Make or Break: Family Time
However funny the meme above may be, the mental health effects of quarantine are not a joke. Last week, I referenced a study that measured psychological effects that took place after ten days of quarantine. Oberlin College students have reached about their fourth week of being home, which makes the potential effects of isolation quite intense.
During this time, parents are becoming full-time teachers, bedrooms are becoming offices, and trips to the supermarket are becoming high-risk missions. People’s lives are completely changing and with a stressful theme: a loss of agency.
Family dynamics are expected to transform, as spending long periods of time with people can make or break a relationship. After Christmas this past year, the increase in the internet search, “I want a divorce”, was 230%.² So, it might be fair to expect a change in divorce rates after the COVID-19 pandemic.
This trend has made me think a bit more about surveillance in the home. These days, parents might tend to know more about their children’s lives. Partners probably know more about each other too. This type of surveillance is not always consciously done when we are forced to spend lots of time with each other. Either way, I think it is important to understand the psychological effects of surveillance and specifically surveillance that is facilitated by people you know or care about.