Written by: Karyme Bravo 🇸🇻🇲🇽
UMD flag at Stadium drive on Dec. 12, 2022. (Alexa Figueroa)
Four years later, the pandemic has had long-term effects on college students' mental health that affected their academic performance which has caused stress to manifest in different ways.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected people around the globe in an unexpected turn of events, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Many had to accommodate and adjust to the new lifestyle during this time for their safety but it took a hit on many schools that affected students' academic engagement.
Students being isolated in their homes for a whole year and a half caused their lack of engagement in academics and an increase in anxiety and depression, according to the National Library of Medicine.
“Experiences during COVID-19 are still affecting children’s mental health (and academic outcomes) today,” said Amie Rapaport, a research scientist at the University of Southern California.
The most prevalent mental health disorder is anxiety which affects one-third of adults in their lifetime, according to the World Health Organization. Moreover, they conducted a survey which found that 90% of students had negative mental health as a result of the pandemic.
“There’s a great deal of research showing that students with more anxiety and depression are at risk of lower academic performance, worse attendance, and higher rates of school dropout,” said Rapaport.
Higher institution students are concerned about financial stability, achieving academic milestones, and interpersonal relationships.
“The late teens, young adulthood sort of the university population… who were forming intimate relationships, had long-term stable relationships. We're seeing a long -term impact for people who weren’t able to do that during Covid,” said Keith Dobson, a professor at the University of Calgary.
Students who struggle with anxiety and depression have a lower academic performance and a higher rate of dropping out of school.
“The COVID-19 pandemic affected me as a college student … my grades significantly went down in junior year of high school,” said Ernesto Lanpin-Rivas, a third-year criminal justice major student at the University of Maryland.
Students are discovering new ways to manage their stress post-pandemic and many students are finding new ways during midterms and finals.
A third-year information science major at UMD, Christie Cao, said that she has been working on managing her stress which has improved since she started college. Additionally, she mentioned socializing outside of school benefited her mental health.
“Procrastination was the root of a lot of my stress,” Cao said, “although I still procrastinate sometimes, it has gotten a lot better.”
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