quarantine self isolation and distancing human beings are social creatures making life in the time of a pandemic a challenging and lonely it's just not how we're built but we are in it together and along us are people who learn to live in isolation long before the corona virus outbreak how did they prepare and what can we learn from them. hi i'm on and in today's cove in 1000 special we'll be talking about how to get through collective isolation and we've got some professional insights from some who know what it's like to be far away from everyone and everything but 1st to someone else and isolation at home our science correspondent derek williams we've been receiving all your questions for him around coded 1000 all beak today we've picked the one we've all been asking ourselves have a listen. can life continue normally after quarantines would not risk other

outbreaks. this is indeed the great danger and it's also the key question even if strict social distancing helps us to flatten the epidemiological curve by by suppressing the numbers of new infections won't the number of people getting it just skyrocket again once we and those measures are we just kicking the can down the road a lot of eyes are turning to china now as it cautiously begins to lift some of the direct hooting restrictions that have been in place there for the last couple of months everyone is sort of waiting with bated breath to see whether the number of new cases there begins to rise again but there are an awful lot of experts now saying that until we come up with an effective vaccine the new coronavirus is here to stay at least in the near future to keep it from overwhelming health systems we'll all have to get used to social distancing as the new norm along with the

isolation that that brings. now there is being stuck at home but arguably there are tougher places to be alone astronaut mathias mauer has been training for years for his future flight into space and isolation. ok this is my tale of the missions i'm 1st and this is my log on there's no way to. cut off from the outside world with little equipment and even fewer comforts mathias moller spent 6 days in the darkness of this cave in italy to help him prepare for the regulars of space he learned how to explore unknown surroundings and how to conduct scientific experiments underground. and joins us now mathias welcome to your also having to stay home these days how is your astronaut training helped at all. yesod i'm quite prepared for the isolation i mean i lived in a cave for several days i lived also on the water for 16 days in

a very tiny confined environment with other people and we got pretty well along each other well what would you say the hardest part was then that was it communication was it the cabin fever or in your case the key fever or something else completely well it's living together with other people like in a confined environment for an extended period of time and it's even a little bit more complicated because once we're in space we will lift there for 6 months we all come from different countries speak different languages have a cultural background which is different and so communication is to keep and we learned before the flight of space holiday to how to like at depths our way how to interact with others so we talk very openly on the problems that receives are like ok you have this in this which i don't really like can you change this man a little bit and then once you talk openly then you feel well prepared and then i

think that the mission itself is then very sick or well what would you say helped you psychologically speaking while you were disconnected from everything. or it's very important to have a regular. schedule during the day so i plan my diary and i plan approach eric i plan also positive parts that i have that you're into that and then we also plan to have time to get up together with my crew together with my team and it's lunch time it's even and dinner time it's very important to spend this time together we also included a little bit of physical exercise despite being in a very confined environment but just stick and do some exercises and this combination of having a schedule of having. being friends together with you that if you're that chair you are i think that was also very important and we have

a successful mission there you have it structure is key the ts marriage he's an astronaut from the european space agency thank you so much for sharing your insights my question. now as we heard there not everyone is distancing alone there are those who have to do it in groups being with the same set of people all the time can obviously be hard perhaps even impossible without a bit of fun but don't take our word for it the crew on the international space station can tell you more she knows what it feels like to be up there alone u.s. astronaut christina cook repairing the outside of the international space station last year she set a record by spending 328 days in space in the i.s.a.'s you literally couldn't get any further from the coronavirus the astronauts on board have a lot in common with the millions in isolation 400 kilometers away back on us constantly packed in together yet separated from any other life unable to visit

family and friends for months that's why crew are trained to deal with the psychological impact of living in space keeping busy is the key whether working getting a haircut or of course having a restful night's sleep. the i s s crew like christina know all too well how to stay healthy and happy in isolation jack's 2 star is an isolation researcher and a cultural anthropologist specializing in the measurement and enhancement of human performance and extreme environments well so much for their you've done a lot of work with astronaut's you've been advising nasa for several decades what sort of advice have you given to astronauts giving up a way of life on earth to go to space seeing as that can be helpful now. well most astronauts. determined before their mission that getting along with their crew

mates will be their highest objective. and they work toward that goal. ways to foster the group solidarity that's necessary when things become a problem or 2 or to a schedule as matthias had just said. but it is ok to sleep in not on the international space station but when you're can try and. in your homes sleep is good just make sure that you have a schedule and that you. make a list of objectives and i think the key to surviving i'm in our 12th day of isolation now but the key is to view this as an opportunity rather than an obstacle an opportunity to. to finish projects that you had. let slide around the house an opportunity to read

a book that you'd always wanted to read an opportunity to call friends and family and talk for as long as you would like them to check in on their physical and behavioral help. so i guess in some way it is a matter of re framing but there's that knowing you'd be isolated for a limited time like on a space mission vs now where nobody knows how long they'll have to stay home for how does one deal with the open ended ness perhaps of this isolation yes that is that if the difficult part this is imposed on us we didn't volunteer for the space mission but we are indeed passengers on a spacecraft passing through space and time together and some of the ways that we can make this work is to consciously attempt to be polite and respectful with those with whom we're confined. to avoid

derisive humor the kind of humor that a stablish is wedges between people humorous find it is an excellent coping mechanism but avoid that the side of the rights of humor that is so common especially among men. consider the possible consequences before you say or do anything consciously attempt to be cheerful and supportive of your housemates. or your crewmates and. eat at least one meal together each day. the importance of kindness of their again and the importance of avoiding derisive humor but speak of social skills that we all have to assume that the outbreak will one day be under control and we'll all be reconnecting based on what you know about astronaut's coming back how do you think we will have changed as a people after all of this. well astronauts

spend a lot of time in the coop watching the beautiful earth pass beneath them and almost all of them report when they return that they have changed it that that experience has changed their perspective of life on earth there are no borders really visible from space and during the early days of the space of the ice i.s.o.'s base station . there would be an american fighter pilot teamed with a so a former soviet fighter pilot they had trained their entire careers to kill each other and yet they got along famously they lived in perfect harmony and working toward the same goals and i think that that's the kind of thing that we can derive from this experience we're all working towards the same goals a reminder from jax to circus he's an isolation researcher and longtime advisor to nasa thank you very much. and that was id w.

call the dine 100 special from our do check out our social media channels imes and now the milan will leave you now with music from opera singer seeing together from greece but alone in their own homes thank you for watching and stay healthy everyone. of. losing all see then the me. oh. look you know under quo.

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