Teens mental health needs more consideration during the pandemic
The beauty and growth of mental health.
January 21, 2021
Most teenagers have struggled throughout the pandemic, whether it was from losing social interaction, falling behind in online school, or most importantly, mental health.
Mental health is a widespread topic, commonly talked about amongst teenagers. It’s important that we continue to talk about this subject, especially during the pandemic where mental health has become a recurring issue.
The beginning of quarantine took a toll on people’s mental health for the worst. The world was shutting down, people were told not to go out, and everyone was stuck in their homes for months with no sign of when life would go back to normal again.
“My overall mental health during quarantine started diminishing around April. Not being able to see my friends and being cooped inside my house all day really started to get to me,” Junior Anthony Gose said.
As time went on throughout quarantine, it seemed as if the world was only becoming worse. As the state of the pandemic showed no signs of progression, mental health only got worse.
“My mental health got worse as the months went by because it felt like things got worse. In the beginning things were kind of fresh and new, being inside all the time didn’t feel so bad” Junior Jayla Bratton said, “But then there was no more socializing, school, and extracurricular activities that made being locked inside feel like a drastic change.”
Although quarantine in itself has changed people’s mental health in a negative way, online school is a commonly known factor of causing teens’ mental health to crash.
“I would say online school is testing my mental health for the worst, I personally struggle with it,” Bratton said. “It feels like I’m not retaining any information and everything is rushed because we are somewhat behind.”
It’s easy for adults to misinterpret how teenagers feel, especially at this time.
“Some things I think adults misunderstand about teen’s mental health during quarantine is that we went cold turkey on socializing. We went from seeing our friends every day to not seeing anyone, I think adults forgot that,” Gose said.
It’s important to be aware of your mental health, and the mental health of those around you. This is a time of struggle for everyone, treating others with kindness can make all the difference. Reach out during times of struggle, remember that your teachers, counselors, family, and friends are there for you
