QUARANTINE, FORGOTTEN?

Quarantine Almost Forgotten

By: Christina Perez

Quarantine happened about 20 months ago and some of it feels like a haze and other times it still feels vivid. No one wants to talk about how draining those months felt. It felt like I became a whole different person when we came out of it. Whether or not someone is a social butterfly or a wallflower, the quarantine months were extremely difficult for everyone. According to the CDC, “The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with mental health challenges related to the morbidity and mortality caused by the disease and to mitigation activities, including the impact of physical distancing and stay-at-home orders.” When we really take a look at this, we can see that the mental health crisis really started from somewhere. Following this data it's important to see that the problem of bad mental health was here prior to the pandemic but there are many factors in our daily lives that can worsen the issue. I believe that one of the main problems during the quarantine era was that people felt very overwhelmed because they were alone, and many people weren't accustomed to this type of lifestyle. When coronavirus first came out, we were still receiving new facts and our new life changes over the news. A lot of people felt panicked because they were unaware of what was the right or wrong thing to do. The picture on the left from the New York Times, does a very good job of depicting what it felt like during the beginning months of quarantine. We were stressing about online meetings, cleaning our groceries, wearing the correct protective gear, and so many other things that it almost felt like a board game that would never end. The never ending feeling of going in a loop drove people insane, which ultimately affected both their physical and mental health. Some became deeply anxious and depressed; they didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel. They thought their only way out was to take themselves out. 

Mental Health America Organization says, “Suicidal ideation continues to increase among adults in the U.S. 4.58% of adults report having serious thoughts of suicide, an increase of 664,000 people from last year’s dataset. The national rate of suicidal ideation among adults has increased every year since 2011-2012. This was a larger increase than seen in last year’s report and is a concerning trend to see going into the COVID-19 pandemic” We can see that the pandemic hit really high numbers in many things but let me ask you this question. Do you remember what those statistics represent? They represent people in the real world and how they are/were feeling during this time. That's why these types of surveys are important, they allow us to go back and see where the people were during this time. Another thing you must take into consideration is, how old are these people and who got impacted the most? An article from Time Magazine wrote about how hard the global pandemic affected children/teens. One of the things mentioned in the article was a study done in China by JAMA Pediatrics that said this, “Researchers in Hubei province, where the pandemic originated, examined a sample group of 2,330 schoolchildren for signs of emotional distress. The kids had been locked down for what, to quarantine-weary Americans, likely seems like a relatively short period–an average of 33.7 days. Even after that single month, 22.6% of them reported depressive symptoms and 18.9% were experiencing anxiety” Thinking of those numbers may not affect you as much but when you really put it into perspective, there are still a lot of children secretly suffering. It is a very big change for not only kids but for many adults to go through. The difference between kids and adults is that adults have the ability to rationalize what is going on while kids don’t. They are still unaware of how to put their feelings into words and how to express themselves in a way that doesn’t come off as a temper tantrum. 

Lisa Stanton, mother of twins and a daughter, says that this whole quarantine transition has been extremely difficult for her and her family. She told Times magazine, “I’m seeing 100% more behavioral problems. My son, who has learning issues, has three meltdowns a day. With my daughter, the problem became addicted to the iPad. She has a TikTok account and created an [alias] of an older girl. We took the tablet away, and there were hysterics. She told us, ‘I want to be on the tablet all the time because [when I am] I don’t feel so lonely.'” Hearing this story is honestly not shocking but it sounds very familiar because something like this has happened to a neighbor. When you think about it, this exact story has happened to someone near to us and we may not even realize it. 

One pattern that was very obvious during the global pandemic is how difficult the separation and isolation have been. For people to expand their thinking abilities they must socialize with others. The Harvard Gazette said, “Older teens and young adults may be particularly susceptible because they are often transitioning from their “inherited families to their chosen families,” said Weissbourd, meaning they lack important connections to those who can “be critical guardrails against loneliness.” Students in college may be struggling to fit in and feel homesick, while those not in school can feel disconnected from important social groups or communities. Young people are also often making critical decisions about their professional and personal lives and relationships, which can add to the stress and sense of isolation, he said.” This is where I can relate the most during the quarantine time. The isolation felt the longest when I wouldn’t talk to friends or see them at all. When I would get memories on social media of things I had been doing the year before, it felt extremely weird. It gave me a new outlook on life to be thankful for everyday and every single thing in sight, no matter how small and insignificant. During this time, it felt very easy to feel like no one cared about you. It felt like we were all alone during this time even though everyone around us was going through the same thing. Everyone handled the pandemic differently but one thing I noticed was that everyone felt lonely, even those who love to be left alone. Humans live off social interaction and it's a vital part in our daily lives. Communication is one of the first things we learn as kids and it is the way we express ourselves to those around us and without that we are left silenced and wondering when it’ll be okay to talk again. COVID-19 stripped many things from us but there are some fond memories of this whole lone time that did help people get through the storm. 

One thing I am truly grateful for during the pandemic was how much I changed and learned about myself. Although at times isolation felt never ending, I am a completely different person and I want people to understand that the time spent overthinking and feeling overwhelmed is 1000% okay. It was completely normal to feel this way. The good thing about the quarantine experience is that once it was semi over, I knew what I wanted to do to get better, I knew that prioritizing my mental and physical health was not a game anymore and that if I didn’t start myself, the path of becoming better was going to be extremely difficult to get on. The help of my family and others around helped me realize how precious life is. Whether or not you realize it, your community is always there to help you and to help with other things you may not know are wrong. Now that some of the restrictions have been lifted, we can finally reach out and see a professional in person or online depending on whether or not you feel safe being out. We have adopted at a rapid pace as humans do with so many things in life and this new change in society is something we are trying to manage properly. One of the things that is ultimately going to help us most is how we care for our own health. Once we have that down, we can finally reach a helping hand to those who need it most.