Many of us have heard of PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The condition affects those who’ve experienced trauma that impacts their daily lives with intense physical and emotional reactions. For some individuals, the trauma of the pandemic elicits a similar response. Author and therapist Owen O’Kane coined the term Post-Pandemic Stress Disorder, which is likened to post-COVID-19 PTSD. Though you won’t find the term in the manual of recognized psychological disorders, many experts agree that it should be, especially when you consider the extent of the pandemic and its devastating impacts that likely won’t be fully recognized until it’s well and truly over.
Unfortunately, the younger generation, adolescents, and kids might have experienced the worst traumas when the pandemic struck. As restrictions are lifted and communities are encouraged to return to normal, the symptoms of PPSD may begin to become more apparent. According to O’Kane, the world’s children may start to show “increased anxiety, low motivation, feeling hopeless or powerless, disrupted sleep, changes in appetite, feeling numb, being increasingly angry or irritated, negative or catastrophic thinking, withdrawing socially, and feelings of struggling to cope.”
Those who experienced anxiety and depression pre-pandemic are also at risk of seeing their ailments worsen. According to Professor Andrea Raballo at the University of Perugia, we have yet to realize the full extent of the impact of the pandemic. Its adverse effects on our mental health “still have to be properly appreciated and discerned.” As more of us return to work, receive invites to gatherings, and venture out into community gathering places, mental health challenges are beginning to make themselves known and commonly appear as FOGO or FONO.