Topic Review
Social Isolation and Loneliness during the COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a predominantly global quarantine response that has been associated with social isolation, loneliness, and anxiety. Notwithstanding the efficacy of quarantine as a tool to limit the spread of disease, it also creates social isolation. Social isolation is an objective state in which an individual is alone, and is a sufficient, but not necessary, condition to produce the subjective feeling of loneliness. More specifically, some individuals may be socially isolated but experience this as a natural and healthy state in normal conditions; however, the prolongation of social isolation, particularly in unnatural conditions (e.g., in response to a global pandemic) can become a hazardous state to individual health. Loneliness is a similar yet distinct case: it is a subjective state in which a person feels that their social connections are inadequate (even though they may have a substantial social network). Both of these concepts relate to social connections and the maintenance of a healthy support network. The health implications of social isolation and loneliness during quarantine have a heterogenous and comorbid nature and, as a result, form a link to anxiety.
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  • 28 Jan 2022
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