I.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The COVID-19 virus was first tracked down in Wuhan, China and is considered an
epidemiological and psychological crisis to the humankind. Over 200 countries have been
affected by this virus which led to an immediate responses towarda the proposition of travel
bans, lockdowns and quarantine rules and regulation. As year pass by, it continuously grow and
became a troublesome to the entire world especially to education and learners. In this regard, the
Government, World Health Organization and Higher Educations Institution made a decision into
conducting an online learning set-up in order to avoid the spreading of the virus and to continue
educational activities. Online learning set-up refers to a type of learning that uses digital
technologies such as phones, tablet, computer and internet connection in order to maintain
education or studies of the students amidst pandemic. Thus, despite of having an alternative
solution in the pursuit of the educational activities and achievements, there were lots of issues
that have been globally encountered by millions of learners around the world, in which one of
those were the “mental health” problems. Additionally, according to Bostani (2019), it is the
leading cause and a great factor to student’s academic success. Thus, it can affect the student’s
learning capacity and social interactions. As articulated, a student who have a well mental health
status leads to success. According to United Nations (2020), 98.6% of learners had been affected
worldwide representing 1,725,000,000 from primary to college students in more than 200
countries. In addition, it has been stated that students who experience burnout, over fatigue,
stress and other negative challenges over online learning set-up are most likely to appear in life-
threatening and bad states. Furthermore, the study of Schroeder (2020) insisted that supporting
the mental health needs of the students amidst the new set-up of education system is a critical or
fatal event for each universities and school. Thus, the quick change of lifestyle to students can
feed negative psychological events that might result to a secondary effect. Unfortunately, due to
the current set-up facing by the students in coping for educational learnings, they forgot to have
enough sleep in which it has great factor in the mental health. According to Fletcher (2020), she
stated that getting enough sleep for students is very important to maintain healthy mind and
lifestyle. Furthermore, she stated that an estimate of over 300,000,000 of students have mental
health problems and 75% of it was contributed by sleep deprivation. Additionally, pietwericz
2020 stated that having classes and reading materials online has a risk factor to students’
academic success and mental health. Thus, there are students who are willing to read books
physically as it may give them satisfaction and absorb knew skills that online set- up could not
do. Insofar, the number of mental cases had doubled as per comparison to the pre-pandemic
periods.

According to Gloria 2021, depression, anxiety and suicide are events that comes from
harmful education system. Also, she added that online class and pressure on students need to be
change as soon as possible. Thus, having a healthier and happier place will result to a good
mental health of students and lessen physical and psychological problems. Additionally, the
study of Dr.Brenman said that we viewed our mind and body as separate, but actually they are
closely related. Thus, depression can be link to any chronic diseases in which these includes
asthma, cardiovascular disease and insomnia. Moreover, 1,500,000 millions of students around
the globe were deprived of basic education and financial support in which it has a huge impact to
gain anxiety, depression and suicidal events that will affect their mental status (LEE, 2020).
Furthermore, the health related institutions stated that if we are not going to address the issue
right on time, it can be a massive problem to human life. Thus, According to Jenkins (2020),
institutions have the capability to make advance mental health policies amidst pandemic because
mental health problems can cause huge burden for schools and society at large. In addition, the
most supreme issue is about the justice and rights of the students of how to get a just and
equitable solution on their mental health problems and to protect their legal and moral rights as a
students. Thus, nowadays, some schools and universities are trivializing the concept of mental
illness that every students experienced and being inconsiderate to their rights and request for a
small school break. In regards with that, taking too long from academic activities in an online
set-up amidst pandemic will lead to increase in mental health problems.

Furthermore, in a recent report, student are seeking for academic or mental health break
as they experienced different mental illness. Thus, there were 1 to 4 students have been reported
to harm and killed their own lives because of pressure, academic load works and online class.
Mental Health Break report has been a number one news in every social media and schools/
universities right now. According Andrews 2020, it allows individuals to step back, relax and
recharge the mind and body from the numerous activities. Thus, recovery and small break is an
essential aspect of every students, and it becomes a very important piece in ensuring wellness
and healthy academic lifestyle and achieve success. With these, this study will investigate the
effectivity of mental health breaks towards the Accountancy Students of Ateneo de Zamboanga
City, its importance and significance towards being implemented in the academe.