THE NOVELTY WEARS THIN

As social isolation continues, many of us are finding it hard to look on the bright side. But don’t worry – it’s completely normal, as astronauts and Antarctic researchers tell us

- JANE VORSTER

FIRST came the panic-buying period, marked by trolleys packed with toilet paper rolls and a general sense of confusion.

Then it was the honeymoon period in which we cheerfully baked bread, worked in our pyjamas, and celebrated not being stuck in traffic.

And now with no specific timelines for when our lives in lockdown will end, we may be entering what’s known as the third quarter of isolation – and it’s not really great.

This stage, researchers have found, is when we have far more emotional outbursts and it’s hard to contain that sense of dread. Frustrations abound, feelings of loneliness increase and even the most loved-up among us start to get on each other’s nerves.

Sound familiar? South Africans may well be entering this phase after weeks of lockdown and it’s pretty normal under the circumstances. Researchers discovered seemingly irrational frustration in people who are forced to live in isolation for long periods.

At the start of a mission to space or Antarctica, there’s usually a strong sense of camaraderie among the crew but as the months of isolation drag on, the mood shifts. Conflicts occur and the frustration at being confined becomes almost unbearable. And this usually happens at the mid-point or three-quarter mark of a stay in Antarctica.

“Interpersonal conflict is the number one reason for dissatisfaction and unhappiness,” says clinical psychologist Dr. Kimberley Norris, an authority on confinement at the University of Tasmania in Australia.

“The frequency with which it occurs increases the longer you’ve been isolated.”

And now ordinary people all over the world are getting to experience what months of isolation feel like.