Category: General

The topics covered here didn't fall into one of my usual categories.

With the Coronavirus, Hell Is No Other People

Posted on by Khürt
With the Coronavirus, Hell Is No Other People by Bill McKibben (The New Yorker)

Everything we can measure, from immune response to the onset of dementia to coronary-artery disease is worsened, often dramatically, in people with fewer friends.

Forget the physical risks, though; it’s the social cost that we should be absorbing, so that we’ll remember it when these days are past. We should use the quiet of these suddenly uncrowded days to think a little about how much we’ve allowed social isolation to grow in our society, even without illness as an excuse.

Via kOoLiNuS.

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The difference between shelter-in-place, physical distancing, quarantine and self-isolation

Posted on by Khürt

Let me get this off my chest. Too many ignorant people are using the terms self-isolation, social distancing, quarantine, and shelter-in-place interchangeably. These terms have specific meanings and are not interchangeable. Here are the CDC and government-defined terms. Do not make up your own meanings and learn to use these word carefully. It leads to…

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Flattening the Curve

Posted on by Khürt

The area under the curve represents the number of people who are expected to be infected by CVODI-19 will be the same independent of the height of the peak. That is, the summit may be suppressed, and the slope lowered, but the total of the number of people who eventually get sick will be the…

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Socially distancing = loneliness, isolation, illness, and despair.

Posted on by Khürt
Social Distancing? No Way! Physical Distancing is the way! by Nichole Finger (Lake Norman Family Therapy)

The very last thing we need right now is to socially distance. Humans are by nature social creatures, living in social groups and working together as far back in human history as we can trace. We need support. We need to stay active and engaged. We need to remember we’re in this together. And we need to remember that social isolation is a huge contributor to mental and physical health problems of all kinds.

So let’s start a movement. If you hear people talking about socially distancing, remind them of the difference. Physically distancing = protecting our health and our community. Socially distancing = loneliness, isolation, illness, and despair.

Another one in case you are not convinced. Although there’s been no time to study the effects of social distancing related specifically to the coronavirus, we know a great deal about the impact of social isolation on mental and physical health. It’s often experienced as highly stressful, and the stress can become toxic. Isolation, particularly…

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