What the Coronavirus Pandemic Means for Our Mental Health

Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, has been studying how social relationships (or lack of them) impact mortality for years. In a study she conducted a decade ago that analyzed data from 148 previous studies, and totaled 300,000 participants, she found that having greater social connection was associated with a 50% increased likelihood of survival. In a time with physical distance, it’s hard to say what that means for our social connection and its impact on our mortality.

“We’re in a unique position where it’s our civic duty to protect others and ourselves by practicing social distancing, while wanting to feel connected to others during this difficult time,” she tells Teen Vogue. “We won’t be able to fully understand the mental health repercussions of this situation until we’re able to study them, once this is all over. But we’re already seeing the short-term effects of loneliness as a society.”

Young people, as a demographic, have been shown in some data to be particularly lonely. A pre-pandemic survey of more than 10,000 Americans, conducted by health insurance company Cigna, found that in 2019 nearly 79% of Gen Zers and 71% of millennials considered themselves to be chronically lonely, compared to 50% of Baby Boomers. Social media and video conferencing platforms are becoming a lifeline for a lot of people, but as millennials and Gen Zers know all too well, the internet can sometimes leave us feeling emptier than when we logged on. When favoring screen time over face-to-face interactions has been associated with higher risks of exhibiting symptoms of mental illness, staying healthy and well while simultaneously self-isolating feels like a recipe for chaos.

“How you use social media ultimately determines how it makes you feel,” Dr. Holt-Lunstad says. “If you’re more of a voyeur or a passive participant, you’ll likely feel more drained. It’s much better to actively participate and try to meaningfully connect with others, than just watch an endless stream of bad news and information pass you by.”

There are already studies being conducted about how COVID-19 is affecting mental health. At the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the earliest states ravaged by coronavirus and on lockdown longer than many others, graduate student Adam Kuczynski and his adviser Dr. Jonathan Kanter have asked 500 residents in the state’s King County area to take a survey that monitors their daily routines, how much virtual socializing they’re doing, the moods they’ve experienced throughout the day, and more. “It’s telling a story of resilience and adaptation,” Adam Kuczynski told National Geographic. “People earlier were seeing a lot of intrusive thoughts—not being able to get it out of their head…That’s going down.”

Despite how widespread the impacts of the pandemic might be on mental health, stigma around seeking treatment could continue to be a significant barrier. Data from a 2018 survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration showed that of the 1.4 million young adults with a serious mental illness in 2018, 46.2% did not get treatment. Stigma has long been proven as a barrier to seeking treatment. But with our shared experiences largely revolving around mourning, coping, and loneliness right now, that stigma might begin to fade.

“It’s probably too soon to see if there have been measurable wide-scale population shifts in stigma [against getting treatment], but anecdotally, I do see more open discussion of mental health in the media, which may be normalizing the struggle of this situation,” says Dr. Holt-Lunstad.

Many may need mental health help after the crisis, though it may take some work to get it to them. There’s plenty the government could do to help U.S. citizens heal and have access to the mental health resources they need now and once this is over. Funding is the most important one, according to Dr. Holt-Lunstad. “There’s already robust evidence of the impact that loneliness has on mental and physical health, but we need funding to do more research about how to design better infrastructure to prevent loneliness and just to evaluate mental health in general,” she says. “Seeing how people have adapted to this crisis—having parties on Zoom or hanging up pictures in their windows for others to see—it’s been really beautiful to see. But systemically, we need to see some big changes, so people can get the diagnoses and help they need.”

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text Crisis Text Line at 741-741.