COVID in College: How the Coronavirus Pandemic Has Taken a Toll on the Mental Health of Students
From coast to coast, students are experiencing a significant rise in depression, anxiety, and more.
From canceled plans to Zoom-only classes, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted numerous aspects of the typical “college life.” This new way of living has wholly reshaped students’ mental health, leading to heightened cases of depression, anxiety, and stress.
“My mental health decreased a lot at the beginning of quarantine. The isolation led to more depressed and anxious thoughts because I couldn’t leave my house,” said Jace Rodrigues, a junior at Syracuse University. “I’ve also struggled with overall stress this semester.”
The pandemic continues to put a significant amount of stress on college students across the country, with the rate of depression among the group increasing since March, according to a survey of more than 18,000 college students on 14 campuses. The survey, conducted by the Healthy Minds Network and the American College Health Association, focused on “students’ attitudes, concerns, preventative behaviors, and their perceived supportiveness of colleges and universities related to COVID-19.”
Rodrigues explained that four out of five classes he took this semester were entirely online via Zoom and Blackboard Collaborate, with the fifth class having a hybrid option. According to an article from the BBC, video calls are highly draining and can leave students more exhausted than the traditional classroom setting. This is due to Zoom calls requiring more energy and focus to communicate effectively.
“I would definitely say taking classes on Zoom can be distracting and draining. You’re just staring at your computer and the individual squares,” Rodrigues stated.
One outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic regarding college students is the overwhelming appearance of “Zoom fatigue,” one of the recently-coined terms that has surfaced throughout 2020. Zoom fatigue is defined as “the tiredness, worry, or burnout associated with overusing virtual platforms of communication” and is “widely prevalent, intense, and completely new.” This is mostly tied to students not traveling between classes and experiencing their learning in distinct and new environments.
“I feel like when I have in-person classes, I’m getting a change in scenery or walking around. Doing Zoom, I’m not moving around, and there’s not a physical aspect, which makes my brain more tired and harder to focus,” Rodrigues explained.
The lack of physical classroom interaction and learning makes it difficult for students to forge meaningful connections with their professors and peers.
“At first, I was excited to be able to do classes at home, but it makes building relationships a lot harder,” said Carina Coestad, a junior at Syracuse University. “I’ve always liked having good connections with my professors, but now it is so hard to. On top of that, I don’t think I realized how many random class friends I made before the pandemic.”
College courses in the COVID-era have become more impersonal and straight-to-the-point explained Coestad, who opted to take fall classes completely online from her home in Los Angeles. “There’s no more small talk with the person that sits next to you every Monday and Wednesday. Instead, you sign in, try to pay attention to your professor, then sign out. It’s really depleting,” she said.
This burnout from Zoom and other digital collaborative platforms, such as Blackboard or Google Classroom, has led students to feel unmotivated in their classes.
“It’s 100% harder to pay attention and get things done. I find it challenging to stay focused and on top of things,” said Lilly Holmes, a senior at Syracuse University. “I had never done Zoom because my spring classes were all asynchronous. Everyone was able to adjust to it already.”
On top of an increased amount of depression, anxiety, and stress regarding school, the pandemic has affected many college students’ feelings of independence, for some students chose to stay at home for the fall semester. Holmes decided to stay at home in Chicago for the fall semester after her London abroad program in the spring was canceled.
“The beginning of COVID was a very weird moment in my life where I went from being super independent and so happy in London to the next day being locked in my basement because I had to quarantine for 14 days,” Holmes explained.
According to an article from the New York Times, the pandemic and returning home from college have made many students feel as if they are “in high school again.” From needing quiet time during Zoom meetings to navigating sleep schedules to creating time for necessary self-care, college students feel like they have entered a time machine to their earlier teenage years.
“I’ve literally reverted back to high school. I’ve never spent so much time alone, and it’s required me to feel comfortable being lonely.” Coestad said. “My confidence has also gone down a ton. I’m someone who likes getting my nails and hair done and going to the gym, so not having that stuff that adds to my confidence is really detrimental for me. I have to find my confidence in other ways now.”
Furthermore, many college students are experiencing “firsts” and “lasts” commonly associated with college being limited to online-only or canceled altogether.
According to Holmes, her stress and anxiety increased when she came to terms with how her senior year would play out, and that she would be missing certain celebratory moments, such as her last college football game or final sorority formal.
“It was definitely hard to digest that this is how it ends,” Holmes stated.
On the other side of the college experience spectrum, many freshman students are mourning the loss of first-year milestones, including Syracuse student Whitney Wilson.
“COVID has definitely affected my mental health,” Wilson said. “I am an extrovert, and not interacting normally with people on a day-to-day basis has been isolating and somewhat challenging.”
According to research done by the University of Michigan’s Department of Psychiatry, college students are already prone to feelings of loneliness and experience higher anxiety and depression rates than the general population. The addition of isolation and quarantine on a college campus has increased these feelings, for “removal from their social support system and extracurricular activities at their school can cause students to feel less connected with their friends, organizations, and hobbies.” Additionally, college students are “facing uncertainty about their future, their own health, and the health of their friends and loved ones.”
“Next semester, I hope that I have more in-person classes and make those valuable connections with my peers and professors,” Wilson explained. “I think that getting out of my dorm and immersing myself more at school will ease my anxiety and make for an all-around more enjoyable freshman year.”
While some college students continue to face growing mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, and the accompanying effects of these problems, students like Sarah Minto-Sparks have found a way to turn a difficult time into a positive experience, brimming with growth and self-reflection.
“This pandemic catalyzed a lot of bad things in my life, so I had to get ahead of my mental health and worked hard to do certain things to make it better,” explained Minto-Sparks, a junior at Northeastern University. “I was put in this position where I was losing a lot in my life, so I was trying to look for ways to support myself with my situational depression.”
From practicing meditation, working on the guitar, attending therapy, to creating art, Minto-Sparks pulled herself into a fresh state of mind, a strong contrast to other college students. “I like myself a lot more now,” she explained. “I’m taking advantage of the time and space that I have and am trying to keep doing what I’m doing while still being present.”
One challenge that Minto-Sparks is facing is figuring out how to keep these healthy habits alive and thriving once the pandemic ends. “It’s gonna be really important for me to continue doing the things I’ve been doing, and that transitioning from isolation back into a semi-regular lifestyle means still making time for myself and knowing that it is a priority.”
Moving forward into 2021, college students are hoping that as the pandemic reaches its end, mental health issues will cease as well.
“With the vaccine starting to be worked on and distributed and the pandemic coming to a close, I really hope my mental health gets better, and I have a feeling next semester, and 2021 in general, will run a little smoother,” Coestad stated. “While this time does feel like a brief and interruptive interlude in my life, I don’t want to let the things I’ve learned and cultivated stay within this time period, for it’s going to be important to not leave these lessons behind us. We need to take them with us instead.”
