Pandemic-Induced Life

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major changes in the world, and as borders are opening and quarantine is no longer necessary, there are effects that are observed showing a difference between life in 2019 and 2022. Health choices, encouragement of a new lifestyle, and mental health awareness are all areas that the pandemic impacted. Surveys show that people’s diet and physical activity were negatively affected during quarantine, leading to fewer healthy choices made in 2022. In addition, finding a new purpose and hobby in life was highly encouraged because of anxiety and depression during quarantine. The encouragement of a new lifestyle was heavily influenced by the pandemic, and mental health awareness also grew because of social media and anxiety.

COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic that has affected people’s lifestyle both negatively and positively. Elisabeth Larson, a doctoral student in nutrition at Cornell University, et al. reviewed various survey results around the world regarding physical health choices during the pandemic. The average results showed “an increase in time spent sitting” (Larson et al). Larson and her colleagues concluded that being forced to stay at home led to an overall decline in physical activity. This is likely because of the inability to leave one’s home during quarantine, and as a result, people were forced to stay at home and work all day. This information is important because it shows a trend in the decrease in physical activity. With less and less physical activity, the overall health of people will decline. In addition, the researchers found that people’s dietary choices have also changed for the worse. Larson and her colleagues infer that this could be because of “limiting grocery trips [that] may alter the types and amounts of foods purchased, causing a shift from fresh foods to more shelf-stable products with poorer nutritional value” (Larson et al.). This may not seem like a huge problem, however Kaleigh McMordie, a registered dietitian nutritionist, states that one’s diet can affect one’s emotions; hence a certain unhealthy diet may induce anxiety and or depression (Cassata). Nevertheless, there is always a possibility of changing this negative pattern. As countries are opening borders and dropping quarantine mandates, more people are going out and living a normal life again, likely causing the decrease in physical activity and unhealthy diets to stop.

Not only did COVID-19 negatively affect one’s physical health, but it also influenced many people to lead a new lifestyle. As many are aware, the worldwide pandemic completely transformed work life. Instead of going out to work in an office, people were forced to stay at home and work online. With the increase in mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, people were finding their jobs to be overwhelming and overall not worth it. In addition, the beginning stages of the pandemic resulted in a lot of burnout and job losses. Jesse Bennet, a former research analyst, found that the U.S. “unemployment rate increased from 3.8% in 2019 to 8.6% in 2020.” However, with the overall job losses, new insight regarding work and lifestyle emerged. The growing understanding of mental health issues and self-reflection resulted in many people finding new hobbies and priorities. An example of this can be seen in the story of Khaby Lame, a current content creator. Khaby Lame was one of the many people negatively affected by the pandemic. After he lost his job in Italy as a factory worker, he started posting Tik Toks as a hobby to make people laugh. As time went by, he started to gain a large following and now has a job as a full-time content creator (Hew). In September 2022, Statista stated that Khaby Lame is now one of the most followed content creators on Tik Tok, with around 150 million followers (“Most-Followed”). This is a great example of how the pandemic has heavily affected the lifestyles of many people.

Although people's overall physical health has depleted, awareness of mental health has drastically increased. Michele Nealon, a psychologist and president of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, states that “In 2019, before the pandemic, one in five adults in the United States experienced mental illness,” but after COVID-19, “as many as 80 percent of Americans are struggling with anxiety, depression, grief or isolation,” which is over 3 in 5 people now struggling with mental illness. One major cause was mandated quarantine. However, with the increase of mental illness, the awareness of mental health issues also increased. Before the pandemic, there was already a growing awareness of mental health issues, however, Nealon states that the pandemic further encouraged and pushed the studies and awareness of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Nealon and his colleagues at Chicago School of Professional Psychology found that due to the pandemic, more and more people are open to sharing their feelings and mental health state.

The pandemic has affected a lot of the world today, and it is important to be aware of the changes that have occurred since then. These changes will affect the future both positively and negatively. Regaining healthy diets and physical activity is important for the future generation to stop the overall health of the world from deteriorating. Nevertheless, the pandemic has also impacted the world in a positive way, by encouraging people to find a new lifestyle and raising awareness of mental health issues.

References

Bennet, Jesse. “Fewer jobs have been lost in the EU than in the U.S. during the COVID-19 downturn.” Pew Research Center. 15 Apr. 2021. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/15/fewer-jobs-have-been-lost-in-the-eu-than-in-the-u-s-during-the-covid-19-downturn/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.

Cassata, Cathay “The Experts Agree: What You Eat Can Directly Impact Stress and Anxiety” Verywell Mind. 2 Dec. 2021. www.verywellmind.com/what-you-eat-can-have-an-effect-on-your-overall-mental-well-being-5209290. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.

Ceci, L. “Most Followed Creators of Tik Tok Worldwide as of September 2022” Statista. 22 Sept. 2022. www.statista.com/statistics/1078315/most-followers-tiktok-global/#:~:text=Most%20popular%20TikTok%20users%20worldwide%202022&text=At%20September%202022%2C%20TikTok%20creator,with%20almost%20150%20million%20followers. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.

Elisabeth, Anne Larson et al. “The Effect of COVID-19-related Lockdowns on Diet and Physical Activity in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.” Aging and disease vol. 12,8 1935-1947. 1 Dec. 2021, doi:10.14336/AD.2021.0606. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8612611/#:~:text=Home%20confinement%20could%20lead%20to,unfavorable%20changes%20in%20dietary%20habits. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.

Hew, Nathan. “4 lessons you can learn from TikToker Khaby Lame’s success” Study International. 1 Apr. 2022. www.studyinternational.com/news/khaby-lame-lessons-for-students/. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.

Nealon, Michele. “The Pandemic Accelerant: How COVID-19 Advanced Our Mental Health Priorities.” United Nations Chronicle. 10 Oct. 2021. www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/pandemic-accelerant-how-covid-19-advanced-our-mental-health-priorities#:~:text=But%20COVID%2D19%20did%20more,and%20services%20for%20those%20affected. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.