Cyberspace removes the checks and balances which moderate social life. Face to face interactions restrain many behaviours – we wouldn’t say it to their face, because seeing the impact our words have is often enough to curtail cruelty. I hope the masks and seclusion and screen life doesn’t make us meaner.
“Electronic communication without the opportunity for visual signs, will cause more confused understanding and inferred meanings. The visual channel does not exist.”
Dr. Albert Mehrabian – silent messages
In emotional abandonment, there is the trauma of invisibility. The masks have taken away our unique self. It feels like being in an abusive relationship with the world. Our emotional needs to be listened to and understood, to be nurtured, appreciated, valued and accepted, are currently on hold.
Grief is the natural process of coming to terms with the way things actually are now, compared to the way they were.
One cure for grief is motion and dopamine. Apparently, if you move your body and keep busy, you can tone your mood. There is so much loss and pain right now, and the above suggestion might be the equivalent of taking a baby aspirin, but it’s better than nothing.