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The Coronavirus Reveals an Intolerance of Solitude

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed an area of sickness in our country that goes beyond a fever, dry cough, and pneumonia-like symptoms. With the high, penetrating resolution of an MRI, COVID-19 has exposed our intolerance of solitude and our inability to make the most of our own company. Unfortunately, without a change of heart, the pathology of our inability to endure times of solitude will outlive the virus itself.

In an article by the American Psychological Association, it was reported that social isolation can increase the health risks of people as much as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day.¹ Other studies have linked prolonged social isolation with the onset of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and even obesity.² As if the physical syndromes were not bad enough, mental health issues such as low self-esteem, depression, and cognitive impairment can also be triggered by prolonged loneliness.

The concern about prolonged social isolation is understandable; what is remarkable is all the attention it has been receiving because of those who have had to shelter-in-place for a few weeks. A mere three or four days into the order, I became aware of many who through social media expressed complaints of "boredom," "depression," "anxiety," and a lack of things to do in their own homes—with their own family members.

Some have opined that humans lack the mental tools to manage this kind of isolation. But we do possess the tools, and human history is replete with examples of people regularly managing periods of isolation. Consider those who lived in northern temperate zones up until about a hundred years ago. It was not unusual for a Wisconsin family (remember Laura Ingalls Wilder?) to be holed up in their house for months at a time, enduring punishing winters. The difference is that they were prepared for this type of seasonal isolation, passing the time with handcrafts, reading, playing tabletop games, and family devotions.

Recognizing then, that humans have some capacity for managing periods of solitude, what is it about our own culture that has led us to develop such intolerance for it? There are certainly many factors; some would argue that the institution of public education is one of them, and others would point to the impact of the media.

John Taylor Gatto, an American author and award-winning schoolteacher, in his book Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, argues that the consequences of public education are such that the institution of the family has been undermined, and children have no tolerance for solitude—for spending time with their own thoughts. Children are not only tied up during the school day (imbibing toxic and hidden curricula), away from families and their own thoughts, but they are occupied at home as well, having to spend the evening hours on intrusive homework. The overreaching arms of public education then, put a stranglehold on family life and hamper students from entertaining themselves with hobbies, interests, and subjects they are passionate about.

Gatto first wrote this in 1992, well before the age of the smart phone. One could maintain that the new media accomplish many of the same things that Gatto charged public schools with doing. After all, how many times have we witnessed family members together, not conversing with one another, but gazing at and swiping on their cell phones with rapt attention? And to drown out the sounds of our own musings, do we not sometimes pop in earbuds?

It's likely that both the media and public education have had their parts to play, but they do not explain why so many people seem to fear solitude like the plague. Maybe, just maybe, too many of them are uncomfortable with their own thoughts and serious introspection. But solitude can also be an opportunity, even an invitation, to do something few officials have suggested: pray.

Notes
1. apa.org/education/ce/social-isolation.pdf.
2. apa.org/science/about/psa/2017/09/loneliness-sick.