Mental health: How COVID-19 has affected students
Mental health has been a large concern for many people throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. From dealing with heightened stress and anxiety to handling grief and depression, COVID-19 has had a deep impact on our mental health. Students have reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress with UNC research reporting that First-year college students are reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety significantly more often than they were prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the two years since the start of the pandemic, Students have grappled with massive disruption to their education and social interactions, leading to many students feeling that their mental health has worsened. High school and college are some of the most formative years for teens and young adults. Students who were once in their freshman years in May of 2020 will now be entering their Senior year this coming fall of 2022. These students have spent the bulk of their high school or college experiences in the shadow of COVID-19.
However, students have shown tremendous amounts of resilience in the wake of all the disruptions. It has yet to be fully determined, how the pandemic has affected student’s mental health in the long term, but it has become undeniable that there is a huge need to address mental health amongst students and provide schools with the necessary resources to appropriately support their students.
