During the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of relationships are forced to change. As the global pandemic still takes hold, the notion of who is there to look out for us and care for us becomes vaguer. It is essential to keep ties with the limited resources and to keep our motivation on being physically and mentally healthy.
Due to multiple border policies, we can’t visit our hometown easily lately. We may feel more alone and less connected. We, as students who study overseas, may also feel a heightened sense of loneliness while hearing others talking about their families and how closely they are in contact. In Taiwan, it feels even worse because a lot of our friends are still able to go back home and enjoy their family time.
To face the anxiety and depression of distanced family relationships, we may follow these steps to ease our minds.
- Reach out
Stop comparing yourself and others on social media. People only present the good side of their lives on social media. It’s not necessary for you to compare your life to other people’s only by a few photos and captions. If you really miss your family back home, I’m sure you are always welcomed to call or text your family members anytime. We should definitely reach out to our family and express our feelings directly. Also, we can seek communities of friends with similar situations to support each other.
- Discuss your new routines with them
Because of governmental policies regarding the quarantine, questions about how relationships can be maintained during this time arose. In the lockdown period, we often change a lot in our daily routines. We can discuss with our family or friends to seek suggestions for how we could change it in a healthy way. With more alone-time nowadays, I always imagine if multiverse truly exists. Is the version of me in this universe the best one? We should work to the utmost to become the best version of ourselves. - Mail a present
With less physical contact with our family, we can mail something to our family to express concern or care for them. Go pick something special around you and give them a surprise. They will love it for sure.
Adrian Ng, 23 Hong Kong
IG: @nhy_adrian