The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed life for students everywhere. From facemasks in class to distance learning, the virus changed life as college students knew it.
According to a 2015 study in Academic Psychiatry,11.9% of college students were dealing with mental illnesses, like severe anxiety disorders before the pandemic. The combination of pandemic stress and mental illness affected students everywhere. According to Inside Higher Education, over 85% of the 14,000 students interviewed felt their grades and academic performance suffered due to the pandemic.
To avoid these negative effects on mental health and academic performance, students need to be aware of the signs that are indicative of these conditions. For example, feeling stressed occasionally is normal but if symptoms of stress become persistent and include insomnia, this could be a sign of anxiety disorder. Students experiencing these symptoms should contact counseling services. If left untreated, anxiety-related insomnia can begin to affect a student’s grades.
Overall, the pandemic created a new university setting where stressors can lead to lower grades through exacerbation of existing mental illness. To combat this, students should be aware of the signs of mental illness along with the new stressors and get help before grades are affected.
Resources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/01/05/survey-pandemic-negatively-affected-grades-fall
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
https://semo.edu/student-support/health-wellness/counseling/index.html
Pedrelli, P., Nyer, M., Yeung, A., Zulauf, C., & Wilens, T. (2015). College students: Mental health problems and treatment considerations. Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry, 39(5), 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014-0205-9
Content for this segment was created by Tyler Wilber as part of a project for EA615: Wellness in Higher Education, taught by Dr. Clubbs. Tyler’s undergraduate degree is in Social Science and he is currently working toward his master’s degree in Higher Education Administration.
