Under COVID-19, stress is also a killer

Most of the world’s authorities realise the catastrophic toll a lockdown can have on those living in close quarters. There are lots of comical jokes and photos on social media supposedly making light of what happens in families and with people in general when they are forced to be in close quarters for 24 hours a day for weeks at a time.

A photo still I particularly remember is of actor Christopher Walken from a movie I don’t recognise. He is looking sneeringly away at someone off camera. The caption underneath says something to the effect of, ‘the look you give to your family members when you’ve been locked up together for so long.’

When I first saw it I thought it was side-splittingly hysterical. But after being in that lockdown position and reading about people’s stories of being in the same boat, the picture and caption is no longer funny. In fact, it’s just too close to everyone’s situation to have any humour in it at all.

Since the lockdown across the world, lawyers predict that married couples’ split rates will skyrocket. I can assure you that it’s not just married couples who are suffering with immense trauma. I’ve heard of children having meltdowns because they have been cooped up in the homes for weeks at a time unable to see their friends. I’ve seen adult siblings go at each other ready to throw a punch over the littlest thing, and sometimes over nothing.

Everyone is scared of the virus and what it might do to them. But there is something bigger than the virus that we need to also fear. And that is stress. We all think that the virus is the biggest killer around in 100 years and whilst that might true, after all, who am I to counter medical experts, an equally bigger killer is stress caused by being in such close proximity to family for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I’m sure you know that if you are stressed out because you’re having a constant daily battle with someone in the house or flat you share, over the minutest thing, you are not going to be able to eat properly, sleep properly, relax properly or work properly. And what does that do? It damages your immune system which, in turn, makes you more prone to catching illnesses, especially the virus.

If these were normal times, we would not be in each other’s faces for this length of time. If it were normal times, we would have extricated ourselves from potential confrontations by leaving the house or flat for a few hours until both parties cooled off. But these are not normal times.

To be honest with you, I don’t know what the solution is. I notice that a lot of writers in newspapers are suddenly offering advice on how to deal with stressed out marital relationships. A lot of the advice is great.

That being, said there are many unusual family structures where there may be adult siblings living together, for a myriad of extenuating circumstances. I wish someone would write an article advising adult siblings stuck in those situations on how to handle altercations or confrontations. I realise that some of the marital advice might be the same but I assure you that a lot of it is not.

Here’s the thing. The complete lockdown ended earlier this week.

Malls started to open again and folks are now allowed out provided they take the necessary precautions of wearing masks, gloves, not touching anything and maintaining social distancing rules, except with family members with whom you live. That is grrrreat!

But, and this is a big but, there are still several families that cannot take advantage of the ease in the lockdown for a variety of reasons. They may have vulnerable members in their family whose health they dare not risk by stepping outside the front door because the virus has not gone and, according to newspaper reports, the number of cases is still on the up. For people in those situations the lockdown is still in place and they will never ever return to a normal life until one day the health authorities give us the good news that the number of cases is rapidly diminishing.

Pray for the COVID-19 stricken but please also pray for families suffering for doing the right thing by maintaining their self-isolation.