January is often recognised as the loneliest month of the year as the festive season winds to an end and bleak winter days continue. And Covid-19 induced isolation has only added to the troubles of young people this year. While the work-life balance may have improved for some “working from home”. It has also meant that young people have found themselves lonelier, more depressed and with higher anxiety indices. Such is the gravity of the situation that the latest annual survey of young people’s happiness and confidence by Prince’s Trust returned the worst findings in its 12-year history. It noted that young people are in danger of giving up on their futures and on themselves, with a quarter saying they feel unable to cope with life.
Sneha Patel (named changed upon request) was slated to get married earlier last year. Due to government restrictions and changing lockdown rules her wedding kept getting delayed until the couple called it quits earlier this month. The 31-year-old London resident who is originally from Manchester speaks about the riot of “emotional turmoil” that she battles through every day whilst living in isolation.
A broken marriage and living in isolation
Commenting on the adverse impact that her broken relationship has had on her emotional well-being she said, “I know that there are far worse things that have happened with people and I am grateful that I have a job, money to pay my mortgage and that my parents are doing well. But I didn’t expect to be welcoming 2021 with a broken relationship and alone in my apartment. I tried asking him what had happened and I think we both tried making amends considering our families were involved as well.
“Eventually, we called it off and ever since I have been trying to figure out what went wrong. The first few days were difficult with work and not being able to go out because I don’t want to break the lockdown rules. The daily walks, conversations with parents and little things like meditation helped. But it still feels surreal and I suppose only time can be a healing factor.”
Sneha is one of the many who have struggled to live on their own without much human contact during the pandemic. Earlier last month, a Clinical Oncology Consultant in the NHS had taken to his social media account to share his experience of living in lockdown.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and post-viral fatigue
While the Princes Trust survey does not particularly quantify the impact of the pandemic on individuals from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (community). But psychiatrists and mental health experts believe that the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 will have a domino effect on their mental and emotional health as well.
Speaking about the consequences of mental health on young people, the recently appointed Dean of Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr. Subodh Dave said, “My main concern is about the post-pandemic period. We are already beginning to see the impact of Covid-19 with post ICU, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder syndromes, post-viral fatigue and long Covid where people are unable to shake off the symptoms weeks or months after the infection. We should also not forget the impact of lockdown/quarantine itself on people’s mental health. And there is also an additional impact of the financial downturn that may be associated with the pandemic.”
There is a range of charities that one can reach out to while feeling distressed including The Samaritans, Mind and The Heera Foundation. For South Asian children Barnardo’s have launched a specialist helpline particularly for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic BAME families who have been hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. Named Boloh, the helpline offers children and families advice and support from trained specialist advisers who speak a range of languages and are from a diverse set of cultural backgrounds. It also provides therapeutic support as well as a live webchat facility. Advisers support children calling with worries about the future due to school disruption, mental health and wellbeing problems, coping with sickness and bereavement as well as financial concerns due to unemployment.
