last year were actually more infectious and deadlier than the original COVID strains. The only reason we didn’t hear much about them is because, despite RFK Jr’s beliefs, the vaccines work. 443 people died from COVID in the US during the first week of November, even with the vaccines. There were about 15 deaths from the flu in that same week.
There are plenty of immunocompromised people who can’t get vaccinated who can no longer be in public without risking death now that COVID is endemic.
I’ll be honest, the lockdowns were awesome for me. “Now you bitches get to see how I live.”
And the mad increase of online ordering, no contact pickup, and how people aren’t crawling up your ass in line at the grocery store anymore? I could not have hoped for better.
😌 It truly was the good old days when we just had a global pandemic to worry about.
Gods do I miss social distance lines
I miss having free time without the impending pressure to do things.
I’m health wise OK but my wife isn’t for the rest of her life so I have to take precautions everywhere. I don’t mind because I really don’t like dealing with people anyway.
I do grocery pickup and go inside the store maybe four or five times a year now.
I haven’t been to the inside of a restaurant in over three years, we use patios and sidewalk tables outdoors.
I specifically only ever use gas stations where you pay at the pump.
I haven’t been to a mall or indoor space with people in years now.
I order everything else to my door.
I really don’t miss dealing with people and now find it completely weird and disorienting to deal with people in public now.
now find it completely weird and disorienting to deal with people in public now.
This is what I’ve been hearing (and experienced). And that it’s not a preference, it’s more that the nervous system has struggled to recalibrate; or there was not enough opportunity for it to do so and that has led to a feedback loop
The impostor syndrome and such are crazy though, when working remotely from my dust and cockroaches box.
I go out but I do most of my big shopping as delivery. I just can’t bring myself to go to Walmart very often. Most of my little shopping is at dollar stores. You know, the little things we used to get at what we used to call “milk stores.”
Yeah it was certainly a net positive for some. Of course this post isn’t a criticism of those that enjoyed it, or were unaffected by it. But there is a sort of lost generation group, so to speak, too. That includes younger people who feel maladroit or disconnected in a way that they tie to that period. People who already struggled to socialize and the period made it worse enough that they never recovered
Yeah my youngest kid was on the middle of her second school year when the lockdown started. She was so anxious around people when in person school started again. She’s gotten somewhat better in the past couple years, but still not quite the same.
Yes some kids I know, it just sort of became how they identify: shy, more anxious
Small rant incoming:
I’m actually still stuck inside more than in the Pandemic. Essential worker so I still went outside daily until i never got my energy back after having covid for the 5th? time.
About 3 years of doctors not really knowing how to treat it and encouraging me to keep trying what i could each day, which led to me basically destroying my body, until i got one of my countries leading experts who immediately told me to take bed rest the second i feel tired.
Since my immune system is basically gone i got a bunch of other illnesses some of which will probably never go away since the meds only alleviate the symptoms.
Upside is that I’ve been trialing a bunch of expirimental treatments for the specialised clinic that is opening soon, some of which had small but immediate effects. So at least those that will get diagnosed in the future don’t need to wait as long hopefully.
I got ME/CFS (closely related to long COVID) that first started in early 2020, so this is very relatable. As everyone was going back to normal I was getting worse. Do you mind if I ask what had a good effect? The only thing I’ve found that helps (other than rest and pacing) is nicotine patches for the brain fog.
Currently seeing some decent effects from low dose naltrexon, although it seems to shift my energy more than it increases it. The further I’m from having taken my daily (evening) dose the better i feel, but in the mornings I’m extra tired and can’t really focus my eyesight.
But it’s hard to separate the side effects from the multiple other treatments I’m building the dosages for.
Ah yeah, I’ve heard some promising things about LDN. My doctor won’t prescribe it for me though. There’s apparently a different version of it that’s being researched but it’s early days. Good luck with all.
I’m glad to hear you live in a country where you can get more specialized support! I hope the new treatments pan out
I got really lucky to get the right expert as my new doctor, since the upcoming clinic would only treat about 1000 patients a year with an estimated 60k waiting for treatment.
those left behind
No…he means the ones just staying at home. Not the ones covid killed.
"he means the ones just staying at home. Not the ones covid killed. "
as far as I can tell, yes.
you call people killed by covid “those left behind”?
I call them “my people.”
I call us Happy! thank god for home office
During the pandemic I moved to the country, stopped using social media, and got a remote working job. I think the people who used to know me assume I’m dead.
I think a lot of people were waiting to see the results of the election. And COVID is still very real - immunocompromised people (e.g. elderly) will need to start taking vaccines twice rather than once per year due to recent mutations (except… hrm, I dunno if RFK will "allow* such, but at least that was the most recent guidance), plus everyone could get long COVID every time they get it despite the vaccine.
The pandemic changed our world, and it’s nowhere close to being over.
Also, inflation, so less disposable income to “go out” with.
There’s no “over”. Coronavirus is here to stay now, just like the flu. Thankfully it has become a lot more benign as it has mutated, and we know a lot more about it and have vaccines now, so it’s pretty manageable.
I hope we continue to manufacture vaccines in the future, rather than e.g. outlaw them. I wonder what would happen if government research into which strains are most prominent (needed to make the vaccines every year/season) were to be halted? Private companies may have to pick up the slack, like maybe you’ll get your choice of a Google vs. Microsoft vs. Apple vs. Facebook vaccine? Maybe, if every accusation really is a confession, this time there really will be trackers embedded in them?
I say all that to emphasize that what “we” (all) know is in flux - e.g. if you were to ask RFK what he knows vs. the common man on the street vs. a scientist - and what will happen is heavily dependent upon the current status quo remaining in place. Which seems unlikely.
But maybe RFK will say something to anger Trump and be gone in a week or two, like so many before him. Who knows?
Coronavirus is here to stay now, just like the flu.
By ‘the flu’, do you mean that virus where one entire strain was eradicated by masking and distancing over the winter?
THAT flu? The one with the strain that died out after trivial effort? Do you want to use it as an example of some perennial curse, or are you saying that we can eradicate covid again with similarly trivial effort?
It’s pretty clear that they meant “a constant factor in our daily lives”, you really don’t need to be this hostile.
I think their point is that, with effort, it can be become a thing of the past.
However, so many are unwilling to put forth the effort because it’s either too inconvenient or they’ve been brainwashed into believing it’s a hoax.
Avari.
The unwilling elves who refused the great journey!
Introverts? Really I had a pretty good time
