It’s been too long

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2021 (717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If there’s one thing we can all say with absolute certainty at this stage in the pandemic, it is this:

It’s been too long.

But how long has it been, exactly? Fifteen months? Maybe 16?

If you feel like you can’t really remember, know this – you’re not alone.

It’s been well-documented that prolonged, unpredictable, and seemingly interminable periods of chronic stress or anxiety (sound familiar?) can have pronounced effects over peoples’ mental health. Feelings of listlessness or lack of motivation and energy are common, but brain tissue itself can also be affected, resulting in cognitive impairment.

When outside factors (like, say, a pandemic) take away our normal, healthy ways of coping – seeing people and feeling human contact – otherwise healthy people, and even those lucky enough to naturally possess a positive disposition, can be subject to these effects.

By now most people have experienced some form of severe social deprivation, at some point, over the last 15 or 16 months.

The most tragic examples are the ones where people have been or are being robbed of the precious last moments in the lives of loved ones, like the family of Pat McNeil, who was admitted to Riverview Health Centre’s palliative care unit in April.

Statistics show that Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 are feeling stressed and anxious at a higher rate than the national average. There are many reasons for this: the virus itself, economic instability and an unclear vision for the future at a key time of life, and little things like going out for dinner or a drink with friends. No matter what the stressors, it is a demographic whose cognitive competence will be relied upon in the not too distant future.

As the rate of vaccination continues to rise, and as life returns to normal with all of our regular social interactions, science tells us “brain recoverability” follows in short order.

The signs are everywhere that people are raring to see each other again, in large numbers. Parallels can be drawn with the end of the last global pandemic and the decade that followed, which was known as the “Roaring ’20s,” and characterized by celebration.

Maybe 17 months will have passed, or maybe 18, but at some point we’ll finally be able to say it to each other, in person, and with absolute certainty:

It’s been too long.

Andrew Braga is a community correspondent for South Osborne.