VOGUE

“We’re all in a heightened state of anxiety. We are in a collective trauma, our baseline level of arousal is high, and we’re overstimulated in a very particular way. Working from home often means working more than ever before and we’re also more accessible than we were previously. In addition, we’re less active and under-stimulated,” explains Therese Kempf, LCSW and HealHaus therapist. Without travel and our typical social interactions, Kempf adds, it makes sense that we’re ‘at capacity’ in our communications. “We are in overdrive in cognitive and written connection but missing out on some of the more meaningful and rich parts of connecting with others that is nonverbal,” she says. A certain playfulness we once had might be part of what is missing, she notes. We’re missing subtle interactions like comfort through hugs, flirting through eye contact, and as Kempf puts it, “simply just sharing energetic space with someone where we don’t have to say anything, yet we feel comforted and at ease.”