The Parallels of a Crohn’s and Covid-19 world: Isolation

So here we are, five months into a new decade, and almost three months into our new (temporary) normal. Who would have thought when we saw in the New Year, watching the fireworks shoot up over the London Eye and hearing Big Ben chime midnight, that this is where we would be just a few months later? We all had plans for the year ahead. We took for granted being able to ride the tube, go to work, send our children to school, have a beer at the pub with our friends, hug our family.

Fast forward a few months and most of the world is in lockdown thanks to a pandemic called coronavirus or COVID 19. Our new normal is working from home (if we’re lucky enough to still have a job), only going out for essentials or daily exercise, being unable to travel to the next suburb let alone another country, socially distancing ourselves from friends, family, even strangers, and staying locked in our homes as much as possible.

Yet in some ways I feel like I have been through something similar before…

Over the last few months, I’ve contemplated how life with COVID 19 has many parallels to life with an inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn’s. Perhaps living with IBD (or another chronic illness) has even prepared me and made me better equipped to manage the current situation?

The first and most obvious parallel is ISOLATION

2020 for most of the world has meant isolation. Unsurprisingly, many have not adapted to lock down life particularly well. We are not used to living like this. Social distancing is not normal. Being cooped up in our homes is not normal.

We all have different personalities and circumstances. Some people are content with their own company, whereas others need to be around other people. Some of us live with our partner or flatmates or have a whole family in tow, and some people live completely alone. Some of us are still working and interact with colleagues (albeit virtually), but others have lost their jobs and may have no daily interaction whatsoever. Some like our amazing key workers probably wish they could isolate with the rest of us, but despite the risks put themselves selflessly on the frontline.

I personally feel like I have managed the isolation quite well, and I think a big reason for that is because of my experience with Crohn’s. I have felt isolation before, but this is a different kind of isolation. Not better, not worse … simply different. To be honest, I have not felt as isolated these last few months as I did some days during bad Crohn’s flares. I have not once felt lonely or alone, which was often the case when I was stuck at home unwell with my Crohn’s.

I live with my husband and was able to work for much of the lock down, which I am thankful for. Every day has become like Groundhog Day. But boredom? We’re hardly lacking for things to do. Virtual catch ups with friends, live yoga classes via Zoom, streaming theatre/music/movies, real time virtual pub quizzes, reading, cooking. It becomes a bit same-same, and obviously options are limited, but we’re keeping busy. Many people who live alone or aren’t working are likely feeling the isolation more than some but have hopefully been able to reach out and feel connected through the virtual world. Nevertheless, some activities are not the same via a phone or computer screen. We all crave physical human contact.

Like life currently, the world for someone with a chronic illness such as Crohn’s disease can be incredibly isolating. Many days you are too sick or tired to go to work, exercise or socialise, and you feel very disconnected from everyone and everything. But it’s only YOU, not the whole world sitting at home. Other people go about their daily lives. Knowing that out in the real world everything continues as normal without you magnifies the feelings of isolation tenfold. Being connected virtually may not help either if you see everyone else living their lives on social media while you’re stuck at home or too sick to join them.

I found ways to manage what some days felt like forced seclusion, even quarantine. I became used to the limits and confines that Crohn’s put on me and am grateful that I am now well enough thanks to my surgery to no longer live with these restrictions. I remember them well, and in many ways, I think it helped prepare me for and put me more at ease these last few months.

The big difference now is that the whole world is in isolation, not just those with debilitating conditions limiting them from going out. We know it won’t be like this forever. We are all in the same boat and in this together. It’s important to remember for some people this is not a temporary (or even new) normal. Some have been living in isolation because of a chronic illness for years and will continue to do so even after things go back to normal for the rest of the world. You may have accepted and learnt to manage it, but it doesn’t make it any easier or less lonely.

I am putting together more posts on other parallels I’ve noticed between life with Crohn’s and the current Covid situation. Have you observed any similarities? Do you feel as isolated due to Coronavirus as you do due to a chronic illness? Has life with a chronic illness helped you cope with the Covid 19 world?

Keep safe and stay well,

Laura x