Remember when the pandemic started and our schools announced that we would have to do school from the comfort of our homes? I recall feeling like a baby taking its first steps or an actor who has just been awarded a prestigious role. Most of us were excited to experience what it's like to do school online. However, we did not anticipate the situation’s effect on our social skills.

Firstly, what does it mean to become more introverted? This insinuates that you attain energy from within you, and socialising drains your energy. This is shown through a variety of choices an introverted person makes. If you are more of a reserved person, you are more sensitive to negative feedback and will need plenty of time for yourself. Generally speaking, you will be less likely to enter into a conversation with people you are not familiar with, or even with people you do know well. Moreover, because socialising may drain your energy, you will most likely prefer to listen to others speaking instead of contributing your own ideas and opinions. Some of us have developed these behaviours after long months or a few years of being unable to participate in social activities or socially mix with others.

Regardless, some of us may have a different definition of what defines an introvert. People think others who have introverted characteristics equate to being lonely. However, this is false. Introverts live a life others may not be familiar with. They are more specific towards who they spend their time with and set more boundaries in social interactions.

Months and months of quarantine have provided us with a glimpse of what life would be like if we were to depend more on ourselves for energy rather than the community around us. Moreover, we were also given time to conduct some self-reflection and rely on ourselves to recharge our social batteries instead of depending solely on the people around us. Changing the ways we acquire our energy, we may have gotten used to this new way of living and feel more comfortable this way. However, this shift in personality is completely normal, so we shouldn’t be feeling scared or worried. Us teenagers still have a long way ahead of us, and thus, we are allowed to make adjustments to our characteristics and figure out which personality suits us best.

It can also be argued that on top of the pandemic affecting children’s social skills directly, parents who have become distressed or burdened as a result of the lockdown played a role in their children’s personality change. Children tend to look up to their parents for advice and comfort; however, if their parents are dealing with problems themselves, they aren’t able to pay much attention to their children’s problems. This results in their children being more vulnerable to adopting introverted characteristics.

This change can be a mixed blessing. Coming out of the pandemic more introverted restricts the social interactions we experience. This can condense our social circle and make it more difficult to build close relationships. We might also suppress our emotions, whether anger, grief, or sadness instead of venting out to someone else, which may result in physical stress being placed on your body and lead to an increased risk of diabetes or heart disease. However, on the bright side, because we had so much time alone, we may learn how to be our own friend.

This way, we will not largely depend on others for happiness or energy anymore. This is a good sign because once these external sources are gone, we will still know how to have a good time. Thus, it is healthy to set aside time to be alone sometimes.

Has Covid 19 introduced new introverts?.

Sources

InSight Scoop