ATLANTA — As we head into the fourth week of Georgia's shelter in place order, researchers at the University of Maryland have used smartphone data to find that for the first time since states started implementing stay at home orders, Americans are actually staying home less.
Some experts now worry over what they are calling 'quarantine fatigue.'
“I miss socializing in a social setting. The zoom calls and that are okay, but honestly, I‘m just like, I'm over it," said Amber Singfield, a metro Atlanta teacher. Singfield believes she's suffering from quarantine fatigue, and she's not alone.
“People are experiencing a collective kind of cabin fever, and because of that people feel like I need to get outside of my house in order to feel good again,” she said.
Psychiatrist and author, Dr. Suvrat Bhargave, says the anxiety many felt at the beginning of the pandemic has now shifted.
“In the beginning the anxiety was fear, and the fear was, 'Am I going to be okay? Are my loved ones going to be okay and what do I need to do to face this fear?" And now anxiety is showing up more as agitation, more of a restless sort of feeling," Dr. Bhargave said.
It's a feeling that is especially hard to control during this time of year as the sun is out and the skies are clear.
Yet, Dr. Bhargave says social distancing doesn't mean socially disconnecting from one another, and connection now is essential.
“While we can’t be face to face in the same room perhaps, this is face to face." he said during a video-call. "Standing in someone's yard who is elderly and being on the phone and waving to them from a distance, that’s face to face. Those things matter, they matter now more than ever.”
11Alive is focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. We want to keep you informed about the latest developments while ensuring that we deliver confirmed, factual information.
We will track the most important coronavirus elements relating to Georgia on this page. Refresh often for new information.
MORE CORONAVIRUS HEADLINES |