Pandemic, Election Burdening UO Students on Several Fronts

By Kevin Orr

12/6/2020

University of Oregon freshman Drew Shellen, recently exposed to the coronavirus, sat alone quarantined in a Barnhart Hall dorm room on Friday, October 30, debating whether he should attend his economics class. On top of loneliness and concern about his and his friends’ health amid the pandemic, the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court and the presidential election being only days away weighed heavy on his mind.

“I cannot handle this today. I don’t want to learn about supply and demand right now. I just can’t focus,” Shellen recalled thinking.

Shellen’s experience this term is not unlike that of countless other college students nationwide. Since the transition to all-online classes due to COVID-19, many students have had a harder time than usual being productive and focusing on their classes. This struggle only seemed to intensify surrounding the 2020 presidential election.

“The hardest part is motivation,” Maddie Horn, a University of Oregon senior, said. “I find myself not wanting to do anything for school that I don’t enjoy. And that week of the election results, I didn’t do anything besides figure out how to get through the next few hours of the day.”

For many, these strenuous circumstances have an impact on more than just their focus in school. Between the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented election, the fall of 2020 has presented a wide array of remarkable stressors to Americans – and these stressors have had a noticeable impact on college students and their mental health.

According to a survey conducted by The Healthy Minds Network and the American College Health Association, the COVID-19 pandemic has driven a consistent rise in depression rates among college students. Their survey of over 18,000 students across 14 college campuses, conducted in the spring, showed that 40.9% of college students were struggling with depression, up from 35.7% in Fall 2019. It also noted that 60.1% reported having more difficulty accessing mental health care in the pandemic.

A separate survey conducted by the American Psychological Association in Fall 2019 said 56% of Americans defined the 2020 presidential election as a significant stressor. On specific issues tied to the election, the biggest source of stress among those surveyed was mass shootings, 71% reporting it to be a stressor. But with each issue (others included healthcare, climate change, and immigration), the rate of stress was consistently much higher among people of color and LGBTQ+ people, especially on discrimination.

Shellen shared that worry about discrimination. “As nice as it is to be around people with similar mindsets, it’s still in the back of my mind – oh my god, (the President) doesn’t give a shit if I get the coronavirus, that I’m gay, or that I may not be able to adopt children or marry the person I love in the future, which is terrifying,” he said.

Despite the added obstacles, the University of Oregon’s Duck Nest Wellness Center, a provider of mental health and personal wellbeing resources for students, has been adapting and expanding their services to help cater to all students struggling with serious stress and uncertainty related to the pandemic, the election, and other current events, beyond just transitioning to a virtual format.

Georgia Greenblum, a Peer Wellness Coordinator at the Duck Nest, highlighted their new climate and racial justice group as an example of their evolving services. “We’re trying to provide students with resources and opportunities to be resilient and grow through these difficult events,” Greenblum said. Other new programs the Duck Nest has introduced include peer wellness chit-chats where students can talk to peers experiencing similar challenges, and resiliency training specifically geared toward the election.

The Duck Nest provides SNAP benefits as well, and a prevailing trend Greenblum has seen among students turning to the Duck Nest recently is an increased need for services like SNAP. “A lot of people lost jobs – families and individual students as well,” she said. “So, we’re seeing a lot of economic support that’s being needed as well.”

The Healthy Minds Network survey conducted this spring paralleled this trend. According to the survey, 66% of college students have been feeling added stress about their financial situation during the pandemic, 26% saying the stress is significant.

But the most common contributor to UO students’ mental health struggles that Greenblum has observed is loneliness, primarily resulting from all-online classes. “A huge factor is this quarantine we’re supposed to be going through and not being in person for classes,” she said. “They’re not seeing their professors, they’re not seeing their classmates…it’s literally just them and the computer screen all day.”

In both Shellen and Horn’s accounts, some professors have graciously adjusted their classes to make up for students’ heightened stress and difficulty with the Zoom class environment, while others have made no such adjustments. One of Horn’s classes drew her ire precisely for the latter reason, and she said she believes professors and the university are, in general, not allowing students sufficient time for self-care. “Promoting self-care is one thing, and actively doing things to make it happen is a different thing,” she said. “That many assignments, I think, is the opposite of self-care right now. There are still students who are working and trying to support themselves and others right now. So, giving grace is important.”

Although both students emphasized how helpful relaxed deadlines or lighter workloads would be, they also understood that teachers are going through the same difficult times as them.

As for how we can best take care of ourselves amid such uncertain and distressing events, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention underscores focusing on what you can control and not hesitating to reach out to people when struggling. And for students specifically, Greenblum’s advice is to approach these struggles as an opportunity to grow. “As cheesy as that sounds, students are at that epitome of growth,” she said. “And I hope 2020 has taught us to recognize these challenges and use them to keep growing.”