When the World Health Organisation classified the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, sternly recommending the global population to practise social distancing, it was a term we'd likely never heard before, but it may indeed prove to be the defining phrase of our generation.
How do we practise social distancing? Stay home. Work from home. If you go for a run or walk, do it alone and keep at least 1.5m between you and the next person. It all sounds pretty bleak, right?
While obviously a valuable term from the perspective of epidemiologists and imperative in 'flattening the curve' of a viral outbreak such as this, 'social distancing' no longer seems accurate when we can conference each other with our laptops or phones from all corners of the globe. The term conjures up, perhaps unnecessarily and potentially anxiety-inducing, ideas of loneliness; that of being cut off from our friends, family, and indeed the world.
We, of course, know how harmful long-term isolation and loneliness can be to a person's mental and physical health; particularly in the elderly. It increases the risk of premature death, depression, poor sleep quality, and even impaired immunity.
Conversely, many young people around the world are seemingly ignoring the government's and health expert's plea to engage in 'social distancing', maybe it's because it inherently sounds negative. Maybe they think they're missing out.
Keeping your distance from other people is a physical measure, but aren't we lucky we live in a time where humans have also never been more connected? The world over, we have seen examples of friends sharing a wine via Skype or Zoom in completely different time zones. We've seen bars stream happy hours and trivia nights, yoga studios free classes, and even virtual dinner parties are taking place through webcams.
Maybe 'social distancing' just needs a little rebranding: from now on, why not call it 'physical distancing'? Because that's really all that's going on here. We can socialise (almost) as well as we did before, it just looks a little different for now. And hey, all it will do is force us to get a little more creative with how we all interact.
This piece was published on whimn.com.au on March 24, 2020.