Mental health issues are a reality that consumes a majority of college students in today’s society. Higher education is a persistent and expensive beast- academically, it can overwhelm one; socially, it can challenge one; and financially, it can strain one. With all of these factors at hand, the addition of mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, and other illnesses, can put even more pressure on students during college studies. College is a time where the developing youth are pressured and pricked by society, peers, professors, parents, and so on, and the confusion brought on by mental illness can only make it harder. Mental illness thrived in students before a global pandemic that reformed the college experience to one of the online classes and deteriorated social lives. How has the impact of a COVID-19 world affected college students?
In a survey I shared with my friends on social media, I was able to collect information regarding how the average college student has been mentally and academically affected by the global pandemic. In a series of seven multiple-choice questions that received a whopping 81 responses, 87.5% answered that their mental health had worsened during the fall online/hybrid semester compared to a regular in-person semester. 88.9% of the responses stated that their mental health had worsened from missing social interaction in classes and regular college life. The detrimental impact that college students have faced during the COVID-19 era is another pandemic in itself.
A virus that is targeting the physically vulnerable has also cast a shadow upon the youth of today. By removing a classroom setting from the education that they pay hundreds of thousands for, college students are being starved of the social interactions and in-person experiences that they need to be successful in their career path. Also, without having access to a normal college experience that includes an extensive social life as well as a strong commitment to academics, the average student’s mental health is floundering at the hands of a Zoom-based college classroom.
In collecting data, it is best to receive viewpoints from a variety of demographics. My responses were composed of 15% First Year students, 62.5% Second Year students, 6.3% Third Year students, and 16.2% Fourth Year students. The participants’ variation in grade level was able to offer me in-depth responses on how online classes impacted students at different points in their college careers. Many freshmen left comments expressing dismay towards their restricted experiences living on campus, one stating “I genuinely missed out on my first year as a college student”.
Living on campus- as all first-year students are required to- during a global pandemic, consists of extremely restrictive modifications to prevent spread. Although these policies are necessary, they are creating an isolating college transition, intensifying mental health issues for an already vulnerable population. Another student added that online classes make the college transition more difficult as “it’s even harder to make connections, which makes things feel so much more lonely and hard like you have nobody to turn to”. For many students, the transition from high school to college is extremely challenging and lonely. Making friends, creating a comfortable social life, balancing a new standard of academics, and adjusting to an environment without familiar faces, are all hardships a freshman in college has to overcome. However, beginning college in a world living in lockdown prevents a first-year student from achieving all of the prior goals. One response from a freshman expressed that “the effects of social isolation and learning in an online environment” has made them “seriously question whether or not [they] wish to continue [their] path at the university.” The effects of COVID-19 on college students is detrimental to the extent it makes once dedicated learners rethink the decision to attend university. At such a rigorous expense for a minimized academic reward and a traumatic social experience, how could a developing young adult feel motivated, passionate, happy, or even just satisfied?
Seniors are undergoing a similar yet opposing experience. According to feedback from the survey, students in their fourth year feel as if they are missing out on the culmination of their college education whether it be academics or social aspects. One senior notes that “especially being a senior, I miss my classmates. It’s also hard to do a capstone project essentially over Zoom.” Another senior contributes that “socially, it feels like [they are] breaking the law when [they] hangout with friends outside of [the] house.” Unlike college freshmen or sophomores, who have a great portion of their college experience during a global pandemic, juniors and seniors have had more experiences throughout campus from their earlier years.
Because of this, upperclassmen mourn their past college lives greatly, as they realize the remainder of their college experience will remain in lockdown, likely without another frat party, in-person class, or even graduation. As college was already challenging enough, seniors now face the realization that their last few semesters before the challenges of adulthood are present, are also semesters in which college life is inaccessible. This group of students will be trying to enter a workforce during a global pandemic with a struggling economy while fully knowing they missed out on the end of their college experience. Living with this heartache, on top of already present mental and emotional issues, is enough hardship to worsen mental health.
As many students are experiencing downfalls in their mental health due to an everlasting quarantine, 74% of survey participants said that quarantine became worse for their mental health with the addition of academics this semester. This is a staggering statistic that shows the negative effect the COVID modified college experience has on students. A student had commented that “quarantine combined with the school has made for a really difficult time,” and another student added that the semester is “mentally and emotionally draining, and that mixed with existing mental health issues has only exacerbated them.” For one surveyor who speaks for the majority, “everything online and being quarantined has affected [their] mental health very poorly which is causing [their] grades to not be as good as they should be.”
