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One of the many trends seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a boom in entertainment consumption. The shows people wanted to watch have been successfully phased out and the must-see movie lists continue to shrink day by day. One particular spectacle that struck a chord with many is Ted Lasso, the story of a college football coach turned Premier League manager.
The show is originally based on a Jason Sudeikis character from the NBC Sports commercials that aired around the time NBC acquired the rights to broadcast the Premier League games. What these ads didn’t convey, however, are the complex emotions Ted Lasso (played by Sudeikis) faces around a move overseas, a difficult career transition, and a painful divorce. .
Perhaps it was this final note that made the character particularly poignant for Sudeikis, who recently split from actress Olivia Wilde. So in some ways it makes sense that on the eve of the Golden Globes, where Sudeikis received the award for best actor in a musical or comedy TV series, he wore a tie-dye hoodie as he stumbled across through a cloudy gaze. acceptance speech. To speculate on someone else’s state of mental health seems reckless, but seeing Sudeikis on a screen alongside other candidates in varying degrees of black tie outfits was a stark reminder of the quarantine. (and the painful Zoom calls that have become a regular part of our reality.) began to take its toll on many people.
As we enter the second year of COVID, the statistics are already revealing. According to Kaiser Family Foundation, 4 in 10 adults (and 56% of young adults) reported symptoms of anxiety or depression (up from January 1 to 10, 2019). Additionally, 13% of adults reported new or increased substance use due to stress from the pandemic, and 11% of adults reported suicidal thoughts in the first month of 2021.
According to CDC, “The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety disorder was about three times that reported in the second quarter of 2019 (25.5% vs. 8.1%), and the prevalence of depressive disorder was about four times that reported in the second quarter of 2019 ( 24.3% versus 6.5%). “
Of course, as you may have already guessed, the most vulnerable and disenfranchised members are usually the hardest hit. Young adults are almost twice as likely to report substance abuse and suicidal thoughts. Women with children who are at home because of school closures are more likely to report symptoms of anxiety than men. And communities of color, which already face challenges accessing mental health care, are more likely to report symptoms of depressive disorder than white adults.
Studies continue to warn that as long as the pandemic persists, public health measures will continue to expose people to situations related to poor mental health, such as isolation and job loss. This is a reminder that the vaccine simply cannot be distributed quickly enough. Yet, as frontline workers continue to work around the clock to get the right vaccines to the right people, there is a worrying feeling that something else is waiting on the horizon.
The vaccine may in fact mark the “end” of one pandemic and the “beginning” of another. Thinking back to Ted Lasso, viewers now have to recognize that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than they originally thought. Jason Sudeikis played a heartbroken but cheerful character while also facing his own personal challenges of showing up for work every day as a comedic actor.
There is much more going on beneath the surface of COVID-19 than we can fully realize or understand, which is, admittedly, somewhat terrifying. This pandemic has been bad enough already, no need to add another layer. But if the human ingenuity that made the vaccine already available in such a short time is any reminder of anything, it’s that challenges often bring out the best in humanity.
In that sense, maybe Ted Lasso, and the man who plays him, reminds us that optimism in the face of challenge is neither stupid nor naive – it’s actually the only way to live.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.
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