persistent effects of it on people’s social behaviors can be
measured using this method. Ultimately we want to be
able to identify the people who need help during this
phase of the crisis.
As a psychiatrist, are you worried that
these effects could, in fact, be long-lasting?
Yes, I think we’re already seeing post-traumatic stress
symptoms in some people and that some are more vul-
nerable than others to the psychological effects of this
society-wide trauma. I think it’s likely that some people
will have more trouble readjusting to whatever the new
normal is. We may be able to use objective markers of
social behavior, such as measurements of personal space,
to identify people who need additional support.
We’ve also developed a VR-based intervention, essen-
tially a course or workshop, that is designed to help peo-
ple recover from the pandemic. It helps to build resil-
ience by teaching techniques that may help people han-
dle stress and challenging experiences or social inter -
actions in their daily lives. But it also targets the changes
that have occurred in personal space.
Are we entering a new phase that approximates
the much trumpeted “new normal”?
We made this very dramatic change during the pandemic
in the way that we interact with other people. That raises
a fundamental question about the regulation of personal
space. Is what has happened during the pandemic going
to have an ongoing effect on the way our brain calculates
the distance we maintain from other people?
It may be that we never revert back to our previous
ways of being in the world. In the case of personal space,
it may affect things like how we design office spaces, our
homes, restaurants or elevators. Those things may have
to change if people are persistently needing a little bit
more distance from others. M
➦^25