A Viral and Mental Health Epidemic
With teen depression on the rise, stress from “lockdown
isolation” is becoming a mental health pandemic as
serious as the coronavirus itself.
The pandemic has taken a psychological toll on
people of all ages, but one group especially affected
is teenagers. Social distancing, family issues such as
parental unemployment and working from home
along with school closures have isolated many teens
from avenues of psychological support, putting them at
higher risk of developing depression and anxiety.
With closures expected to drag until the spring
and summer, mental health professionals are growing
increasingly alarmed about the vulnerable mental state of
young people who have been the most affected.
Consider this disturbing statistic: In the United States, a quarter of
18 to 24-year-olds have said they have seriously considered suicide. Social distancing can
magnify symptoms of depression and anxiety. The teen years are when children are just
developing their own sense of freedom and independence. Separation during the teen
years is developmentally critical. During the shutdown, children lost the developmental
progress they had just started to experience. Along with this loss comes an understandable
mourning and grieving process.
Complicating the issue is that up until the fi rst week of March, teachers and students have
been last in line for vaccines. Young people have borne much of the emotional burden
during the lockdown, and the resilience of youth may be overestimated. The bottom line,
young people are suffering.
Taking the Stage at Lemon Bay High School
It was production week for Lemon Bay High School’s 2021 Valentine musical “She Loves
Me.” The cast members of the show lined the stage participating in vocal warm-ups to
prepare for the long evening rehearsal. Students had looks of serious preparation with the
occasional teen antics and typical teen horseplay taking place in the back row, out of sight of
the directors.
With warm-ups complete, the cast members began to leave the stage. “Hold on, hold on,
hold on! Back on stage, we’re starting off with bows,” called out Sarah Ballard-
Richardson, a teacher at Lemon Bay High School and co-director of
the production. As she called out cues for the curtain call, cast
members enthusiastically lined up, each student applauding
the others.
Not every school around the nation is as fortunate as
Lemon Bay High School. Schools around the nation, if
they’re open, are restricting performances.
“We started off this school year a month behind,”
explained Shaw Watkins-Yates, a teacher at Lemon Bay
High School and co-director of the production. “There
was no time to waste when we started. Here at Lemon
Bay, we have a great administration team that supports
the arts as much as our sports teams. When we returned,
we were told that our arts program needed to follow the
same COVID guidelines as our sports teams. Both Sarah
and I knew we wanted to perform our successful summer
camp show, “Shrek, the Musical,” on our home stage, but what
32 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • May/June • 2021
Rehearsals during
production week
before the show.