It has been a few years now after the pandemic and most of us have resumed our lives. But, some of us are struggling to adjust with the years we have lost being locked up. This new and rather odd phenomenon is called the “pandemic skip”. The pandemic skip, coined by Katy Schneider in her article, is essentially the development we missed out on as individuals because the pandemic is causing people to feel that our bodies and mind are out of sync. 

Many Gen Zers were just embarking into adulthood when the pandemic took over. We went into it in our late teen years to early twenties  and came out of it in our mid twenties. Those years that were lost to lockdowns have really impacted the younger generation in many ways. The best way to describe the feeling is going to sleep when we were 20 and waking up three years later. Our mental maturity stayed the same but we aged three years making it feel like our bodies are out of sync with our minds.

The pandemic has impacted our lives in many different ways. Many of us don’t feel that our mental maturity matches with our current age and that can make many things like finding a job and even maintaining relationships a challenge. 

People who are now in their twenties are struggling to find jobs and careers because they don’t feel as though they are at that point in their lives yet. This is something that I personally struggle with because in my head I am still a university student, but I graduated. 

Many 20-somethings who are struggling to find jobs and careers also fear they’ve taken too long “figuring their life out” putting even more stress on themselves. 

Nova Cobban, a psychologist in the UK says anxiety about one’s own fleeting existence “can lead to people wanting to reset the clock and go back and still have the experiences that are associated with their life stage without judgment.” but Cobban reassures that while this hiccup in personal and professional arenas may feel isolating for some, they’re not alone.

“Everyone’s life went on pause, so we are collectively experiencing the need to recalibrate and realign — this means that your peers are more likely to be in the same time-lapse state as you, and in this way, we aren’t behind on anything,” she said.

Finally, while life came to a grinding halt during the pandemic, it was not all that bad, there is some good that came out of it. The time in isolation gave us a chance to discover ourselves like never before. We tried new hobbies and indulged in self-growth. And gave us an opportunity to really think about what we want to do and where we want to go with our lives.

While we missed out on crucial development that impacted our social, emotional and overall maturity, no other generation was blessed with the opportunity to have time to discover themselves in early adulthood. 

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