Imagine the year was 2020 again- the world has just stopped moving, everyone is placed within their homes with little to no warning, and no one has an exact idea when or if things will ever be the same again. This was less than desirable for the majority of people, and the statistics reflect that; the Boston Medical Center held a study with a plethora of constraints to filter through a bunch of published articles, and they concluded that, “the prevalences of stress, anxiety, and depression, as a result of the pandemic in the general population, are 29.6, 31.9 and 33.7% respectively.” (Salari et al). This does not necessarily capture every single case or person, but that is a massive portion of people to be showing signs of poor, unchecked mental health that seemingly never got resolved in any impactful way. Even if the events of three years ago are in the past, the effects of it linger and trouble the general population to this day, and there are still things that can be done about it.

A vital first step towards recovery is giving aid to those who need it most. Marginalized groups were at greater risk to be afflicted with depression or start showing depression symptoms. According to a study sample of about 1450 people, “participants with lower social and economic resources and with higher COVID-19 stressor scores had higher odds of depression symptoms” (Ettman CK). Among these people, those in poverty, those new to dealing with mental health issues, those completely isolated or having to be away from loved ones, and those stuck in unfamiliar places suffered the most. They were the least prepared groups, and were the most likely candidates to be depressed. Therefore, if they are at the highest risk, they become the highest priority. The most logical conclusion to draw from this is to give them access to these resources that they were lacking. Now that we are out of the bulk of the pandemic, the means that should have been taken during that time can now be applied in person, which can work better for some, especially the majority missing human connection. We can pass information on in person, encouraging social interaction as well, and allow for more money grants towards the people worse off financially; alleviating any sort of weight off of the poorer working class should be a goal of utmost importance. 

Among helping marginalized groups of people, have the racial tension that sparked from the beginning of the pandemic. From the same study,“Asian individuals saw an 18.7–percentage point higher prevalence of depression symptoms during COVID-19 compared with before COVID-19” (1). Due to Covid-19’s origins, the Asian community had amassed a lot of hate from all over the world, and this had a detrimental effect on their mental wellness. Dealing with this will likely be the most difficult, as it lies purely on the public consciousness; educating the population and spreading kindness, especially through schools, churches and individual family teachings, is the best bet, as most of the hate sparks from ignorance. For less of a long term solution, with in-person options now available, support groups and therapy can be great ways of dealing with these situations. It truly is hard to make change where it lies within years and years of misinformation and prejudice, but starting that change is a necessity, especially when people are having to live around the problem, and bend to it.

Virtual schooling has also placed a difficult burden on the population. According to Lakhan, “...in an education system that is unfamiliar and the uncertainty of the process in that system may have caused depression symptoms… these studies… determined that being female, a student (Wang et al., 2020), and young and single (Liu et al., 2020) are [high] risk factors for depression” (59). Education became an unusual activity that used to be so routine and simple. Young people were still developing in many ways during this time, so to be stunted and confused like this is a harm to growth. Virtual schooling seems like an apt solution to a problem so large, but a plethora of people came to struggle so terribly with it, that the solution required might just be to implement something of a mix. Now, virtual schooling did work for some people, and it should still be an option for them. As well, if someone is in quarantine, being able to not get behind is also a good reason. Keeping school resources online will be important for this, and implemented for some even before the mass quarantine. For this situation, it will work super well and serve as a catalyst for the mix of virtual and in person schooling. Beyond that, though, most people want to stay in school and have those personal connections in their daily lives- which can also be implemented. All it would take is regulations to stay as they were, but be upheld- sanitize, wear masks, and keep your hands to yourself- distance would always be good as well, but in a school setting it is not exactly realistic. It can be argued that this has already been tried, and that it simply could just not work again, or that they do not have the right to enforce any of these things. To that, it is worth reminding that someone that does not want to follow school policy can either leave or go virtual. With a much more streamlined process this time around, it cannot entirely be shut down without first being tried- many schools have many different variables, but if upheld to a certain standard consistently, change and order is sure to follow through, without asking too much of the students in the first place. 

The lockdown following the start of the pandemic was a detriment to the stability of many people. Many people felt and still feel stuck, while the world seems to have just tried to go right back to its old ways, back on the same tracks- but as Ettman concluded in their research, “This survey study found that prevalence of depression symptoms in the US increased more than 3-fold during the COVID-19 pandemic… We found a shift in depression symptoms, with fewer people with no symptoms and more people with more symptoms during COVID-19 than before COVID-19.” (1). These results, and furthermore, these people, cannot be ignored and looked at as just numbers. Things are not going to be the same as they were before, but that does not have to be a bad thing. If nothing, a lot of things have been brought to light with the lockdowns, and all this change is mostly for the better. The underlying problems exposed beneath, especially on an individual level, need to be worked through in a healthy manner in order to truly continue on a path towards genuine happiness.