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By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Who’s most bummed out by COVID? The answer might surprise you

Apr 10, 2021 | 6:30 AM

WE ALL KNOW by now that COVID-19 is a bummer.

It stresses out even the best of us but if you’re a business owner, teacher, healthcare provider or senior, it’s even tougher. Nothing like losing your livelihood, spending all day in a crowded classroom, working directly with COVID-infected patients or not seeing loved ones for months on end to give you the blues. Depression and anxiety are the most prevalent mental health problems in this country. They are a pandemic all on their own. And while much of what’s going on right now is job-related, for the average person the cause is the very measures we’ve put in place to fight the virus — isolation and social distancing.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be experienced in many different ways, including feelings of depression, grief, fear, panic, and anxiety which can be normal responses to situations where day-to-day routines are disrupted and circumstances are uncertain and perceived as potentially risky,” a StatsCan bulletin said last May.

Obviously, the problem has gotten much worse since then. A report a few weeks ago said the increase in symptoms of depression among Canadians was “alarming.” And a study earlier this year showed Canada in third place for countries whose citizens are suffering the most stress and sadness due to the pandemic. Americans were first, with the U.K. and Canada next.

So, what kinds of people are most prone to being down in the dumps over COVID? One would suppose it’s the folks who depend the most on social contact — the social butterflies, the back slappers and glad handers, the yakkers and schmoozers.

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On the other hand, it would make sense for the shy, the socially awkward, and the lone wolves to be thriving. They’re the ones who are used to being alone, which is how they like it, isn’t it? When I wrote about introverts and extroverts back in September of 2018, I came across a meme that says, “Introverts unite, separately in your own homes.” One would think that could be a rallying cry for pandemic quarantining.

Since extroverts need human interaction, surely they must struggle with the pandemic while introverts are quietly doing their usual thing. You would think that, but you’d be wrong.

Turns out it’s the other way around. Which surprises me, having been a painfully shy introvert all my life, and think of myself as likely less bored than most during this pandemic and muddling through without much to complain about.

My fellow introverts, however, apparently not so much. The pollsters say extroverts are suffering more than introverts, and the experts suggest part of the reason is that while extroverts can maintain social contact in different ways, introverts are less likely to accept the changes inherent in anti-COVID measures.

Age, of course, is always going to be a factor, and the separation of families from relatives in long-term care homes has been an ongoing challenge during the shutdown. Videos of sons and daughters sitting outside the windows of such facilities waving through windows at moms and dads have been steady fodder for news channels. But it’s not really an age issue, either, at least not in the way we think. A study in Alberta found that people over 60 are less likely to be depressed or bored by COVID-19, while those 25 and younger are more likely. Another study pegged the turning point at 40.

The reason is pretty simple. Older folks have a lifetime of learning how to cope with stress. Younger people, especially kids, don’t have enough experience with it.

But don’t those who most closely follow social media have an advantage because they’re better connected to the outside world? Wrong again. The same studies have shown those who are most active on social media — especially the trolls and conspiracy theorists — are more bummed out by COVID than those who have more well-rounded activities, a.k.a., a life.

Too much time on social media makes us more susceptible to misinformation about the pandemic, “which could amplify panic and risky behaviour.”

Truth is, though, most of us don’t even know when we’re getting depressed. It sneaks up on us, along with the exhaustion that comes with it. Before that happens, we’d all be smart to reflect upon our own situations and how best to resist the ever growing forces of stress brought to us by this pandemic.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.