The other day, when someone asked me how old I was, I told them the wrong age. It wasn’t my wishful thinking to be 22 again; instead, something I put down to nearly-the-weekend frazzlebrain.

While it’s true that the years do tend to blend into one another as you grow older, the last three years are particularly hard to remember and distinguish between – for good reason. We all lost, and mourned, time (and much, much more) during the pandemic. Two years of lockdowns, uncertainty and tragedy took an enormous toll on our physical, emotional and mental health, warping not only our sense of the present and potential future, but the past too.

Because I don’t just think of myself as three years younger than I actually am, I feel it. The years we lived in constant fear, away from our loved ones and terrified of the future seem simultaneously so real, yet like they happened in a blur. The hours spent at home may have dragged endlessly at the time, but now feel like a flash in the pan.

It’s become something of a common phenomenon that was first recognised after GPs started reporting that their patients were finding it increasingly difficult to give an exact history of their illness and when symptoms had started.

As such, researchers from the University of Aberdeen began investigating this so-called pandemic time warp. “We found that people could not remember when events happened during the pandemic – in fact, their accuracy for recalling the timing of these events was as bad as events that had happened three or four years earlier,” explained Professor Arash Sahraie of the School of Psychology.

“Effectively, what the pandemic has done is to take away the ability to remember when events happened.”     

Professor Saharie and Daria Pawlak asked 277 people to date highly publicised events between 2017 and 2021, including the year Brexit was finalised and when the Evergreen container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal. Naturally, most people found it harder to pinpoint older events in comparison to more recent ones.

“One explanation may be to do with how our psychological state alters the perception of the passing of time, such as the perceived ‘slowing down’ of time when there is little to occupy the mind,” said Professor Sahraie of the findings.

Because the pandemic related restrictions removed all the usual anchor points in time, such as birthday celebrations, funerals, holidays and get-togethers, we were unable to place these events in our usual timescape of a year. Without these crucial anchor points, the events tend to merge together. 

The data also showed that the accuracy of remembering the timing of events was worse for those people who had higher signs of anxiety, depression and stress, however, those who had higher resilience were less likely to make errors.

“While we are starting to understand the impact the pandemic has had on the economy, our physical health and our mental health – there is still much to understand about how the enforced lockdowns, stress and isolation may continue to affect us in different ways in the future,” added Professor Sahraie.

According to charity Mind, around a third of adults and young people said their mental health has gotten much worse since March 2020. And while things may well feel back to ‘normal,’ who knows how long we will be dealing with the after effects, loss and confusion of such unprecedented times. 

Images: Getty