By MADISON COLLINS
Bloomsburg– The topic of mental health is typically considered a “taboo” issue. However, with the rising anxiety and depression levels in college students comes making sure the world knows that mental health problems can be detrimental to someone’s ability to perform.
It is well studied that college students are especially prone to feelings of loneliness, and they experience higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to the general population. During this period of social isolation, uncertainty, and abrupt transitions, they are prone to further worsening of these feelings. The situation they are living through is stressful and anxiety provoking, as there is a constant fear of the unknown in addition to a loss of control, making them especially vulnerable to developing mental health concerns.
“We don’t need to tell people they’re suffering from a mental health problem when they’re having an appropriate response to very challenging circumstances,” Victor Schwartz, a psychiatrist with the Jed Foundation, said in a New York Times article.
According to a study conducted by Active Minds, 20% of college students have said that their mental health has significantly worsened under Covid-19. At Bloomsburg University, there are many students who would agree with this study.
“The two main [hardships] that really come to mind [regarding Covid-19] are the amount of isolation that we had to go through and the anxiety of going to public places. With coronavirus spreading, [we] didn’t know who was safe and who wasn’t, especially with so many people not wearing masks that it almost causes anxiety attacks just [for] going outside and even going shopping for necessities,” sophomore Nic Spallone said.
A big part of the reason why students are suffering with their mental health is the change of going from in-person to online classes with little to no preparation. Some classes meet on Zoom a couple times a week with deadlines at the end of the week, while others are entirely online and let the students work at their own pace. There are many students who appreciate the newfound freedom that came with online class.
“My mental health has gotten insanely better since classes have gone online and I’ve been actually taking care of myself. I’m not overworking myself and can take my time with assignments,” sophomore Ciara Haughn said
Despite Haughn’s positive outlook on this situation, not everybody shares the same sentiment. Sophomore Audrey Zilz believes that there are more cons than pros regarding her mental health due to the online classes.
“For the most part I would say online learning has negatively impacted my mental health just because I am removed from the classroom setting. I think that missing out on those kinds of social interactions has definitely affected how I’m viewing the work myself and how having those social interactions can help to ground you when you’re having trouble with your mental health,” Zilz said.
This interactive pie chart shows the results of asking 50 Bloomsburg University students what they believe the most stressful part of the pandemic is and which aspects of their mental health was most affected.
Despite struggling with numerous mental health issues that have been caused by the pandemic, Zilz has found ways to keep moving through each and every day.
“Some coping mechanisms that I have found to be helpful have been finding a small social circle of people that I am constantly interacting with in my life, like my roommates and my family, just to keep in touch with people that I’m close with. Also, finding a routine of therapy sessions is personally extremely helpful, especially since that wasn’t something I did before the pandemic, but I found to be a useful support system,” Zilz said.
While the pandemic proves to have taken a toll on college students worldwide, Schwartz offers advice to try to help them get through this difficult time.
“Students need to use the resources being offered by their school — and stay as up to date as possible with the communications from their school — and let faculty or deans know if there is a practical or health impediment to doing schoolwork,” Schwartz said.
To learn more about how the mental health of students was affected by Covid-19, here are some helpful resources:
- Active Minds has conducted numerous surveys on the pandemic, many of which focus on mental health.
- This article from The Washington Post compares the benefits and drawbacks of using mental health tracker apps.
- New York Times covered how to help adolescence and young adults with mental health issues growing due to isolation.
- Science News gives numerous stats about specific demographics that have been suffering with their mental health.
- The Well Mind Podcast talked did a live Webinar to discuss college student mental health during the pandemic.
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