The pandemic has affected many teens’ lives, including their mental health. Many teens, and people in general, now may experience increased loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Some may be afraid to talk about their mental health or a mental illness due to the negative stigma and the reactions they might get from family, friends, teachers and others. 

Teens shouldn’t be afraid to talk about their mental health or their condition and should get the help they need even if it helps from the school since mental illness does affect teens performance in school and with virtual learning it has made it more difficult.  

“For the past 5 years I’ve been struggling with mental health and sometimes its been you know i’ve improved and sometimes it gets bad again but in general it’s been kind of a constant struggle,” Eugenia Echavaria, Grade 10, said.

The stigma of mental illness

The pandemic has affected many teens’ lives, including their mental health. Many teens, and people in general, now may experience increased loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Some may be afraid to talk about their mental health or a mental illness due to the negative stigma and the reactions they might get from family, friends, teachers and others. Teens shouldn’t be afraid to talk about their mental health or their condition and should get the help they need even if it helps from the school since mental illness does affect teens performance in school and with virtual learning it has made it more difficult.  “For the past 5 years I’ve been struggling with mental health and sometimes its been you know i’ve improved and sometimes it gets bad again but in general it’s been kind of a constant struggle,” Echavaria said.

The effects on high school students

It’s been 15 months since The Columbus School has been doing virtual learning also using the hybrid model which in some situations we couldn’t go back to school due to the covid-19 getting worse and having to get into shutdown again.

Being alone can cause teens to develop depression or anxiety which leads to mental health issues. Now that students are not in school and with visual learning, we do have to accustom to a lifestyle that may not include things we used to do in daily life since we are used to being home now. 

“For depression you know how people like zone out when they’re in class like dissociation, I don’t dissociate or at least iIdont think I do but just zoning out and looking at nothing, I wouldn’t say feeling nothing but feeling empty with a dread because you don’t want to feel empty,” Maria Herrera Gomez, Grade 11, said.

Teens have experienced isolation from school, friends, sports, and going out now in quarantine and this has a different impact on teens differently. For example, teens who experience anxiety in school or being made fun of are likely to prefer virtual learning, staying at home, and work on their mental health while some students being away from school has made them anxious and adjusting to a new routine may be hard.

“People that are extroverted miss being around others, and some of the introverts are happy to be home. That is their comfort zone, so it has affected people differently,” Moncada said.

According to teen blogger Jessica Strait, who writes about her own struggles with mental illness, teenagers often describe mental illness as begging for help but being in a dark place like a tunnel. There are feelings like feeling inhuman. But being stuck in one place, there are times where it feels like your battling yourself, as if you have monsters who convince you that you won’t be able to feel better and can’t run away from fear.

“With anxiety, the thing I always described it as is chains and needles around your chest or around your heart like squeezing you, it feels the worst. It feels like that physically too not just emotionally,” Herrera said.

TCS supports its students 

Schools can teach their teachers how to identify their students if they are struggling students that could possibly be struggling. At TCS, teachers are encouraged to be aware of student behavior and report any concerns to a counselor for intervention.

“If a teacher sees something that is awkward or out of the ordinary, let the counselors or administrative staff know so they can handle the situation,” Moncada said.

Teachers should recognize their students and see if they are doing okay because there may be cases where a student may not be turning in their work, no motivation, no sleep, and not eating properly. 

“Educate people around mental health and provide anything they need like learning tools, anything for them to do better in school for example or give them the time they need like in moderation,” Echavaria said.

Teachers can learn how to speak to students instead of coming up with simple solutions for example “things get better” or “think positive.” This can make a student not want to speak out to an adult because they will think adults do not understand. Instead, teachers should analyze the situation, try to be understanding and explain how things can be difficult during these times.

“I do believe there is a negative stigma around mental illness and that is that those who struggle with mental illness or mental health problems or anything along the lines with that are seen as a burden or crazy or you know they say that everything that they’re doing is just in their head and that they can just get over it that it’s not real,” Echavaria said.

Work Cited

Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “Addressing Teen Mental Health During the Pandemic.” News Wise, 20 Oct. 2020, 10:05 PM EDT, www.newswise.com/articles/addressing-teen-mental-health-during-the-pandemic.

Strait, Jessica. “What It’s Like to Have a Mental Illness.” To Write Love On Her Arms, 18 June 2018, twloha.com/blog/what-its-like-to-have-a-mental-illness/.