This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Jess Newman. Find her on Instagram at @_jess_n_. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Time has always been a hard concept to grasp regardless of your age. One minute can feel like 6 years and 6 years can feel like 1 week. It’s very confusing and disorientating. In March of 2020, we all experienced lockdown due to COVID-19. This impacted our lives immensely. We transitioned to working from home, dressing in cozy attire and communicating virtually. It’s hard to believe that was 3 years ago. Whether you were 10 or 60 when the pandemic started we all lost very valuable years. None the less we are all in this together, so let’s talk about this phenomenon we experienced.
What is the pandemic skip theory?
The pandemic skip theory is the concept that whatever age you were when the pandemic started is how old you are today mentally. This is due to missing out on valuable experiences while we were quarantined. COVID-19 made a crazy time warp for everyone. It was stressful and scary and none of us knew when the world would finally open back up. Personally, I know I developed crippling anxiety during this time and I’m sure I’m not alone. Time felt like it was at a standstill and zooming past all at the same time. No one could keep track of what day it was because we were stuck in the same place doing the same thing for so long. When I started to do a deep dive into the pandemic skip theory, I felt a sense of relief that there were finally words to put to the feelings that went along with the past 3 years.
The CUT states, “Studies show that stressful experiences tend to make it feel unclear how much time is passing, especially when one is confined to one’s home for months on end.” This makes perfect sense as to why we are all super confused about how much time has passed.
EVERYTHING was affected
No matter your age 3 years is a long time and lots of things have changed even though we weren’t out in the world experiencing things. My all-time favorite saying is “Time flies when you’re not having fun”. I say this so much. @thepaytonproject highlights how the pandemic has impacted what we wear and how we look. She is a stylist and explains that a lot of people (myself included) got out of the practice of getting dressed every day. We started wearing comfier clothes and comfier clothes have a lot more room for extra “fluff” per say. We also got out of our regular routines and weren’t exercising much. This creates the perfect storm. She says that the average woman gained 29.5 pounds over the course of COVID. To put that into perspective, 15 pounds is usually the number where you start noticing that your clothes stop fitting. On top of our bodies changing, styles have changed at least 6 times throughout all the seasons during COVID meaning that anything that was your “comfort” clothing style is likely not in style anymore. All of these things contribute to the overwhelming feeling of the pandemic skip.
The article by The CUT points out that everyone was impacted, but others have argued that those in their 20s have been affected the most. There is psychology behind this reasoning. In the 20 years between the age of 20 to 40 is the developmental stage known as Intimacy vs. Isolation. In this stage, social relationships are vital for psychological growth, but as we all know we were only able to socialize virtually, so it makes sense that we feel so lost.
If you feel this way know that you are not alone and we are all trying to navigate these very disorienting times. The best way to move forward now is trying not to focus on the 3 years we have lost and focus on the many years that we still have ahead of us! We’re all in this together- cue the High School Musical music.
Do you believe in the pandemic skip theory? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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