Yo, Miss! (No. 11)

It's March, Again

Sari Beth Rosenberg

Mar 06, 2023

As we approach the three year anniversary of the Covid lockdown, I’ve been reflecting on the past three years.

At the height of the pandemic, I will never forget:

-The sensation of running down the middle of Columbus Avenue without a car in sight.

-Trying to mute my mic as an ambulance wailed past my building as I taught my Zoom class.

-Taking myself on meandering walks around Central Park.

-Staying up all night wondering if this would be life forever now.

@saribethrose 🥲 #newyork #nyc #2020

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Three years later and, like most people, I am back to my normal routine. However, I know that living during a pandemic has changed me and everyone around me in different ways. I do not think enough time has passed to fully know the impact of it all.

I remember in the early days of the pandemic, I was naive enough to wonder if this global catastrophe would bring Americans together. How cute of me, right? Hyper-partisanship was not new when Trump entered the political arena. However, through his grooming, grifting and gaslighting he took the divide to a whole other level. Along with his MAGA accomplices, he guaranteed that there would be no way that Americans would be able to unite to stop the spread of a deadly virus.

As we seem to be making our way out of the pandemic, I am so much more appreciative of my life now after that time of isolation. However, I also continue to observe the disastrous effects of the pandemic on our collective mental health.

I recently wrote about the youth mental health crisis for PBS NewsHour Classroom:

A new report by the CDC released last week made headlines when it showed that 3 in 5 teenage girls are experiencing continuous sadness and hopelessness.

One year ago, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory report stating depression and anxiety had doubled during the pandemic, with 25 percent of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20 per cent experiencing anxiety symptoms.

According to a 2021 study from Morning Consult, almost 80 percent of people aged 18 to 25 reported feeling lonely. In comparison, only about 40 percent of people over the age of 66 reported feeling lonely.

However, it is not just a youth mental health crisis. For example, according to the survey conducted between March 2020 and September 2022: “At least four-in-ten U.S. adults (41%) have experienced high levels of psychological distress at some point during the pandemic.

You can read all the stats in this latest Pew Research Center survey.

I am not sure what to do with this data except to say to be mindful of your own mental health as well as others around you. We lived through a traumatic time and even though late-stage capitalism forced us to quickly jump back into business as usual, we should still try to take time to process and reflect on what we endured both individually and collectively.