‘Pandemic skip,’ a COVID mental health phenomenon, could delay major milestones, experts say

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The coronavirus pandemic resulted in a lot of loss — and to at the present time individuals could also be dropping out due to it.

A mental health phenomenon dubbed the “pandemic skip” has caught viral consideration on social media.

The hosts of the podcast “Between Us Girlies” revealed their understanding of the idea in a TikTok video, which has been seen over six million occasions.

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“Whatever age you were when the pandemic started is … where you’re at mentally,” Casey Corradin, the Pennsylvania-based co-host, mentioned within the video, which was posted in November 2023.

“So, these women that were, like, 27 when the pandemic started, and then it’s three years later and they’re 30, and everyone around them is having kids, they’re like … ‘I’m not ready to have kids. I’m still young, I’m 27.’”

She added, “We were in our early 20s when the pandemic started — and we took a big chunk of the early-20s, figuring-your-life-out phase, and now we’re 27 and we’re still figuring it out.”

Dominique Hamler, a registered nurse and government director of the Los Angeles Outpatient Center, instructed Fox News Digital that the pandemic skip could pose a actual concern for individuals of all ages.

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“I am just excited that there is a word for it, because we definitely lost a moment of our lives during the pandemic,” she mentioned.

“People were suffering with not only illness, but the fact that we were isolated and couldn’t even touch each other for a long period of time.”

dominique hamler

Los Angeles Outpatient Center government director Dominique Hamler mentioned the pandemic skip could pose a actual concern for individuals of all ages. (AONL Conference 2023)

Hamler labored on the entrance strains of the pandemic as a registered nurse. She mentioned the pandemic skip refers to “that time period where our lives were disrupted.” 

“Our lives were totally changed and will never be the same,” she mentioned. “Not to mention our experience of what we lost from the aspect of time that we’ll never be able to gain again.”

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Hamler considers the idea a “mental regression,” as individuals really feel caught on the identical developmental interval and age they have been when the pandemic began. 

“We’re still processing it years later,” she mentioned.

Psychologist Dr. Yamalis Diaz of NYU Langone reiterated that the pandemic skip represents a important pause or slowing down of growth.

Woman mask subway

A mental health phenomenon dubbed the “pandemic skip” has gone viral. (iStock)

“It’s almost like a movie you paused and resumed,” she mentioned in a dialog with Fox News Digital. 

“For people in a developmentally sensitive state … when a lot of developmental change is occurring, such as young adults, it makes sense that they would feel this most, compared to older adults whose lives were already relatively stable when the pandemic started.”

“People were suffering with not only illness, but the fact that we were isolated and couldn’t even touch each other for a long period of time.”

Young adults specifically might really feel this affect in the case of finishing schooling, making profession choices, courting, establishing long-term relationships and changing into financially impartial, Diaz mentioned. 

“[These] are all critical elements of this developmental stage and were highly impacted by having to ‘pause,’” she mentioned.

Traditional plans and milestones have been additionally placed on maintain throughout the pandemic, mentioned Hamler.

bride with bridesmaids

Establishing long-term relationships is without doubt one of the essential developmental phases that was extremely impacted by the pandemic, an knowledgeable mentioned. (iStock)

“If you have been a younger grownup, perhaps fascinated with getting married or having children, that was placed on maintain,” she mentioned.

This “skip” could end in continued delayed growth if not addressed, Hamler warned.

“We are just at the tip of the iceberg [when it comes to] addressing mental health as a whole,” she mentioned.

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“It’s going to delay everything until we start having a conversation about it, start getting the therapy and the treatment we need to address the trauma” that the pandemic prompted, she mentioned.

For some individuals, Hamler advised a “deeper dive” could also be obligatory so as to “advance mentally, spiritually and emotionally.”

Therapy session

For some individuals, a “deeper dive” could also be obligatory so as to “advance mentally, spiritually and emotionally,” an knowledgeable instructed Fox News Digital. (iStock)

“It’s going to take some time and … a full, head-on focus on mental health,” she mentioned.

Diaz agreed that the pandemic skip will trigger a ripple impact that could delay different milestones, however famous that it’s “not necessarily a completely new phenomenon.”

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“[This] is part of the basis for Dr. Jeffrey Arnett’s Emerging Adulthood theory,” she mentioned.

Arnett, a psychologist, proposed that individuals between ages 18 and 25 are in a interval known as “emerging adulthood.”

“Our lives were totally changed and will never be the same.”

“In essence, when you look back over generations, the ‘path to adulthood’ has gotten longer, and young adults are reaching what are considered ‘traditional adulthood markers’ — finishing education, leaving home, becoming financially independent, starting a career, getting married and having kids — at older ages.”

Since the pandemic was “such a dramatic, ‘stop-everything’ kind of event,” Diaz advised that it’s more likely to affect transition occasions for the 20-something generations, he advised.

santacon participants at a bar

Young party-goers dressed as vacation characters take part within the annual SantaCon pub crawl on Dec. 9, 2023, in New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

“This is especially true when you also consider mental health, which could also impact young adults’ ability to successfully transition through this stage,” she mentioned.

“Given that this stage of development is already susceptible to increased anxiety, depression and executive functioning difficulties, the pandemic … added pressure to an already pressured developmental turning point.”

Hamler advisable “giving yourself time” as a substitute of chasing milestones which will have been missed.

london girls drink during covid

Pubs and eating places reopen in London’s Soho following the U.Ok. authorities’s stress-free of COVID restrictions in England on April 12, 2021. (Jeremy Selwyn/Evening Standard through Getty Images)

With 2024 marking 4 years because the coronavirus outbreak, Hamler inspired individuals to not suppress their feelings and to hunt skilled assist when wanted.

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“We need to talk about our problems,” she mentioned. “It’s OK to feel angry, frustrated, depressed, anxious — all these feelings are normal.”

Masks Travel US

Travelers put on face masks as a safety measure throughout the COVID-19 outbreak as they arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on March 20, 2020.  (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)

“Between Us Girlies” podcast co-host Corradin echoed this comment in a dialog with Fox News Digital.

“It’s so comforting to see so many people, across all different ages, who feel the same way,” she mentioned.

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“[The fact that it’s] resonating with so many different people shows us that even if we feel alone — we’re not.”

For extra Health articles, go to www.foxnews.com/health.

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