'It felt like my fertility was draining away': How the 'pandemic skip' is impacting women 

As we approach the fourth anniversary, Suzanne Harrington examines the lasting impacts of the pandemic

'Mentally and emotionally, we had barely moved. Our bodies had aged three years, our chronology had marched on, while our psyches remained stuck in the lift.'

You know that feeling when you’re in a lift that imperceptibly shoots skyward so that your stomach feels like it’s still on the ground 30 floors down as the doors glide open? For lots of us, that’s what the pandemic felt like — three years whooshed past, while we remained unmoving. When the doors of our lives finally reopened, we were three years older — physically.

Mentally and emotionally, we had barely moved. Our bodies had aged three years, our chronology — birthdays during the years 2020, 2021, 2022 — had marched on, while our psyches remained stuck in the lift.