Alongside this student, 67.5% claimed that online classes poorly affect their academic performance. Another 22.3% said that their grades had remained the same before the pandemic due to greater accessibility to cheating within online classes. Some of the same students that fall into this 22.3% also commented that although their grades remain high, they are not learning or retaining any information because of the disconnect between academics and mental wellbeing during this online semester. Students that participated in the survey also expressed feelings of being unable to focus, study, find the motivation, or actively learn during online courses due to mental health related reasons. One student said that their “mental health has definitely been worsened and [they] often find it harder to focus on things for long periods of time compared to an in-person semester.” Another student adds that their “motivation to attend classes and do assignments has essentially turned to absolutely nothing at all. It takes great effort for [them] to get up and do the work [they] need to do for the day, therefore [they are] quite behind.” More responses included comments such as “most days I can barely get out of bed. I am so far behind in most classes but I’m too scared to withdraw from my classes due to societal pressures” and “my ability to motivate myself to do work has declined significantly since March. I have become far less organized and have developed bad habits. I tend to just ignore school and not go to class for long stretches of time.” This is the tremendously toxic and tragic reality to which many students are falling victim. Even overachieving students are struggling- one response saying “I am a straight-A student and I’m failing a class right now.”
Although these responses showcase a great amount of disruption between students’ balance of academics and mental illness, some students are also utterly disgruntled with the online semester- not just mentally, but also logistically. One response, which confronted the education system for blatantly taking advantage of college students, stated that they “genuinely feel like our money and time is not being valued. [..] I’m working for grades and to pass; not to learn. […] I just want universities to take our mental health more seriously. It puts people who really struggle at such an incredible academic and career-based disadvantage.” Another response put the issue more simply: “It’s just so mentally draining and I’m not surprised to see how many students have dropped out.” Not only are students struggling mentally, but they are dissatisfied with the higher education systems’ abuse and exploitation of their mental illnesses; especially during a global pandemic.
Separate from an academic standpoint, students are suffering mentally from the lack of social activity they have access to on a COVID-19 campus. Having a social life to one’s liking is integral for the college experience- it is a part of what so many students pay massive amounts for. Social interaction, to any degree, is essential for not only many people’s mental health, but for creating a college atmosphere that is worth the money and academic hardship. According to the survey data, students are suffering without a regular amount of college social activity. Yes- social distancing and self-isolating is keeping students healthy and safe physically- but at what cost is it keeping students healthy and safe mentally? One student expresses that “less social interaction is difficult because I’m very outgoing and making new friends was one of the most exciting aspects of college for me. I feel entirely alone.” More students have similar responses, such as “being away from home, along with being isolated from normal friend interactions on campus, has been really difficult,” and “I’ve never “felt” depressed or anxious, but since the last couple of months of quarantine, I have been suffering from these illnesses due to not being able to see other people.” The average college student is a social creature, one in which relies heavily on interactions with their peers to develop into an adult.
Without this social activity, outgoing students who depend on other people, are floundering. A few students left very powerful remarks in terms of how a decreased or inexistent social life has impacted their mental health: “My mental health has never been worse”, “I am in an intense depressive episode, anxiety, general existential dread”, and the profound “I just wanna die, man.”
This brings me to one final question- how can we prevent this semester from hell from repeating the events of the spring when torn down, emotionally fried, suffering college students return in hopes of earning an overpriced degree? How can we prevent our mental deterioration from happening again- because we are hurting.
Within my survey, I also asked students if professors and other academic mentors have made accommodations/efforts to lessen the stress of the online semester. The responses were varied; one-third of students saying yes, another one-third saying no, and the final one-third saying they were not sure. I also asked surveyors who said yes to include the strategies their professors had used to lessen the stress. Many answers consisted of actions such as extending deadlines, having asynchronous lectures, daily/weekly check-ins, expanded office hours, being open to student feedback, dropping low grades, pass/fail options, and most importantly being communicative with students about mental health.
As helpful and productive as these measures are in preventing aggressive mental health issues from plummeting students’ academic wellbeing, only one-third of students participating in the survey experienced professors with these policies. The steps that are being taken by professors who empathize with their struggling students during a completely unprecedented semester are steps that need to become universal policies throughout the university. Inevitably, the spring semester of 2021 will likely be mostly online with little social interaction yet again. However, the devastating impact that college students are succumbed to during COVID-19 does not have to be as vast if professors, administrators, academic advisors, and other university personnel give greater empathy to their overwhelmed and struggling students.
Most importantly, for students reading this, please take away from this article that you are not alone. Although mental illness can feel entirely isolating, it is critical to remember that so many of your peers are feeling similarly and also mentally struggling. Use each other for support. Use your experiences to empathize and help one another. Use the other resources offered to you such as university counseling services. Use communication with professors to express your mental illness and how it is impacting your academic performance. Use outside resources such as family, old friends, a personal therapist, or a doctor. Use help. Because you are not alone.