Linda BLAIR

Since restrictions eased, we’ve been encouraged to get out and about more, and we’ve even been offered incentives to do so. Despite this, many people are staying at home.

A recent survey by Ipsos MORI on behalf of King’s College London concluded the public are still sticking to earlier “stay home” advice “to an extraordinary degree”. Forty-one per cent of the 2,254 UK residents surveyed said they’d not left home during five or more of the previous seven days, and one in seven hadn’t left home at all during the past week.

Fifty-two per cent said their greatest concern was fear of contracting Covid-19, more so than the threat to the economy; while 50 per cent thought it acceptable to home-school children until a vaccine is available. The poll is dated late May, so figures may have changed over the summer. None the less, it’s clear that fear is keeping many of us at home.

In a paper just published in The Lancet, Prof Edgar Jones at King’s College London draws parallels between the threat posed by Covid-19 and the aerial bombings during the Second World War, as both of these events exposed civilians to sustained dread.

In both cases, people downplayed the threat initially, then when things escalated they retreated to the safety of their homes – and during the Blitz this was despite availability of deep shelters which were considered safer. Jones refers to a “deep psychological sense of being protected at home” in both situations.

When we endure a continuing threat, why do we feel such a powerful desire to stay at home, even if logic tells us that’s not necessarily the safest or best option?

To answer this question, we need first to distinguish between a house or flat and a home. Pauli Karjalainen at the University of Joensuu in Finland describes a house as a “material object”; a home as “an emotionally based and meaningful relationship between dwellers and dwelling places”. Home isn’t the physical place, but rather what that place means to the occupant. Sandy Smith at the University of Queensland asked 23 adults to describe what home meant to them and extracted these qualities: home confers a sense of continuity and belonging; it’s a locus for selfexpression; it offers privacy, warmth and security.

Ade Kearns and colleagues at the University of Glasgow distilled results of their postal survey about what makes a home to three similar qualities: home is a place of safety and security; it’s where dwellers can feel in control and do what they please; and it can also be a sign of status. I would caution these qualities only describe good homes: sadly, not all places where people live offer such positivity.

Your home is an important source of reassurance and self-expression. Enjoy these qualities, but don’t allow them to swamp your logic. Balance time at home with time going out safely. The latter will develop your self-confidence and sense of agency, while the former offers safety, identity and security.

Linda Blair is a clinical psychologist and author of Siblings: How to Handle Rivalry and Create Lifelong Loving Bonds. To order for £10.99, call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk