The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on time perception, or the 2020 effect, refers to the widespread phenomenon of distorted time perception experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the sensation that time was moving unusually slowly or that days blurred together. This effect has been documented in psychological, sociological, and neuroscientific research as a response to the collective trauma, stress, and disruption of daily routines caused by the pandemic. [1] [2] [3] [4]
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world reported that time felt "stretched", with days and weeks blending together, along with difficulty in recalling a sequence of recent events. [4] [2] This phenomenon, sometimes called "temporal disintegration" in psychiatric literature, is characterized by impaired sequential thinking and a sense that the present is disconnected from the continuity of time and future. [1] People whose routines were the most disrupted were the most affected by distorted time perception. [5]
Multiple factors such as social isolation and monotony, [4] emotional distress, [1] and routine disruption, [2] [3] contributed to the 2020 effect.
A national study found that over 65% of respondents in the United States reported difficulty of telling a difference between weekdays and weekends, uncertainty and anxiety about the future, and either time speeding up or slowing down for some during the first six months of the pandemic. [1] Sociologists using Gallup data documented multifaceted time disorientation, with Americans reporting both slowness and quickness of time, as well as days blending together. [2] These distortions were closely linked to pandemic-related stressors, such as economic hardship, working from home, homeschooling, and household conflict. [2] [5]
Experiencing the 2020 effect was associated with lower levels of mental well-being and increased feelings of loneliness. [2] [1] Temporal disintegration, or the breakdown of regular time perception, is considered a risk factor for mental health challenges, particularly in the context of collective trauma. [1]
