UNCERTAINTY is a huge cause of anxiety for many young people.

The pressures of exams and future career paths, alongside maintaining a social life, all come with elements of doubt and apprehension which manifest themselves in the mind-sets of many young people.

Whilst many of these societal pressures have supposedly been swept aside during our current state of lockdown, young people seem to be experiencing a heightened level of anxiety and other mental health issues throughout this apparent limbo. 

 As a Year 13 student myself, with exams having been cancelled, I find myself increasingly at a loose end.

Although there is no longer the pressure of A-levels and achieving the grades needed to go to university, recent events mean there is still a huge amount of uncertainty.

What will happen in the coming months?

Will our plans for the summer and onwards be put on hold or cancelled altogether?

I think this apprehension, has become far worse than exam stress because at least with that, there was an obvious end goal and some knowledge of what the worst-case scenario might be.

This is only exemplified in that nobody has an answer to the questions that many of us have right now.

While, of course, we can’t realistically expect the situation to be resolved in the coming weeks, I think it is important to acknowledge how many young people are feeling and the impact of these events on our mental health.

 The above seems a bleak image of the current mentality of young people.

Paradoxically one of the most interesting things about this ‘new normal’ is that although separated from friends and family, there is a far greater sense of community.

I feel hugely lucky to have grown up during a time where we have social media… and apparently about a million different new video calling platforms!!

Through the support of SDC’s youth work team, we continue to seek the views and opinions of young people to subsequently listen and advocate how young people are thinking and feeling.

While there is a greater amount of anxiety for many people during these unprecedented times, never has there been a greater feeling of camaraderie, or an ability to support each other through this difficult period which will undoubtedly come to an end…eventually.