How Does The Pandemic Impact Student Mental Health

For the past year, a global pandemic has rattled the lives of adults, elders, teenagers and children alike. Students have a unique outlook on this situation. One focus of student life that has come to the foreground in recent years is mental health. This topic is something that is talked about frequently in both school settings and at home, but what effect has the pandemic had on this critical aspect of student life?

Human nature is built on certainty. We feel secure when we know that we have everything under control. We feel calm when we are certain about health, safety, relationships, and anything else that we rely on to make a day ‘normal’. When certainty is removed, or at risk, anxiety goes up. Anxiety, at its core, is rooted in uncertainty. This pandemic has heightened that uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty to the extreme. Now everything is uncertain: health, employment, even whether we can go to school. Even now, some of us are stuck in quarantine, uncertain about when they’ll be allowed out. All this results in an anxiety epicentre. 

Humans are social creatures. Even when some categorize themselves as ‘introverts,’ defined by Miriam Webster as those who enjoy spending time alone, we need social interaction. We don’t like feeling unwanted or purposeless, and isolation leaves us without distraction from overthinking and over analyzation. 

Humans like things that we are in control of. One of the things that gives us solace or comfort is being able to control what we do with our time and where we go. When that aspect of control is taken away, we become frantic. Without our familiar schedules that we have spent our lives memorizing, we are left agitated and distressed. One of the most concrete and reliable aspects of a teenager’s day-to-day is school. 

An article from The Star said that “levels of generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder are proving to be the highest and more prevalent among those under 25”, most of whom we can assume have school as a prevalent part of their life. School is part of a human’s life from the time we are three or four. For a teenager, life is tailored to adapt to school. Every piece of media that is targeted towards us practically encircles it. Students are almost forced to think that our entire life revolves around that one brick building. So what happens when that building, that reliable factor, is stripped away? It is a jarring switch after years of spending the majority of days in the same place, and it is bound to affect a student’s life and comfort level. 

Teens spend an average of thirty hours a week at school. We know that place like a second home. We know which bathroom is the best, which hallway to use to get to our next class, and what time we need to leave our houses. Then, without a true plan otherwise, that place that you know like the back of your hand is gone. 

With school deciding to switch to online classes, students are at home nearly every hour of the day, surrounded by their family who is just as affected by the new situation. The pandemic has caused an undeniable recession of the economy and it has shifted the priorities of not only teens but adults as well. Again, humans like to be in control, they hate the idea of not knowing what comes next. Every member of the family is bound to be affected and anxiety-ridden by the lack of surety in their day-to-day, and this is transmitted, knowingly or not, to other members of the household. This change in energy can be another new and often unwelcome aspect of lockdown. As your home, another known and trusted place becomes more and more uncertain, anxiety levels skyrocket.

When the changes in our lives seem all too fast and unfamiliar, it can be easy to fall into hopelessness. Additionally, we tend to trick ourselves into believing that everything is out of our control, or nothing will be the same. These feelings are natural and bound to arrive with the violent changes that have been presenting themselves so often. When we are cut off from the love and friendships that encourage us and make us feel appreciated every day, it will trigger unhelpful thoughts and unwanted feelings. 

Reaching out for help is something that takes an immense amount of courage, not only to accept that you need assistance but also to brave the stigma that unfortunately comes with mental health challenges. As so many students become plagued with worse mental health, the waiting lists for mental health professionals lengthen and it becomes increasingly difficult to receive the help that is needed for comfort and security. These valuable support systems becoming so inaccessible creates further hopelessness for those who already struggle with their mental health and diagnosed disorders. 

There is no easy way to help this or take away the pandemic that has thrown things into chaos. But some people have been taking back what the pandemic has stolen from them. One of the first things that the pandemic took was the sense of control that people had over their lives. Students can start making schedules again, reminding ourselves that even though some control is gone, they are still in primary control over their body and your life. The social aspect takes effort. You need to be kind to yourself and remind yourself that even though you aren’t seeing your friends and family in person, years of friendship and love won’t disappear just because you aren’t face-to-face. 

It’s important to remember that we still have control over our lives. When all seems uncertain, the only thing that you can truly be certain about is that you are doing your best.

If you are struggling with your mental health, or need someone to talk to, the Kids Help Phone number is +1 800-668-6868. 

Yousif, Nadine. “COVID-19 Stress Is Hitting Youth Much Harder than People over 60, New Research Shows.” Thestar.com, 18 Sept. 2020, www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/09/18/covid-19-stress-hitting-youth-much-harder-than-people-over-60-new-research-shows.html