“Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html.
This article, written by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), informs readers about the traumatic impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had and continues to have on our lives. The article starts by addressing the pandemic and admitting that people have been severely punished by it. The CDC lists several factors contributing to these punishments such as social distancing and trying to survive a global pandemic. They then go on to detail how these two factors caused by COVID-19 are causing further issues like stress, changes in appetite, fear, worsening of mental health, and more.
In my research paper, I plan on using this article in several ways. I will first use this article to explain to readers the additional outside factors that students are having to face because of COVID. Furthermore, I will use this article as a stepping stone before fully diving into COVID-19 and its sole connection to students. In all, I think this is a beneficial article that will help me be successful in writing this paper.
Pedrelli, Paola, et al. “College Students: Mental Health Problems and Treatment Considerations.” Academic Psychiatric: The Journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4527955/.
This article, published by several trustworthy authors, examines the relationship between college students and mental health in the pre-COVID era. The article begins by addressing the seriousness behind mental illness and the prevalent connection between mental illness and college students. It is here where readers are made aware of the drastic populations and effects mental illnesses are having on students. For example, the article details how around 11.9% of college students struggle with anxiety, with many other people also struggling with mental illnesses like social phobia, PTSD, panic disorders, and more.
The article then later proceeds to explain the rise in connection between mental illness and college students within the past several years. The article credits this rise in part to higher amounts of course work and more social distraction in the world.
Within my research paper, I plan on using this article in several ways. First, I would use it to establish the point that college students had a connection with mental illness pre-COVID. This article would almost serve as a counter-argument, in that it would establish that there was a connection between students and mental illness in the pre-COVID era. However, this article will then not only allow me to set up a more logical framework for my paper, but it would also help me show the dramatic impact COVID-19 is having on college students’ mental health.
Son, Changwon, et al. “Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, JMIR Publications, 3 Sept. 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7473764/.
This article, composed by several authors, offers an in-depth analysis on COVID-19 and its relationship with students’ mental hygiene. As said in the article, “our study aims to conduct a timely assessment of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of college students.” The article highlights how students, for many years, have struggled with anxiety and stress because of school. However, the article quickly pivots and focuses its concerns to COVID-19 and how it is affecting students now in their everyday life. COVID-19, as explained thoroughly in the article, has added new fear, stress, and anxiety. Due to the severity of COVID-19, students are now having to worry about their friends and families surviving a global pandemic and being financially stable, on top of their everyday workload and school stress. Adding these two factors together is making college students more overwhelmed and anxious than ever seen before.
The article then goes into a thorough analysis on a study conducted by the authors, who are doctors. They detail how interviews at a large public university here in the United States were conducted with 195 students. Results of this research demonstrated elevated levels of stress and anxiety by 138 (71%) of the surveyed population. In addition to this, the study also found heightened levels of fear, worry, and difficulty concentrating due to COVID-19.
This article presents a worthy amount of information in an organized fashion. It offers a real-life case study conducted by doctors in the country. Furthermore, it also demonstrates how COVID-19 has had an impact on students’ mental well-being. It is also encouraging that this is a reputable resource as it is backed by doctors and the US National Library of Medicine. In my research essay, I plan on using the statistics brought by the study in this article within my paper. I think these statistics will further highlight the impact COVID-19 has had on the mental health of students. Also, by including these numbers I think readers will be more engaged and be more aware of just how significant this problem is within our society right now.
Thompson, Evan. “How COVID-19 Has Impacted Student Mental Health.” The Best Schools, 23 Oct. 2020, thebestschools.org/magazine/covid-19-impact-student-mental-health/.
Evan Thompson’s article, “How COVID 19 Has Impacted Student Mental Health” is a noteworthy article as it unveils the negative mental implications brought upon college students by COVID-19. The article begins with a real-life account by a student named, Zachary Davis. Zach details the struggling effects that COVID-19 has had on him mentally, alluding to the stress, anxiety, and overall mental strain caused by it. Thompson elaborates from this opening account affirming that Zach is not alone, as COVID-19 has had mental constraints on many students throughout the country. Thompson furthers his reasoning on why students are experiencing such mental chaos as he details how all structure and normalcy of students’ lives has been wiped away due to COVID-19.
