What is the pandemic skip and its influence on our perception of time and age?

The word pandemic skip gained popularity on TikTok, which has hampered many people's perception of time.

A lot of us feel that the time spent in pandemic has been wasted and that they seem to be stuck at that age. While a lot of us have seemingly overcome the effects of the pandemic, maany continue to experience effects like the pandemic skip.

Whether its children or adults, we all experience various shifts in our life. Individuals have experienced layoffs, graduated online or lost loved ones. In a way, we didn't get the time to process our wins or even losses.

The pandemic skip has influenced how we see ourselves today. While it has a major impact on women, all genders and people of all age groups are likely to experience this effect.

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What is pandemic skip?

Our lives skipped past many events and time. Most of us did not get time to register it. (Image via Pexels/Ketut Subiyanto)

Now that we have come closer to our understanding of the impact of the pandemic on us, we are familiarizing ourselves with the potential effects of it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left certain impressions in our life that can be difficult to cope with. We are finally realizing the times, experiences and things we have lost. When we experience pandemic skip, we experience a type of depersonalization.

It's almost like looking at yourself from an outside or third-person perspective. You may feel that you are 26, but recently you have turned 30. You may want to go back to your initial energy levels, but you find that your body is not able to cope. This sense of disconnection or being out of sync can cause a lot of confusion.

You may also experience grief as a consequence of not being able to engage in activities and experiences that you potentially wanted to. Clearly, for some of us, there's a disconnection between where we want to be and where we are.

While we can stop our plans or postpone them, we can't possibly control time. If you wanted to get married by 30 and you were 26 when the pandemic started, you may realize that you are quite near the age you wanted to marry.

However, it can feel too rushed or not something that you want in your life now. When we feel that we haven't been able to fulfill our wishes, we feel dissatisfaction with our life.

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It's good to acknowledge that, regardless of age, we all lost something during the two years of lockdown.

The pandemic has a continuing effect on many of us, even though we are much more protected. The pandemic skip is one of the delayed mental reactions to the lost years, and it has all hit us in some way or another.

It's also important to recognize that while the pandemic skip has made us feel that we have lost things, it's important to work in the present. If you start working today, you give yourself permission to move towards the goals you had planned before the pandemic.

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Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.

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