Coronavirus and The Teen Psyche

It’s psychologically damaging, isn’t it? Having your routine, your agency, your free will ripped from under you at a moment’s notice. Not to even delve into the medical mystery of it all. 

Every lunchtime when I was at school, slumped by the blue PE equipment storage containers, me and my best friend would repeat our mantra ‘stop the world; I want to get off’. But now it’s finally happening, it feels like the sky is pressing down and smothering me. I walk through the city streets with sunglasses shading my watery eyes from view.

Being entirely unsettled, and stuck inside with your family, is hard enough for the average human. But even more difficult for adolescents who are plagued with a barrage of mental-health-destroying hormones, complex social relationships and tons of schoolwork. 

At the risk of sounding corny, you are not alone. What I mean by this is that you must not be hard on yourself for feeling lethargic, down or frustrated. I feel all of these things too and I have long since settled from the nightmare which was teenage-hood.  I have a few tips to keep you sane and healthy through this dystopian nightmare, but before we jump into them, I want to explore some more general advice that is often locked away from teenagers in order to keep them placid and compliant. 

The media shapes what it is to be a person in the modern world. It forms a solid image of exactly what it is acceptable to be, and that image is sexist, racist, classist and downright vile in a lot of cases. It is designed to make money from creating insecurities in people, and this is never more apparent than when you are a teenager. As I’m sure you are, I was pretty aware of this when I was a young adult. But I was still massively affected. I spent years of my life feeling ugly, disgusting and being very shy around anyone that I thought was more attractive than me. Nowadays, I don’t shave, I look in a mirror maybe twice a day and I rarely spend time on beautification. That is not to say that people shouldn’t. Of course, if you enjoy working-out or coordinating outfits or anything that boosts your self-esteem, absolutely relish it! But try to separate your context from the outer world. 

What I mean by ‘your context’ is this: A lot of people when they walk into a room, subconsciously rank the attractiveness of everybody in the room. And they place themselves in the list, usually laced with a heap of insecurities and insults – e.g. I’m too skinny/ fat, tall/short, masculine/ feminine etc. to be as attractive as them. I’ve done the same. Hell, even now in a moment of weakness, I may revert to this. But you need to separate your self-esteem and self-love from the façade of others. You are whole in and of yourself, and nothing about the outside world should be allowed to take that away from you. Love yourself for you. Love others for them. But don’t compare, contrast, or judge based on a front. 

As I said, I wasted years of my life with insecurities that stopped me going out in the world. Now, I happily take up and hold space, voice my opinions, concerns and ideas, lead conversations, roam around alone (at home and abroad) and assert my presence in the world. This takes time, but it’s bloody important! My favourite thing to do is take myself on a solo date, which is usually comprised of a coffee and a good book in a local, independent café where they know me as ‘oat cappuccino with cinnamon on top’. But sometimes I catch a piece of quirky queer theatre or sit in a park. Don’t be held back from doing things on your own and discovering the everyday delicious sparks of joy that make you tick. This is what we must learn from lock down – life is short, and everyday is a chance for a solo quest. Grab it while you can. 

So, we’re reaching the end of this virus ridden ramble, and I want to leave you with the following options of what to do to preserve your sanity under police-controlled lock and key:

Reach out – Today text every single one of your friends. Put something on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit. Don’t let people feel isolated and alone. And make plenty of adventuresome plans for when we’re released.

Read – Dust off the sci-fi, apocalyptic fiction, fantasy and dystopia. Revel in the agency of the characters and their missions to survive. Escape!

Exercise – Catch an hour without your family by going for a walk to the pond, beach, park, river, field. Wherever you can go, go. Connect with nature. Breathe the air. Get outside!

Good luck, comrades. I believe in you. We will survive this blip in history. 

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