The novel coronavirus has changed nearly every aspect of life in Canada, making even trips to the grocery store a rare and stressful ordeal.
For many, this is the first time they’ve been apart from other people for a prolonged period of time — and the negative side effects are plenty.
In fact, a recent Ipsos poll found that 54 per cent of Canadians feel lonely and isolated due to the pandemic. Some people have started to talk about being “touch deprived,” or starved for human touch.
According to experts, that’s because humans actually need human touch to survive. “We’re social animals, we do need (human touch),” said Christine Korol, a registered psychologist at the Vancouver Anxiety Centre. “In modern, pre-pandemic times, one way to get