For millions and millions, the pandemic has been a time of great anxiety, mourning, and sadness, the stress of lockdowns and death rates taking a toll on most. However, for teenagers and young adults, the pandemic has not only brought with it stress, grief, and gloom but it has also ruined things from exam seasons to going out with friends. Although not being able to get out with friends may seem like a selfish thing to be sad about, not being able to socialise with people of your age has been proven to detrimentally affect young people’s mental health. In a study done by scientists at the Norwegian Social Research Institute (NOVA), it was shown that a greater proportion of teenagers without close friends showed depressive symptoms than those with close friends. Furthermore, more than 1 in 3 girls without close friends testified to having depressive symptoms (Hartberg & Hegna, 2014).

Without the support and encouragement from peers inside and outside the classroom, many young people felt uninspired and lost, not able to find the motivation to complete assignments and turn up to online lectures and classes. Even though many teens did find refuge through online forums and communities they were still left with a large sense of disconnect between peers and themselves, forgetting how to communicate with people in real life instead of through social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat. Apps like Instagram and Twitter, although they helped to build online communities, also came under fire from the public for their management of the increased bullying and harassment seen on the apps due to lockdown.

While the pandemic did affect young people gravely it was also able to shine a light on the inadequacy of the youth mental health services available in the UK, though some teenagers were able to find help through services such as CAHMS many found themselves feeling utterly alone and alienated. Several of the places where mental health concerns may normally have been flagged up initially, like schools and youth clubs were shut due to Covid restrictions meaning that teens could not find the necessary help they needed until crisis point.