**1. Introduction**

Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) began as a viral pneumonia in China in late 2019. By March 2020, it has attained pandemic proportions as it transmitted rapidly throughout most of the world. The ease of transmission, lack of population immunity, as well as delayed responses in testing, lack of equipment, and the challenges in implementing community-based measures to limit contact were all taking an unprecedented toll on our collective health care, political, economic, and social-welfare systems [1]. COVID-19 has hitherto led to the sickening and loss of life for thousands of people (**Figure 1**). As initial evidence already indicates [2], it contains the potential of leaving deep psychological scars on many. With its unpredictability and the need for distance and isolation, COVID-19 has caused a tear in the fabric of our most fundamental methods of coping and calls for novel ways of adapting to and thinking about crises. In this chapter, we will discuss numerous theories and mechanisms of psychological adaptation to life after COVID-19. Life after COVID-19 is peculiar from the life before COVID-19. The mental health of people all over the globe has been affected. But now people are coping and adapting to COVID-19.

**Figure 1.** *Worldwide cases of coronavirus.*

The COVID-19 epidemic led to a significant shift in how individuals embark on their routine lives and projects. To control the transmission of the virus, the triple shock of proclaiming a national health emergency, enforcing an economic shutdown, and combining social isolation and temporal distance became the conventional reaction, all of which produced long-term effects on how people perceive and perform social behaviors. From working to learning, from amusement to purchasing, from socializing to family life and love connections, from the meaning of home and living environments to our ideas and expectations of citizenship, nearly every sphere of practice has been impacted [3].

Sustainability experts refer to the epidemic as a possible catalyst for change in the direction of a more ecologically sound, socially just, and ethical future [4]. The crisis presents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to design a long-term transition depending on individual lifestyle changes, as well as a multi-stakeholder strategy build-up of systemic-institutional changes toward a larger, low-carbon arrangement [5]. The COVID-19-related watershed of changes provides both horror and promise to groups working to promote sustainable development.

It was evident from the start of the epidemic that individualism was one of the numerous ways the crisis manifested in our society. People raced to purchase products that they deemed essential. Grocery stores and supermarkets immediately ran out of toilet paper rolls and hand sanitizers, owing to some people buying far more than they needed and therefore exhibiting blatant contempt for the needs of others. Individualism, on the other hand, indicates governments' failure to care for citizens during challenging times [6].

The shutdown caused everyone's house the center of their existence, making it the distinct location for a variety of functions that were not initially envisioned. Excluding the populations like the elderly, few people would have expected to experience a life that was so physically and socially secluded. Isolation became the current social norm overnight. These trends predict that previously out-of-home activities will presently be exclusively conducted at home and that social relations and social life will be limited to a smaller and more intimate circle of trusted (clean-reliable) contacts. Accelerated trends allude to pre-COVID-19 initiatives that were scaled up and amplified during the epidemic, achieving mainstream status [7]. These things collectively induced a high level of mental distress and anxiety among people as was observed in several studies [8].

#### *A Way Forward: Psychological Adaptation and Transformation of Life Post COVID-19 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107161*

The digitization and remote involvement of both functional and emotional aspects of life, for example, have forced an internet-mediation of activities, which has pushed online navigation from the periphery to the center. Work, recreation, study, commerce, and love were all taking place in internet-enabled contexts, with the qualities of remoteness and multi-functionality established. Simultaneously, gamification of material from the entertainment, social, and academic sectors grew in popularity, combining virtual socializing and remote learning with immersive technology.

In the same way, wearing a mask was found to remain a visual feature that established temporal separation as a public health strategy in a recent study done in the Italian Venice metropolitan region [9]. Distances were measured by an operator operating a unique sensor-based "social distancing belt" between February 24 and April 29, 2020. "Unmasked," "masked," "do it yourself (DIY) masked," "goggles masked," and "goggles DIY-masked" were all used interchangeably. People tended to stay closer to an uncovered individual, but wearing a mask tended to increase the substantial distance between them. This contradiction can be answered by considering humans' inherent social nature, which promotes social over antisocial activity. Wearing a mask might transform unintentional social conduct into intentional antisocial behavior [10].

Mask-wearing and social distance restrictions may be eased in the near future, depending on danger levels. COVID-19 mitigation techniques might rapidly be adopted to combat outbreaks and subsequently withdrawn after the threat has passed—this would involve excellent communication. Without regulations, vulnerable or risk-averse individuals may continue engaging in pandemic behaviors such as wearing masks, particularly in congested areas like movie theatres and concert venues. The most draconian COVID-19 methods, like school closures, lockdowns, and travel restrictions, may no longer be acceptable to the public [11].

The instability of the contemporary globalized capitalist system, with its reliance on transnational financialized trades, just-in-time manufacturing, and lengthy, carbon-intensive international supply chains, has been revealed by COVID-19. It has also demonstrated how small economies are often more robust to massive shocks and can provide for themselves effectively and efficiently during a crisis. Economies based on mutualism and solidarity, which are embedded, inclusive, frequently informal, and turbulent, have thrived. For example, there has been a notable increase in solidarity and grassroots engagement in the domain of food provisioning, ranging from widespread food donations to the poor in India and Pakistan to the supply of mobile meals to disadvantaged groups in the United States and Canada [12].

Communities have bonded together to fill up holes in the system and assist people in need, with civil-society organizations collaborating with concerned governmental actors on occasion. In India's largely decentralized system, the state of Kerala, for example, has taken the lead in responding to COVID-19 by providing food distribution through free community meals organized by women's networks [13]. Such examples are suggestive of the communal bonds that arose and facilitated resilience in the aftermath of previous tragedies [14]. The question is whether such solidarity is limited to the specific environment of an emergency, or whether it hints at future potential economies.

COVID-19 risk reduction led to significant social isolation and loneliness, as shown by increased anxiety, sadness, drug misuse, and suicide ideation. Sheer pleasures, such as hugging family or friends, dining out, or seeing a grin that is not disguised behind a protective mask, appeal to the public. Humans are sociable creatures by nature. The United States began extensive socializing not long after the 1918 epidemic, with the Roaring Twenties bringing people together in crowded dance halls, movie palaces, and speakeasies. If there is social utility, some epidemic behaviors may survive, at least in part. A hybrid working (both remote and in-person) may outlive the epidemic, providing many people with a better work-life balance and more housing options. For the time being, air travel may also remain stationary. International traffic was 72 percent lower in December 2021 than in December 2019, and it may not rebound until 2024 [11].
