How Forced Isolation Makes Your Life Miserable

>> Asking the hard questions about quality of life and cost <<

During these times, we all are more or less forced to self-isolate or are being quarantined.

This is supposed to be to save lives, but really — does it?

In this article, I want to ask some provocative questions to help you think about the real consequences of the government-reaction to #COVID19 Coronavirus.

The isolation and physical distancing rules may reduce the spread of infections, but they — and the ensuing economic downturn — certainly spreads fear, anxiety, worry and depression, mental and financial.

Science supports the fact that living isolated from other human being affects your quality of life negatively — and this can lead to mental health issues up to depression, anxiety and even suicide.

On top of this, due to forced business closures and a worldwide downturn of the economy, many people are tumbling into financial ruin — a second reason for mental health disasters and depression.

A recent meta-analysis confirmed this and the estimated per-day cost of the reduced quality of life for patients and the cost of isolation measures to the health-care system are between US$10 and $2000. That seems like a relatively low number, but is it?

The human suffering behind this estimate is immense.

So what’s the cost of a human life?

How much is it worth to society to save a life?

Are all lives worth the same?

Is the life or an elderly person with multiple co-morbidities worth more or the life of a previously healthy young person?

This is a very difficult ethical question that each person, government, country, health-care-system and country has to answer for themselves.

We constantly make choices of how to allot limited resources in the healthcare system…