Vitality weekly column : Quarantine and communication change

Abraham Maslow said : “The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's backyard.” I figured the past few days, how much it is important for me to have contact with people on a daily basis. I love to interact with others just cause, you never know, someone can change your life by a smile, a good conversation, or bright your day with a compliment or a nice advice. Quarantine is not normal for anyone. We are wondering how we gonna live our best life, work, take care of our general business with the distance. The question is, in dramatic situation, what do you typically do? Who do you typically call? We crave connection, and chances are, you have someone who supports and encourages you when you feel overwhelmed. In order to avoid problems such as anxiety, depression, or loneliness, we all need to feel accepted and supported by others. When we are able to develop strong connections with others such as friends, family, team members, and lovers, we are able to cope with distressing situations. Since everybody is not allowed to see each other, we can observe a lot communication change. We can actually say, that people take more time to communicate, take news of each other and share moment together. We can see in the news that lot of people are doing video call, for a friendly , job or school purpose but still very paradoxal considering the fact when people can actually have real human contact, nobody have the time due to job, life duty in general. The situation show that the human, need attention, need contact from each others, but why exactly ?
 

Quarantine is of course, an unpleasant experience and can create dramatic effects. The american journal The Lancet, published a study case about it from the authors, doctors and professors Samantha K Brooks, Rebecca K Webster, Louise E Smith, Simon Wessely, Neil Greenberg, and Gideon James Rubin. The study prove that having a working mobile phone is now a necessity, not a luxury. The ability to communicate with one's family and friends is essential. Particularly, social media could play an important part in communication with those far away, allowing people who are quarantined to update their loved ones about their situation and reassure them that they are well. There is also evidence to suggest that support groups specifically for people who were quarantined at home during disease outbreaks can be helpful. One other study  found that having such a group and feeling connected to others who had been through the same situation could be a validating, empowering experience and can provide people with the support they might find they are not receiving from other people.

For explanation, Abraham Maslow developed five stages of needs that motivate human behavior. The five stages in Maslow's hierarchy of needs in order from lowest to highest level include physiological, safety, social (love and belonging), esteem, and self-actualization. Each need must be met from lowest (physiological) to highest (self-actualization). The first two levels of need are considered basic needs, which are based on the need for survival and safety. The third stage is the social stage, not based on basic needs but instead on psychological or emotional needs. The primary source of behavior at this stage of development is the need for emotional connections such as friendships, family, social organizations, romantic attachments, or other situations involving interactions with others. If Maslow is right, if we’re right, if in order to be healthy, happy, and fully human we have to meet all our needs, then only the truth and nothing but the truth, discovered in warm, safe, loving environments that nurture self-esteem, encourage self-actualization, and support transcendence/connection, will do.