Not All Wounds are Visible S T R AT E G I C G O A L A R E A
EXEMPLIFY
WRITTEN BY: LEXI MOORE, EF, PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Mental Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic Everyone can agree that this past year has been hard. The global pandemic served as a common stressor for all, however, the mental health of young people has been disproportionately affected. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 75% of young adults ages 18-24 have reported struggling with depression or anxiety during the pandemic. Further, 1 in 4 young adults in the same age group reported having seriously considered suicide in the last 30 days.1 These astonishing statistics highlight the severity of the mental health crisis among the collegiate student age group and the need for intervention.
Defining Mental Health and Recognizing the Signs of Mental Health Challenges In order to understand mental health, it must be properly defined. According to the CDC, mental health is made up of an individual’s emotional, psychological and social well-being. The balance of these areas contributes to how people handle stress and relate to others.2 Students often struggle with five forms of stress: academic stress, family stress, personal stress, financial stress and future stress. Unfortunately, the global pandemic continues to directly affect each of these areas. In addition to the aforementioned stressors, some students are struggling to manage a mental illness. Unlike mental health, mental illnesses are diagnosable medical conditions that directly affect a person’s thinking, feeling, mood or behavior. These include conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders and more. So how do students distinguish whether they or a loved one are experiencing a mental health challenge or a mental illness? How do they identify the need to rebalance or seek help to better their mental health? It can be hard to tell whether someone is having a series of bad days or if they are suffering from something more serious. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) warns that a person may be experiencing a mental health challenge if they have prolonged feelings of sadness, drastic mood changes, or if they are having trouble eating or trouble concentrating. Signs that someone may be in immediate danger and need of professional assistance are extreme feelings of hopelessness or if they indicate thoughts of self harm.3 Early intervention is key to ensuring the safety and well-being of an individual experiencing a mental health challenge. Familiarizing themselves with the signs and common stressors that they may experience allows students to identify how they or a friend are feeling, work to better communicate their needs with others or seek help from medical professionals if necessary. These tools along with a clear definition of mental health helps to remove the stigma surrounding the topic and opens the door for discussing these challenges with others. 12 Phoenix of Alpha Sigma Alpha
