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Diagnosing a Different Kind of Social Disease
October 8, 2022The social isolation of the pandemic predictably led to rampant feelings of loneliness, despair, and apathy among adolescents in the prime of their social-skills development, and the troubling effects of shuttered schools and canceled activities continue to linger.In a new ADDitude survey of 1,187 caregivers, half said their adolescent’s “friendships and/or other relationships have deteriorated” over the last two to three years, and that their child continues to be unmotivated to participate in sports, clubs, or other activities — even now that a relatively normal school year is underway. The pandemic’s stark and sudden interruption of kids’ social development has cast a long shadow, especially for those with ADHD who may already struggle to make and keep friends.For many who graduated from high school at the peak of the pandemic, memories of their final years sting.