Thompson further illustrates the overwhelming impact COVID-19 has had on students’ mental health by using research. Within the article, Thompson cites research done by Active Minds in which 91% of the 2,086 students surveyed reported that COVID-19 increased their stress and anxiety levels. Along with this, 81% reported heightened feelings of disappointment and sadness. Thompson then touches on another survey in which students also reported increased levels of stress, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
The article also explains how people can cope with the longevity of a pandemic and how they can improve their mental health in times like these.
Within this article, Thompson covers a significant amount of information pertaining to COVID-19 and its effect on students’ mental health. The article is filled with statistics, facts, and real-life stories that elevate the overall meaning and research of this subject. Within my paper, I plan on using these facts, statistics, and real-life accounts to strengthen my research about this topic and to also show that there is a connection between COVID-19 and mental health.
Wilson, Oliver W. A., et al. “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US College Students’ Physical Activity and Mental Health.” Journal of Physical Activity & Health, vol. 18, no. 3, Mar. 2021, pp. 272–278. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=s3h&AN=149084550&site=eds-live&scope=site.
This article, written by several trustworthy authors, gives readers an inside look not only into COVID-19 from a medical standpoint, but also the dramatic implications it has had on our physical and mental well-being. Readers begin by learning the ever so prevalent connection between college and poor mental health amongst students. It is here readers are made aware that even before COVID began, college students faced challenges regarding their mental health. The authors highlight this not only to show the seriousness behind mental health and its long-term connection within society, but to also show just how drastic an impact COVID-19 has had on the mental state of students.
In the next part of the article, readers learn about the complications COVID-19 has caused on students. The authors explain these complications by mentioning how students have been displaced from their housing, forced to change classroom settings, and have been separated from friends and families. This alone, as the article suggests, would be more than enough to raise students’ stress and anxiety levels. As if this wasn’t enough, students then had to add the stress and anxiety factors of trying to survive a global pandemic.
To fully learn just how detrimental COVID-19 has been on students’ mental health, the authors conducted research. This research resulted in the collection of data from students in a northeastern university from the years of 2015 through 2020. While not knowing COVID-19 was going to happen, this research is a blessing and a curse at the same time. It is a blessing in that it has shown just how significant an impact COVID-19 has had on students’ mental health. On the other hand, it is a curse because the research also showed, at least for Northeastern universities, there are no proactive procedures in place for students to help them better their well-being in a troubling time like now.
This was a very insightful and thorough article. It not only provided significant detail about COVID-19 from a medical standpoint, but it also provided a vast amount of information pertaining to the mental health complications caused by COVID-19. Furthermore, this article is highly useful as it provides valuable research into COVID-19 and students’ mental health. In connection to my paper, I plan on incorporating many aspects found within this article. First, I plan on using the background information about COVID-19 within this article to aid me in writing a starting framework so readers know what they are about to read in my paper. Additionally, I plan on using parts of the research that was conducted to help further my analysis on COVID-19 and its impacts on students’ mental health. In all, I believe this is a very beneficial article that will help me be successful with writing my research paper.
Synthesis
The research materials I have gathered above offer several viewpoints that help answer whether COVID-19 has influenced the mental health of college students. In preparing myself to write this research paper, not only did I want to find topics that offered different viewpoints into this discussion, but I also wanted to find journals/articles that supported one another. I believe I have accomplished both tasks with the articles above. The article “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US College Students’ Physical Activity and Mental Health” and the article “How COVID-19 Has Impacted Student Mental Health” both offer similar viewpoints without overlapping each other too much. Both articles offer a vast amount of data including statistics showing the dramatic negative impact COVID-19 is having on students’ mental health. Furthermore, the article “Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study” is another article in which statistics can be found. All three articles present readers with interesting information without being too repetitive about it. The last two articles “Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19” and “College Students: Mental Health Problems and Treatment Considerations” both are beneficial in that they allow me to set up the framework and fill in certain gaps that will allow the paper to be a smooth read.
In doing this amount of research thus far, I have found that there is a strong link between college students and mental illnesses because of COVID. I was a little surprised to discover the vast number of articles and journals covering this research as COVID-19 is still relatively new. The research that has been done covering this subject has been thorough and often supported by statistics. I’m excited to continue learning more about this connection between COVID-19 and mental illness as I continue my research in the coming weeks.