The Pandemic & its effect on Adolescence

We all know the pandemic felt like a fever dream, but a few years out, we’re finally seeing the receipts on what it actually did to our mental health. Spoiler alert: it wasn't just "boredom."

For a lot of us, losing school, sports, and hang-out’s wasn't just a temporary bummer. It completely threw off physical and mental development. Scientists are now finding that the stress of those lockdowns actually caused accelerated brain aging in teens, where mentally we were aging faster than normal, due to the extensive isolation.

Here is what the data (and our group chats) show about what we went through:

Anxiety Spike: Rates of depression and anxiety doubled globally.

Screen Trap: Being stuck on social media for most of the day along with online Zoom sessions, 24/7 didn't replace real life, but created an even more disconnected feeling of loneliness.

Ultimately, the pandemic was more than a temporary disruption but a lasting effect on adolescent development and mental health. Recovering from it requires ongoing empathy, and open conversations, dedicated to mental health support for our generation.