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For many people, the last eighteen months have been particularly difficult. We need not really go into every detail as to why this is, because you likely already know, and have heard about it relentlessly over this time.
Yet it’s true that the effects of the international pandemic we have all faced still linger on, and have the chance of growing now we’re entering into another winter period. Introverts, it might seem, have found it easier to adapt to lockdowns and a lack of social integration, but that’s not necessarily true at all. Many of us have found ourselves trying our hardest to curate the best mental health techniques towards living day to day with gusto under these conditions, finding some that work, and some that don’t.
This excellent guide for avoiding loneliness when social distancing, and some like it, have offered reliable advice to help us realize our power and potential, even during tough times. But to review – what can introverts learn from the conditions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and how can we move forward with a silver lining? Let’s consider that below:
Social connection is important
Many of us realized that while socializing can seem like quite a time-consuming and often inconvenient issue, when it was taken away from us, we knew what we were missing. People need social connection like plants need sunlight, and so making a little bit more of an effort to see our families and our friends, even if that’s on our own terms and without trying to adapt to ‘cool activities for bonding’ can help us make more authentic and closer connections with people. Many introverts tend to think of social events with worry, fearing that their interpersonal ‘battery’ will run out. But this isn’t so much of a ‘battery’ as it is a muscle, and you can train it, bit by bit and with care.
Self reliance is key
We also learned that self-reliance is key. So many people refused to think of others during the pandemic, be that avoiding mask-wearing and giving store workers hassle for trying to implement new rules, or (understandably) becoming agitated during lockdown. Many of us learned that while arguing with others online can help us feel better about our frustration, being self-reliant and helping our close friends do the same can help you enact the standards in your own part of the world, which helps you avoid shouldering the burden of others all the time. This has a valuable social lesson within it.
It's okay to ask for help
It’s fine to ask for help if you need it. Just because you may identify with being an introvert doesn’t mean you have to somehow bear the difficulties of life alone, or that you are never deserving of emotional and interpersonal suport. Keep that in mind, because many introverts, by virtue of not wanting to be the centre of attention, can find it hard to adopt this viewpoint. It might just help you live a healthier life.
With this advice, we hope introverts can more readily learn from the Covid-19 pandemic.
I hope this has helped shed some light on how we can learn form the pandemic as introverts.
Thank you for reading.
Stay wonderful!
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