As we approach International Friendship Day, a time when we should be celebrating a sense of human unity to overcome some of the world’s most pressing social issues, it may be fitting to reflect on our society and how we ‘do’ friendship. After more than a year of lockdowns necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be an understatement to say that some people are experiencing lockdown fatigue. However, the question that arises is whether the problem of social isolation was caused, or was simply made more obvious, by the pandemic.

According to the Western Cape Government , 9% of teenage deaths in South Africa are the result of suicide. According to Thaakiera Ackerdien, who explains that isolation is a key contributor to the development of depression in young people, fewer than one in four teenagers who commit suicide seek help before attempting to end their lives. Isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic seems particularly relevant. Dudley Tarlton discusses his concerns regarding people who experienced the lockdowns in isolation and suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an escalation of mental health problems that were not present before its onset. Is this really the case though? Long before COVID-19, authors such as Jean Twenge and David Brooks warned about the growing sense of isolation experienced by young people, especially teenagers. Twenge interviewed a 13-year-old, focusing mainly on how she chose to spend her summer holidays. Surprisingly, if it were not for the date of the article, one could mistake Twenge’s piece for a reflection on how the current COVID-19 lockdowns are experienced. This 13-year-old, Athena, stated that she had spent nearly the entire holiday in her bedroom, communicating with her friends electronically, with very little personal contact.

While this might may seem strange, it is in fact the norm for many young people. Brooks reports that young people are increasingly experiencing a sense of isolation, which has led to an increase in the number of young people with mental health issues, and that between 2012 and 2015 the percentage of young Americans suffering from mental health issues increased from 5.9% to 8.2%. One should thus consider the likelihood that this problem was present before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although Michael Sandel offers a slightly different explanation of the causes of mental health issues in young people, it is conceded that they manifest in an amplified sense of isolation, leading young people to turn to substances. For some it seems that the isolation enforced by lockdowns has been present in their lives for much longer than the COVID-19 pandemic. If one accepts that even before the pandemic isolation had been the norm for many young people, one gains new insight into the ‘normal’ social relations that existed before the current lockdowns.

As International Friendship Day, which will be celebrated on 30 July draws nearer, we should perhaps consider those who do not experience friendships in the way that many of us take for granted. We should think of how the problem of isolation experienced by young people could be solved and, on this special day, appreciate the friendship we have enjoyed from the people around us, especially close friends with whom we have maintained close contact throughout the lockdown period and who have supported us during the many difficulties we have faced in isolation.