Depression: Is the Loss Of Intimacy the Cause?

It seems as the years go on, depression is growing more with young adults and continuing into their later years. Each year we get busier yet grow further from each other and that could be the cause. The good times with our family and friends are growing fewer. We’re getting more involved with our jobs and the moments of intimacy are gone.

From dictionary.com

“noun – a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.”

If you were to ask 1,000 people what the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to intimacy, the first thing most would respond with is “sex”. Yes, the majority of intimate moments come in the bedroom when two people are alone and can share a closeness you won’t see in public. However, intimacy goes way beyond sexual moments.

Love and affection comes from more places than just sexual partners. It comes with a closeness of family, spending times with good friends, physical touch that doesn’t have to be sexual. Take something as small as a hug. You can watch any Youtube video of a soldier coming home and watch their loved ones fully embrace in a moment of joy. Then look at a couple at the end of their run. They barely embrace and no longer have that spark, the intimacy is gone.

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Depression can come from so many different corners of our lives, but that connection to people is what fends it off. It doesn’t even have to be physical touch. Going out with close friends and reminiscing over a few cold ones and sharing the inside jokes that only make sense to you. Family game night and family dinners shared with people that have picked you up through the hardest part of your life keep us on track.

Right now, in the middle of a pandemic people are suffering from depression more than they ever have and the two have to be linked. We’re not going out to dinners and laughing with friends. We’re not going on family vacations and letting lose. Social distancing isn’t even allowing so much as a hearty handshake when you great someone. Covid has been stripping away all these small intimate moments and it’s leading to depression spreading at a rapid pace.

If we want to get our depression back under control, we need to get back our sense of intimacy. We have to find ways to get back the little moments that keep us connected and close with each other. Blame social media for all our division, but social media is the only way we can connect these days with our busy lives. If we can get back the little moments of closeness, depression would fade away.