Suspended Adolescence

The containment strategies to curb the wave of the pandemic had a strong psychological impact on the population. People were forced to radically change their daily lifestyles and were at high risk of developing feelings of fear, discouragement, anxiety, and depression. This underestimated consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic was mostly noticed in adolescents. Adolescence is a crucial period of human life that is characterized by the physiological evolution of somatic characteristics associated with psychological and behavioural modifications. In this period of life, the subject experiences a process of growth, the development of his own personality, and the discovery of himself. Adolescents aim to establish a cognitive and emotional connection with the social environment and setting. One of the main objectives of adolescents is the achievement of autonomy, which requires an inner journey through certainty and confusion, satisfaction and complaining. Respecting safer-at-home order and ban on any outdoor activities was not easy for young subjects. Most adolescents experienced feelings of fear, discouragement, and anxiety which strongly affected the approach to their daily lifestyles.