We Americans are amazing when it comes to pulling out the good from a monumental heap of bad. COVID-19 is horrible. It is unlike anything that most of us have ever experienced. It made us prisoners in our own homes. If we wear a mask to the grocery store, we feel a little silly or guilty or heroic or superior – even scorned. We ask ourselves, “How will I be perceived? Will I be praised or persecuted?” If I get stopped by a cop, should I tell him I’m shopping for an iron lung? Or do I explain that my young children are begging me for some M&M’s?
Shared hardship can heal
Maybe the best way to handle this state of strongly recommended isolation is to view it as a wonderful bonding opportunity for the family. According to Erica Pandey, who writes for Axios, sociologists claim that enduring hardship together builds stronger connections. For example, the U.S. divorce rate decreased dramatically during the Great Depression and the 2008 recession.
Shared suffering increases selflessness
Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, tells Axios to “expect the same during the pandemic. When society is facing a tremendous challenge or there’s a big uptick in suffering, people orient themselves in a less self-centered way and in a more family-centric way.”