Both is Lost

It’s been a subtle process, consuming the precious energy needed by teenagers, to face Life. Increasing numbers of teenagers find themselves trapped in a vicious circle of hopelessness, around the globe, as the pandemic seems to keep rescheduling the educational systems and the access to “face to face” schooling.

Teenagers need stability in order to identify their own identity and role. When the traditional adult-managed systems fail to provide this basis, anxiety and fear evolve. “Home has become no-home” says a teenager in his zoom-session. “I used to like returning home after schooldays, but now home is boring”. Home means “where I am taken care of”; when the responsible adults (parents or carers) find themselves “lost” in the lockdown process or the ambivalence of their employment status in the post-pandemic era, they lose their own ability to “hold” their young loved children.

Schools on the other hand, are not just a tool for delivering knowledge; schools are the main bridge for teenagers to society. Losing the real sense of human relationships in the actual world, deprive their nature of the ability to feel or experience the sense of belongingness into the world. Digital world exists as a cloud. Digital world exists as long as internet connection exists. Low mood, anxiety and suicidal ideation are showing a tendency to increase in the actual teenagers’ world. Case could be that the actual, out of internet world, requires a human touch.

Dr Alexios Lappas, MRCPsych