Sad, Stressed, and Alone-- COVID-19’s Effects on the Mental Health of College Students

College is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Living with your best friends.
Having independence. Going wherever and doing whatever you want. Studying what you
actually want to learn. Staying up late and having fun. Moving to a new state or city. Meeting
your future bridesmaids or groomsmen. For the classes of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 however,
the college experience has been cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In March, the number of cases in the country skyrocketed from less than 30 in total to
about 200,000. Once the first school made the call for students to remain home for an extended
spring break, every other university followed quickly. Universities decided to finish out the
spring semester online. Students could not return to campuses. The best four years of everyone's
lives were shortened to the best 3.75.

While the decision to keep students off campuses and to have digital classes was
necessary, it changed the lives of every college student across the nation. The transition to online
school and away from normal college life has had a huge negative effect on students' mental
health.

Of course, the pandemic has affected everyone, not just college students. Some people
are more vulnerable to catch the virus and are worried about their health. Others have lost their
jobs and are uncertain of their economic stability. Essential workers, like hospital employees, are
working extremely hard, risking their lives every day at the frontline. However, the roughly 19
million college students in the nation have had their entire lives change due to the virus, and
understandably so, are facing a lot of emotional changes.

It makes sense. Socializing has moved from late-night hangouts to video calls. College
students moved away from their friends and back under their parents’ roofs. Online classes are
much more stressful than in-person ones. No one is sure if summer jobs and internships will be
canceled. The many effects of the Coronavirus pandemic have increased sadness and stress in
America’s college student population.

Hallie Jaffe, a member of the class of 2022 at Elon University, has been under
exceptional stress since moving home to Virginia. She is supposed to spend her fall semester in
Los Angeles as a part of the Elon in LA program but is now having to make backup plans in case
the trip is canceled. She had to register for classes at Elon but has nowhere to live in the fall if
she is on campus. Furthermore, she says that her mental health, which she struggled with
pre-pandemic, has been deteriorating.
 “Being an extroverted only child, with divorced parents, the coronavirus has pushed me
into a deeper depression than ever before, as I have next to no social interactions and have little
motivation to get anything done,” said Jaffe. In addition to the stress of figuring out her fall
plans, Jaffe’s diagnosed clinical depression has been getting worse as she sits at home, lonely
and thinking of “what could have been a great spring semester if only the government took
action to fight the pandemic before it hit the nation at full speed.”

Not only do the constraints of social distancing make this time hard for students who are
used to being constantly surrounded by their friends, but the transition from in-person classes to
digital ones has also been difficult. Hannah Davis, a current freshman at Duquesne University,
expressed that online classes have been causing more stress than she is used to handling

. “Over the past five weeks of online school, I’ve been mentally drained and constantly
stressed about completing my assignments, and I genuinely don’t think I could do it all over
again in the fall if we are still online,” said Davis. She is in an intense Occupational Therapy
Program at Duquesne, so, unfortunately, she can’t take a semester off in the fall to avoid online
learning.

Davis is usually a very low-stress student and a happy, free-spirited teen, but the
pandemic and its effects “have put a huge damper on my mood” Davis said. She’s less motivated
not only to do her school work, but to bake, paint, and exercise, which are some of her favorite
hobbies. “Every day is the same, so it just seems pointless to try and pretend like things are
normal,” Davis said.

Similarly to Davis, Abigail Winters, class of 2023 at Elon University, has been feeling
like “it’s impossible to pull myself out of the vicious cycle of being stressed out about classes,
being unmotivated, and being sad.”

Winters is an exercise science major at Elon, so she takes a full course load of science
and lab classes, which have been so difficult online. Winters is diagnosed with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder, and it has been extremely hard for her to focus in online classes. Like
many other students, Winters relies heavily on the support of her friends to help her through hard
times. But with the pandemic affecting everyone, she feels “it’s hard to reach out to people
because everyone is going through tough times. I don’t want to be a burden on my friends, but I
need emotional support right now.”

The pandemic and its effects have brought something besides stress and sadness to
students-- uncertainty. Alivia Barton, a junior at the University of Maryland College Park, said
that the worst part of the pandemic is “how no one knows when it will end, meaning no one
knows what will happen in the near future.” Barton is studying to become a teacher, and she
needs to work a semester as a student teacher to graduate. If schools are not open in the fall,
Barton likely will not be able to graduate in May, which would push all of her plans back.

“The uncertainty of my future is what’s getting to me the most. I’m constantly stressed
out and trying to think of what my future holds, which then makes me sad because there’s no
way to know. I don’t know when I’ll see my girlfriend again, and the distance is putting a strain
on my relationship, and I just feel so alone,” said Barton.

With so much stress and sadness within the population, especially in college students, it
is incredibly important to rely on family, friends, mental health professionals, and online
resources to gain as much support as possible. Self-care has never been more important. It seems
trivial, but everyone needs to do what is best for them in these times of darkness. Things will
return to normal eventually, and the college experience will pick up where it left off.