The changes in the higher education sector due to the coronavirus pandemic, such as campus-wide closures and the transition to online learning, have forced many college students to juggle their physical well being with possible food insecurity, financial stress, housing concerns and lack of resources to complete their academic work.
This has impacted students’ mental health, with many suffering from feelings of loneliness, isolation, increased anxiety, sleeping troubles and difficulty concentrating on schoolwork, said Erica Riba, director of higher education and student engagement at the Jed Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to protect the emotional health of the country’s teens and young adults.
“There are a lot of unknowns and uncertainty right now,” she said. “We don’t know how long this will last, when things will go back to normal and what the new normal will be, so it’s completely reasonable for college students to feel unsettled, confused and anxious.”
The pandemic can affect students in different ways. Some are doing well back at home, spending time with their siblings and family members, while others might not have a similar safe and welcoming environment, said Riba.
“We’re all dealing with this pandemic at the exact same time, that’s what’s so unique,” Riba added. “So it’s important we check in on our mental health and [it is] also a good reminder to check in on others.”
In the LGBT community, for example, some students come out for the first time while in college. However, with those students going back home to quarantine, not all of them have a family that supports their identity or uses the correct pronouns while referring to them.
“For them, the whole experience creates additional stress and [a] mental health situation because they are not in that supportive and loving environment that really affirms their identity,” said Dr. Santiago Solis, vice president for campus life and inclusive excellence at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU).
