Hey! Those People on the TV Show Are Standing Too Close

Mental Wellness

“Back! Back!” “Six feet!” Are not so uncommon thoughts these days. The surprise is that these thoughts crop up when watching movies or television. The initial startle tends to meld into anxiousness, pensiveness or sadness. Thoughts may wander to what things may be like once we are able to be close to one another again sans masks. The questions of will it be weird, how will I act, start to take over the escape of watching a show. This is mixed with the wondering of when it became odd to see people close to one another without masks. The bright side, it actually is a sign that you have started to adapt to where we are at in this moment in time. This means that your nervous system can get a break and you can attend to other people or things in your environment.

We learn to adjust to our environment in many different ways and one simple way is through habituation. Habituation is the term used to describe one of these processes. In plain English, we get used to things that we are continually exposed to over time. Habituation assists us in adapting to our environment. This keeps us from continually responding to ongoing stimulus.

Thus, the next time you are concerned about the proximity of people on television or wonder why they are not wearing masks, take comfort in that you have adapted to our current circumstances. Just as we have adapted to this strange new normal, we will adapt to the new new normal that exists after the Pandemic.

Be Love Be Well Be Whole