Did COVID-19 lockdowns distort our concept of time?

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Spending so long in COVID-19 lockdowns has caused people to lose track of time, according to new research.

Study participants made a relatively high number of errors when asked to recollect the timing of major events that took place during lockdown in 2021.

Less accurate recollection was also associated with greater anxiety and depression, revealed the British research team.

They said the findings are similar to those previously reported for convicts serving long prison sentences.

Study co-author Professor Arash Sahraie and his colleagues believe the lack of landmark normal life events - such as birthday parties - during lockdown may contribute to peoples' hazy recollection of that period.

Sahraie, of the University of Aberdeen, said: "Remembering when past events occurred becomes more difficult as more time passes.

"In addition, people’s activities and emotions can influence their perception of the passage of time.

"The social isolation resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns significantly impacted people’s activities and emotions, and prior research has shown that the pandemic triggered distortions in people’s perception of time."

Inspired by earlier research and clinical reports that patients have become less able to report accurate timelines of their medical conditions, the research team set out to deepen their understanding of the pandemic’s impact on the perception of time.

They conducted an online survey in May last year in which they asked 277 participants to give the year in which several notable recent events occurred, such as when Brexit was finalized or when Meghan Markle joined the royal family.

Participants also completed standard evaluations for factors related to mental health - including levels of boredom, depression, and resilience.

Sahraie said: "As expected, participants’ recollection of events that occurred further in the past was less accurate.

"However, their perception of the timing of events that occurred in 2021 - one year prior to the survey - was just as inaccurate as for events that occurred three to four years earlier.

"In other words, many participants had difficulty recalling the timing of events coinciding with COVID-19 lockdowns.

"Additionally, participants who made more errors in event timing were also more likely to show greater levels of depression, anxiety, and physical mental demands during the pandemic, but had less resilience."

But the findings, published in the journal PLoS One, showed boredom was not significantly associated with timeline accuracy.

Sahraie said: "These findings are similar to those previously reported for prison inmates."

The researchers suggest that accurate recollection of event timing requires “anchoring” life events - such as birthday celebrations and holidays -, which were lacking during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Sahraie added: “In a landscape, if features are not clearly discernible, it is harder to place objects/yourself in relation to other features.

"Restrictions imposed during the pandemic have impoverished our timescape, affecting the perception of event timelines.

"We can recall that events happened, we just don’t remember when."