Humans are social animals. Our sense of identity and ‘self’ is defined in part by the roles we perform in the social groups to which we belong. This article discusses some of the variables that contribute to our sense of self, including language, place of origin, education and shared social norms. It also outlines some of the general mechanisms that underpin our various social networks. In its final part, this article reviews the impact of social isolation, such as that happened during the COVID pandemic, on these social mechanisms and the resulted disruption of psychological wellbeing in individuals diagnosed with dementia.

中文翻译：

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“茫然和困惑！” 大流行时期的背景和社会脱节

人是社会动物。我们的身份感和“自我”部分由我们在所属社会群体中扮演的角色定义。本文讨论了影响我们自我意识的一些变量，包括语言、原籍地、教育和共同的社会规范。它还概述了支撑我们各种社交网络的一些一般机制。在最后一部分，本文回顾了社会孤立（例如在 COVID 大流行期间发生的情况）对这些社会机制的影响，以及由此对被诊断患有痴呆症的个体的心理健康造成的破坏。