<story><title>Forced social isolation causes neural craving similar to hunger</title><url>https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/forced-social-isolation-causes-neural-craving-similar-to-hunger/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ericol</author><text>More or less for my entire life I&amp;#x27;ve had the idea that my social needs were not on par with the rest of the people, and this quarantine seems to have proven just that.&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind &lt;i&gt;I do&lt;/i&gt; enjoy social life; when I was living in Spain in my 30s (and single) I had a very active social life, and had a moderate (~30) amount of friends split in 2 groups with which I continuously interacted.&lt;p&gt;When I left Spain for my place of origin I had only a handful of friends, and then I moved to where I live now and have only one friend, whom I see sporadically.&lt;p&gt;Nowadays I mostly interact with my partner and daughter, and the people I work with (I&amp;#x27;ve been working remotely for 13 years) and to be honest, I have no cravings for social life (Except that I miss going for a stroll every once in a while at nights).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>briefcomment</author><text>Can you really call living with your family isolation?  There are people out there who live with no one, aren&amp;#x27;t near family, and can&amp;#x27;t see friends because of the lockdowns.</text></comment>
<story><title>Forced social isolation causes neural craving similar to hunger</title><url>https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/forced-social-isolation-causes-neural-craving-similar-to-hunger/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ericol</author><text>More or less for my entire life I&amp;#x27;ve had the idea that my social needs were not on par with the rest of the people, and this quarantine seems to have proven just that.&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind &lt;i&gt;I do&lt;/i&gt; enjoy social life; when I was living in Spain in my 30s (and single) I had a very active social life, and had a moderate (~30) amount of friends split in 2 groups with which I continuously interacted.&lt;p&gt;When I left Spain for my place of origin I had only a handful of friends, and then I moved to where I live now and have only one friend, whom I see sporadically.&lt;p&gt;Nowadays I mostly interact with my partner and daughter, and the people I work with (I&amp;#x27;ve been working remotely for 13 years) and to be honest, I have no cravings for social life (Except that I miss going for a stroll every once in a while at nights).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cortesoft</author><text>Yes, this has certainly solidified my understanding of myself as an introvert... I am stuck home with my wife and two young kids, and I mostly want more alone time... I don&amp;#x27;t miss seeing other people.</text></comment>