The impact on young people will still be a shadow a lot further down the line. Examining the costs of the pandemic for young people

Background:The impact of COVID has been felt by everyone. Yet, as the pandemic has dragged on, it has become more and more clear that there are those for whom the exacerbation of existing inequalities, or the increased upheaval and uncertainty of their lives means that although we have all been touched by pandemic, we are not ‘all in this together'.

Methods:This paper will introduce the experiences of 12 young people (aged 18–25) from a wider study of 52 adults in the Middlesbrough area of the UK during the pandemic, exploring issues including mental health, wellbeing and drug and alcohol taking behaviour (and the risk factors for such behaviours). Results:Showed increased pressure of disruption to socialisation during one's essential ‘formative years', the worries over wholesale changes to education—which have themselves widened pre-existing inequalities of access and achievement—the unknown impact of the pandemic on the future, and the added stigma of blame for spikes in infection have all contributed to a significant decrease in the health and wellbeing of young people. Interviewees spoke of changes to the way in which they socialised and connected with others, and how this in turn affected the way in which they used alcohol and drugs during this time. "Alcoholism and drug taking has skyrocketed during this lockdown, you see if people were allowed to go out and about and socialise with other people, then maybe they wouldn't be taking so many drugs, maybe they wouldn't be drinking the odd case [of beer]."

Conclusions:As we start to exit from the pandemic lockdown more work is needed to develop brief interventions for young people to tackle the multiple health and social needs they have encountered.