Connectivity and COVID-19

As we pass the 18-month anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of humanity’s interconnectedness looms large. On one hand, our highly connected world transformed a local viral outbreak into a global pandemic; on the other hand, pandemic-related isolation has made more apparent than ever that human connections are vital to mental health and well-being. Humanity’s ever-expanding connectivity is a key feature of modern life, but it acts as a double-edged sword for globalized communities.

Beginning in January 2020, SARS-CoV-2 marched ineluctably across cities and nations until the virus that causes COVID-19 was found on every continent (1). Hopscotching across the artificial divides of language, ethnicity, and race, COVID-19 spread rapidly from person to person and from country to country. To expand its reach, the virus hijacked international trade routes, global leisure travel, and peripatetic visits of families trying to stay in touch with each other across a diaspora. The pandemic taught us that our international networks facilitate not only easy communication and exchange of ideas but also rapid transmission of infectious diseases.

The risks associated with high connectivity remain strikingly evident 18 months later, even as some countries with high rates of vaccination take tentative steps toward normalcy. Because of uneven and inequitable distribution of vaccines (2), the virus continues to replicate rapidly in locations where many people remain unvaccinated. Flare-ups in one place threaten to upend progress in others by seeding new outbreaks with viral variants that may ultimately render current vaccines partially or completely ineffective (3). The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that in our highly connected world, what affects one of us affects all of us.

Although race and economic status have driven clear disparities in the impact of the pandemic (4, 5), no groups or individuals have been fully spared its burdens. Lockdowns, curfews, and states of emergency have affected everyone, leading to economic hardship, social isolation, and increased rates of mental illness. Absent the usual human interactions associated with work, family gatherings, and socializing, rates of depression and anxiety have skyrocketed (6). In the wake of the pandemic, mental health professionals are facing a secondary epidemic of mental health problems (7, 8) driven at least in part by pandemic-related fragmentation of social networks (9, 10).

The pandemic underscores for us, as therapists, the importance of human connections. Psychotherapy provides a vehicle for exploring how well-being is affected by relationships and social support (11). As we tackle ongoing mental health challenges facing our patients in the wake of the pandemic, we should examine how the pandemic disrupted and strained their social networks. Have individuals foregone family gatherings and holiday activities because of travel restrictions? Does working from home, although convenient, leave individuals feeling cut off from colleagues? Do fears about infection prevent even vaccinated individuals from reengaging in social interactions? Understanding and helping patients address barriers to connection may be central to alleviating the secondary depression and anxiety that follows from COVID-19. Encouraging individuals to reconnect—either in person or virtually—with their former networks may help improve interpersonal functioning, thereby enhancing mood. When resumption of old social connections seems unattainable, we may encourage individuals to explore the possibility of forging new postpandemic relationships. By underscoring the tight link between relationships and mental well-being, we can provide patients with a framework for understanding and addressing at least one source of their pandemic-related distress.

Connection is a key feature of the human condition. Our quest for greater connectivity has yielded a highly interconnected world. As a consequence, we can easily move from continent to continent, visit friends half a world away, and engage in transcontinental business interactions. These conditions not only make us highly vulnerable to viral pandemics but also expand possibilities for social interactions and support. By explicitly exploring the salience of relationships in the lives of our patients, the impact of the pandemic on these networks, and strategies that can be used to remediate them, therapists have unique opportunities to address important issues highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic: the perils and pleasures of human connection.