People who haven’t really resumed socializing at levels they used to, people who lost the capacity to regulate during interpersonal interactions, people who lost trust in others… I encounter lots of partial returners out there
I’ve had bad anxiety my entire life, but I never felt like I really had social anxiety before the pandemic. Now I have a hard time talking to pretty much anyone unless they talk to me first.
Avari.
The unwilling elves who refused the great journey!
Hermits
I feel like the weird one out because lockdown was absolute hell for me. I need my community and my people. I go crazy being stuck inside a small apartment with nothing to do. I’m not fully an extrovert, I do need my alone time, but I also need to be with people I love.
We had a name before the pandemic… It’s “introvert.”
I’m more referring to people who aren’t so much choosing to isolate. Not a preference, but a loss of the capacity or opportunities to socialize
That happens to almost anyone on a long enough timeline. You have to let yourself be uncomfortable while you rebuild those social skills.
We do. It’s called being Smart.
Small rant incoming:
I’m actually still stuck inside more than in the Pandemic. Essential worker so I still went outside daily until i never got my energy back after having covid for the 5th? time.
About 3 years of doctors not really knowing how to treat it and encouraging me to keep trying what i could each day, which led to me basically destroying my body, until i got one of my countries leading experts who immediately told me to take bed rest the second i feel tired.
Since my immune system is basically gone i got a bunch of other illnesses some of which will probably never go away since the meds only alleviate the symptoms.
Upside is that I’ve been trialing a bunch of expirimental treatments for the specialised clinic that is opening soon, some of which had small but immediate effects. So at least those that will get diagnosed in the future don’t need to wait as long hopefully.
I’m glad to hear you live in a country where you can get more specialized support! I hope the new treatments pan out
I’ll be honest, the lockdowns were awesome for me. “Now you bitches get to see how I live.”
And the mad increase of online ordering, no contact pickup, and how people aren’t crawling up your ass in line at the grocery store anymore? I could not have hoped for better.
Gods do I miss social distance lines
I miss having free time without the impending pressure to do things.
I’m health wise OK but my wife isn’t for the rest of her life so I have to take precautions everywhere. I don’t mind because I really don’t like dealing with people anyway.
I do grocery pickup and go inside the store maybe four or five times a year now.
I haven’t been to the inside of a restaurant in over three years, we use patios and sidewalk tables outdoors.
I specifically only ever use gas stations where you pay at the pump.
I haven’t been to a mall or indoor space with people in years now.
I order everything else to my door.
I really don’t miss dealing with people and now find it completely weird and disorienting to deal with people in public now.
now find it completely weird and disorienting to deal with people in public now.
This is what I’ve been hearing (and experienced). And that it’s not a preference, it’s more that the nervous system has struggled to recalibrate; or there was not enough opportunity for it to do so and that has led to a feedback loop
Yeah it was certainly a net positive for some. Of course this post isn’t a criticism of those that enjoyed it, or were unaffected by it. But there is a sort of lost generation group, so to speak, too. That includes younger people who feel maladroit or disconnected in a way that they tie to that period. People who already struggled to socialize and the period made it worse enough that they never recovered
Yeah my youngest kid was on the middle of her second school year when the lockdown started. She was so anxious around people when in person school started again. She’s gotten somewhat better in the past couple years, but still not quite the same.
Yes some kids I know, it just sort of became how they identify: shy, more anxious
I think a lot of people were waiting to see the results of the election. And COVID is still very real - immunocompromised people (e.g. elderly) will need to start taking vaccines twice rather than once per year due to recent mutations (except… hrm, I dunno if RFK will "allow* such, but at least that was the most recent guidance), plus everyone could get long COVID every time they get it despite the vaccine.
The pandemic changed our world, and it’s nowhere close to being over.
Also, inflation, so less disposable income to “go out” with.
There’s no “over”. Coronavirus is here to stay now, just like the flu. Thankfully it has become a lot more benign as it has mutated, and we know a lot more about it and have vaccines now, so it’s pretty manageable.
Introverts? Really I had a pretty good time
I call them “my people.”
I call us Happy! thank god for home office
During the pandemic I moved to the country, stopped using social media, and got a remote working job. I think the people who used to know me assume I’m dead.
I’m not placing trust in anyone who sold us out to corporations and fascists a second time
Lockdown was a blast! I was paid to do what I always wanted; stay home and do whatever I felt like and not worry about other people.
Now that it’s over, I haven’t been able to keep a steady job. I’ve lost all the support I built up for myself in social situations.
Yeah lockdown was living my best life. At least I managed to get a fully remote job with a small company several states away.
My socializing during the pandemic was more or less the same as before or after the pandemic. I am very sensitive to sound, a introvert, a huge nerd and don’t care for most of the topics “normal” people talk about like sport. I have no reason to go outside, I don’t like to be at places with many people and I don’t any knowledge in topic that can be used for smalltalk.
Due to this the biggest part of my social bubble is located all over the world and we communicate purely online. It was called lockdown but for me it was just a normal Tuesday.
I am quite similar and it turns out I’m on the autistic spectrum. I was excited to discover this as it explained sooo much about myself. Just my 2 cents
I wouldn’t necessarily blame your niche interests or anything else like that. There’s lots of people this applies to who just forgot how to socialize. I would put myself in that category. I like sports and many other popular things, and I used to be reasonably easy to talk to but ever since covid I’m considerably more awkward in social situations.
Someone I haven’t seen in two years will ask what I’ve been up to and my mind just goes blank. It’s not that I’ve been sitting at home doing nothing the whole time but for some reason none of the things I could talk about come to me in the moment. It’s a strange thing to feel yourself being socially inept in a way that you didn’t used to be. I’ve gotten better but it’s still weird a lot of the time.
