From the ACLU, this is at Liberty. I'm Kendall Seasmeyer, the producer of this podcast and your host for this episode.

A quick note to listeners. Today's episode was recorded outside of our office due to our mandatory work from home policy during the

unfolding coronavirus pandemic. We take seriously the safety of our staff and the guests on our

podcast. Please excuse any change in audio quality. As many Americans stare down the end of their

first month of social distancing, it's clear that the toll of

stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic is much more than economic.

The anxiety and fear that wash over us each day that we spend alone, away from friends,

coworkers, and family, inflict their own kind of emotional damage.

The cost of social isolation is a worthy cost in this case.

Staying home can quite literally save lives.

But for some people, the advent of social isolation came long before the coronavirus.

At the ACLU, we work with many communities who deal with the

long-term impacts of social isolation, people living with disabilities who often experience

accessibility issues, people held in detention, and people imprisoned in solitary confinement,

just to name a few.

Joining us today is Dr. Julianne Holt-Lundstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, who understands the impacts of isolation and how we can mitigate them

for both ourselves and others. But first, we spoke with a few people who know a thing or two about social distancing.

Their circumstances have made them familiar with isolation long before COVID-19.

I'm a wheelchair user, and I've had periods of my life where I had to stay isolated due to being

injured or sick. So this definitely isn't my first experience living like this.

And I think that's true of a lot of disabled people.

This is Anna Landry, a student at Georgetown University. For Anna, COVID-19 quarantine may not

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