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You may be taking the coronavirus quarantine rules seriously, but odds are someone in your life isn't quite self-distancing like they should. Maybe your mom's still going out shopping several times a week, your best friend is trying to convince you to come to her (in-person) book club—or your teen's being a teen and simply won't stay put in the house.
There are definitely reasons why they may balk at staying home. "For many people, the threat of coronavirus feels distant," says Amelia Aldao, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist at Together CBT in New York City and member of the scientific advisory board of R3SET. "They don't know people who have gotten it or they haven't spent much time really thinking through the statistics—so they might not feel the threat in the same way most people probably do at this point."
And facing a pandemic could lead more people—young and old—to focus more on a "live for today" mindset. "During a time of pandemic, in which the horizon is filled so much uncertainty, it makes perfect sense that many of us—young, old, and everything in between—might be shifting our emotional focus on the present," Aldao says. But living for the now—whether you're having an unsanctioned "corona" party or simply keep on doing the activities you love—puts a lot of people at risk.
