How to avoid family rifts during isolation

By Hanna Leppanen

The coronavirus infection figures keep rising, and more people are finding themselves living in isolation with their families. 

Some people might enjoy slowing down, but to some, the situation is more complicated. When people with highly active lives are suddenly staying all together under the same roof, family peace might be in danger.

“My girlfriend and I have worked from home now for two weeks, and this situation has really forced us to make completely new rules on how we run this household,” says Ilya Rostar, 28, a customer service specialist from Wood Green.

“We try to communicate a lot, and at the same time, we try to give each other a lot of space to do things we love. Time goes really slow and the days feel extra-long.”

Quarantine is seen as one of the most effective ways to tackle the coronavirus. Daycares and many offices are shutting down, and state schools might be next. The government has advised people to stay indoors for weeks.

Having no physical contact with people outside can affect people’s moods, and they can feel things they usually wouldn’t feel. 

“Working from home makes me feel very lonely even though I have my boyfriend with me. I think it has something to do with not physically seeing my friends or other people that are a big part of my daily routine,” says Joy Chen, 31, a content creator from Covent Garden.

“I am used to a hectic lifestyle so it’s tormenting me that I can’t go outside and meet people and it actually makes me feel really frustrated.

“We are not living in a big house, and we have two big dogs so I feel like we are constantly in each other’s way and that I need to take a deep breath more than ten times a day just to avoid starting a fight,” she continues.

Being in quarantine doesn’t have to be all bad. This can also be the time for people to sort out the chores around the house that have been left undone so far or to spend more time with family, which might have been more difficult before with the usual routines.

“I have been doing a lot of stuff in the garden. I have been staring at it for months now and thought that something really needs to be done and now I finally have time to do it. We have also cleaned the house together and sorted out things we didn’t have time to do before,” says Pamela Anthony, 26, a supervisor from Hackney.