In the article, it states that people crave social interaction like you might crave food. Is this true? Well, during the current COVID-19 situation, this study is completely relevant, as most people are social distancing inside their homes, so you can feel whether you crave human interaction or not.
For me, this is absolutely correct. Stuck in my house, not being able to see my friends, means I crave talking to them face-to-face more than usual. While I normally talk to my friends on an almost daily basis, it isn’t really that important to me. I love hanging out with them, but I usually have other things on my mind that go before seeing them.
Now during quarantine though, I feel a need to talk to them. It is almost number one on my mind, having conversations and seeing them. And yet, despite everything, I still do things to make up for my alone time, different activities. I might even forget about my friends while I’m doing this, then go back to thinking about them later.
Although I can still video-call them and text, it is not the same as seeing them in person. I find myself incredibly bored throughout the day, until those few glorious hours of talking to them. I do crave talking with them as I crave food, but when I crave, say, chocolate, I can possibly just grab a piece of chocolate and eat. But I can’t do that with talking to my friends, hoping they’ll pick up, waiting for what seems like eternity while listening to the phone ring.
In conclusion, social isolation does create a sort of craving of interaction for me, and I believe that when the pandemic is over I will be extremely excited when I can see people again, much more than if I see them several times a week.