Pandemic Skip: what it is and why people talk about it on TikTok

Pandemic Skip is the name given to the phenomenon that has affected a considerable number of people following the pandemic. It is a loss of temporal perception that triggers anxiety and causes disorientation.

The mental sensation is that of currently feeling the same age as when the health emergency broke outto then interface with the harsh truth: the years have certainly passed and the personal and social expectations that seemed distant are right there, in front of us.

It’s as if we’ve entered a hibernation and, once spring arrived, instead of nature in bloom, waiting for us outside the refuge, there were all the responsibility of the new age.

The Pandemic Skip it has affected all generations across the board. The older ones because the older you get, the more value you tend to give to every single year of your life. The very young people of Gen Z because they were “robbed” of some of the (theoretically) more “carefree” years to be suddenly catapulted into adult life.

And the Millennials who say they entered lockdown without the intention or anxiety of finding a soul mate or independence as soon as possible and now instead feel in a race against time to start a family, buy a house or secure a decent contract.

We (almost) all feel two or three years younger and it’s not thanks to anti-aging creams or pilates if, when they ask us our age, we have to pause a few seconds longer to give the correct answer.

There is evidence of the spread of the phenomenon the hashtag #pandemicskip that he collected over 11 million views on TikTok and as many comments and testimonials from users.

To rebalance the scale between perceived and actual age, experts recommend, as a first step, acceptance of what has happenedeven more so if it is a pandemic, something that cannot be controlled and which has affected us globally.

Instead of focusing on the supposedly missed “key experiences”, let’s focus on what we have achieved or acquired. Nothing is totally a loss if we make an effort to change our perspective.

Just because time seemed to freeze doesn’t mean your ambitions have to too, maybe they’ll just slip a little.. Global pandemic or not, everyone has their own times. We must force ourselves not to listen to social stereotypes that see 30 years as the date by which to realize oneself at 360 degrees and have all the answers.

Finally, let me share my motto and that of my best friend because it seems particularly apt to me. Necessary premise: we are certainly not two experts in cognitive psychology, we simply try, as much as possible, to keep each other healthy (with mixed results).

The motto that makes i pale Perugina chocolate kisses is the following: sometimes nothing happens in two years and anything can happen in two minutes! So don’t think about the years that seem lost to you but about the precious minutes that could turn your life upside down or surprise you. Word of a 22 year old. Ehmm… I meant 25 years old!