Health Advantages and Disadvantages of Staying Home for a Long Time

Thanks to Coronavirus, the whole world is locked indoors. With more than a month already of having been “locked down indoors”, we review here the advantages of staying at home and the not so cool aspects of it too.

Staying Home Advantages and Drawbacks on Health

While some may view the lockdown as a welcoming move that was much needed amid the constant rat race day in and out, experts feel that staying indoors or in self-quarantine for too long may not be that great after all.

#1. positive health impact: You are safe!

This is one of the biggest advantages of staying home at the moment. But even otherwise, health experts opine that spending greater time indoors can keep you safe from not-so-familiar foreign infections and viruses. This is particularly true for those with lower immunity levels like seniors and children.

What’s not so good – Staying indoors is advantageous for this age group but prolonging it beyond a limit may actually have adverse effects. Research suggests that exposure to sunlight is absolutely vital for any human being. Besides being an important source of vitamin D, it also refreshes the entire being – shedding away laziness and dullness that may set in at this time. By being confined in the four walls of a house (especially homes that don’t receive direct sunlight), you’re deprived of this natural immunity booster. 

#2. positive benefits of staying at home: You’re happy spending time with loved ones.

We may not realize this often but a secret to good mental health is the few minutes of quality time we spend with our loved ones every day. During normal days at work outdoors, this time is restricted to barely a few hours but when we’re now at home all day, we get to enjoy the maximum time with our family. And the more time we spend, the more we feel happy and relaxed from within which is a good health sign.

What’s not so good – Too much time with family members is also seen to be a major cause of conflict and stress. As they say, excess of everything is bad. Sometimes spending too much time together can actually kill the much-longed-for joy and result in undesirable discord, fights, and stress. Stress is the disadvantage of staying at home? To overcome stress, you can try these stress-busting yoga asanas at your home.

#3. positive staying home benefits: You can devote time to healthy cooking.

Working people often complain of not finding enough time to cook and eat healthy. Dining out and ordering in is the common norm. One of the advantages of staying home all day is you can cook and eat healthy and hygienic food, taking care of the nutritional needs of your body.

What’s not so good – Sitting at home idle for too long may evoke a tendency to binge on food, often unhealthy snacks. 

It’s a tough time yes but with a bit of caution, we can try focusing more on the benefits of longer time indoors and use them to our advantage, while countering the disadvantages of staying at home.