Social distancing is not a pleasant experience for a lot of us. We want to be out and active in our communities. We want to be around the people that we work with and our friends. But right now, thanks to the coronavirus, it is not possible. In California, we are currently in a state of “shelter in place.” Although the idea of why we must do this might be a scary concept for your family, explaining it to them will help with some of the tough emotions and anger that a lot of us are grappling with right now.
You don’t need to go into a ton of detail about what the coronavirus, or COVID-19, can do to people. However, sharing with your young and old family members that there’s a higher risk of getting sick right now and not everyone can safely handle that sickness is a good start. You’re not lying to your loved ones or deceiving them in any way, you’re just explaining what’s going on to them in simplistic terms. Although this kind of information is scary, a lot of the research out there says that it’s better to be informed than to be unaware. Of course, this needs to take different forms for people in different stages of life.
If you’re not sure how to explain the coronavirus to the younger or older people that you love, practice on another family member or friend. Ask how others have done it. Watch a YouTube video or two. You don’t have to explain things perfectly, but people deserve to know why their lives have changed so dramatically.
Explaining the coronavirus to your family might be difficult, but it will help them to better understand why our life has changed so dramatically lately.
Even so, some people will not be able to understand why social distancing is needed. Those with mental disabilities and people with dementia are not likely to fully comprehend why their family and friends cannot come visit them like they once did. This is frustrating and sad, but it is an unfortunate reality of what we are going through right now. Trying to calmly and simply explain that you cannot come visit because you’re afraid of getting people sick might seem inadequate, but in these instances, it’s the best that can be done. You may need to explain this on a daily basis. Be patient, keep things simple. It is a trying time for everyone, but getting exasperated about this will not be helpful to anyone.
A much better alternative to losing your patience is to keep in touch with your loved ones as best as you can. Use your phone to Facetime or your computer to Zoom or Skype chat with the people that you care about. It’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing. Allow your kids to chat with their friends, either through these same methods or over their gaming systems. People are made to be social. Using the tools that we have at hand to help our family members maintain their social lives might be different, but it’s a good step toward ensuring that we stay mentally healthy during this time.
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