Taking to the streets now has completely new meaning during the coronavirus pandemic, amid fears of contracting or spreading COVID-19. And as colder temperatures begin to settle in much of the country preventing outdoor eating and other lower-risk activities, many of us face the prospect of being confined to home for days, weeks, or even longer.
Of course, it is extremely important to follow the expert guidelines for dating, even when it means not dating. But what does it mean for the brain and body to stay at home for long periods of time? Light, noise, sound, and different circumstances are all things that help us grow. Limit life to your four walls, and that kind of healthy stimulation can easily wear off, not to mention setting the stage for some unhealthy habits.
7 negative effects of confinement on the body
Your mood could be affected
Staying home can be cozy for a day or two in bad weather. But after that, those hygiene-like feelings can start to be replaced by negative thoughts.
You will start to feel moody or depressed
Being locked up deprives you of access to the natural world and means that you are more likely to experience the exact same things day after day. And that can be a recipe for feeling stuck and quite sad. Anxiety and depression both increase when you are locked up. Even if you choose to be confined.
Even if you only feel the sun or wind on your face or hear the birds chirping, time spent outdoors is a great mood booster. A June 2010 study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that exposure to natural environments improved vitality by up to 40 percent , while spending time indoors had the opposite effect.
And those feelings can start to grow quickly, especially when it comes to additional stressors (like a pandemic). During the first days of the COVID-19 shutdown in China, a Psychiatric Research study found that the vast majority of adults spent almost all of their time at home. Consequently, 60 percent of the subjects reported feeling depressed, while 46 percent reported feeling irritable.
You will spend more time with technological devices
Endless time at home most likely means you spend more hours scrolling on your phone. Of course, texting and seeing what your circle is doing on Instagram can help you feel more connected when you can't be physically with other people. But if you spend too much time flipping through Twitter, it can have the opposite effect.
When you use the phone temporarily to feel better, you'll start to turn to it when you're not in pain, and that can lead to oversaturation and overstimulation, which contributes to many mental health disorders.
A review of 290 studies, published in November 2018 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, concluded that frequent mobile phone use is linked to a variety of mental health problems, including stress and depression. Spending time on your phone generally takes time away from other activities that can improve mental health, such as exercising, concentrating on work or school, or supportive social interactions.
You probably won't sleep that well
Depression and stress alone can kill your sleep. So if being confined for extended periods affects your mood during the day, chances are you find yourself tossing and turning at night.
And that is not the only factor. Even if you feel good emotionally, a lack of time outdoors can affect your sleep time. Natural light plays a key role in helping the body maintain its normal sleep and wake rhythms, and a lack of exposure can disrupt them and make it more difficult to fall asleep, according to an August 2013 study in Current Biology.
Your vitamin D levels may decrease
Our bodies make at least part of our vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. So, depending on your diet, not leaving the house could mean that the nutrient is being lost. That's especially true for older adults and people with dark skin, who can't make vitamin D from sunlight as efficiently.
It's unclear at what point a lack of sun exposure would start to affect your vitamin D levels, but we do know this: spending 10 to 30 minutes in the sun most days of the week is enough to maintain proper levels. .
Over time, spending less time outdoors than that could create a vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to a loss of bone density and increase the risk of osteoporosis. Low levels of D could also be linked to chronic health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure .
Your weight and general fitness may change
Staying home doesn't condemn you to piling on extra pounds, but it certainly makes it that much easier. After all, you've basically got all your snacks and comfort foods at your fingertips and there's not much else to do, so hey, why not grab some fries or bake a batch of cookies?
To add insult to injury, the fact that being confined generally means less exercise, which means fewer calories are burned throughout the day. We tend to be less active indoors. When we are outdoors, we are more likely to walk and use our muscles, even if it is just walking to the store.
If you used to burn 300 calories walking to and from work every day and now all you have to do is shuffle your feet towards your desk, that could add up to a pound gained in less than two weeks if you don't change your diet.
And all that time you spend sitting at home doesn't just mean you're expending less energy. Before long, you may find that your fitness level, or even your range of motion, begins to decline.
Your immune system could fail
Stress and loneliness are two feelings that can reach record highs when you don't leave home for long periods of time. And both can weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to germs when you finally do venture out.
Additionally, the researchers behind a December 2015 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found a link between loneliness and inflammation, which can increase the risk of chronic diseases. And a July 2020 article in Perspectives on Psychological Science found that interpersonal stressors, such as loneliness, are connected to an increased risk of illness, including respiratory viruses.
