STORY & GRAPHIC BY PIXIE IWATA
STAFF WRITER
Over the course of the pandemic, the mental health crisis among students increased with the added stressors of Covid-19.
Now, two years after the uncertainties, life is transitioning back to “normal.”
Schools such as Cypress College plan to fully return back to campus in Fall 2023. But what does this mean for students?
Managing school work and mental health was already difficult for students pre-pandemic, but with other stressors from the virus it became even harder for students to balance their lives.
In a study conducted by the Journal of Medical Internet Research, 195 students were surveyed based on their stress and anxiety levels during the pandemic. In the study, 71% of participants stated that their anxiety levels had increased due to Covid-19.
Magdalena Oliveros is a Psychology major who comes to campus almost every day, she talked about her struggles with balancing her school life and her mental health.
“My mental health through the semester has been a roller coaster. Trying to balance school while having lows to the point where you can’t get out of bed, makes it difficult to complete deadlines. When the funk is over and you have a deadline coming up, it adds more stress on top of all of the stress that school already has on its own,” Oliveros said.
According to the Health Center, students have not been utilizing the resources offered on campus partially due to school not being fully in person. There is, however, hope that with the campus opening up students will start reaching out more.
Part of the reason students don’t reach out to the Health Center is due to the lack of knowledge of resources the campus offers or how to use them.
When asked about utilizing the school’s resources for Mental Health, Cypress student Jessica Guillen said, “I was aware we had these resources, but I never knew where to go or how to access them.”
Oliveros said, “When professors mention it in their syllabus they’re kind of just like ‘these are the resources’
and then move on.”
In the future, the Health Center and Active Minds are looking to host more events and send out more emails for students to know about the resources that the campus offers.
Active Minds is an organization that reaches out to over 600 campuses about mental health and the impact it has on young adults and students.
All in all, students may make use of the programs offered by the college, and the return to campus in Fall 2023 may make it easier
Mental Health Resources:
Text COURAGE to 741741 National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1(800)273-8255 National Hopeline Network: 1(800)SUICIDE (784-2344) The Trevor Project: 1(866)488-7386 Veteran’s Crisis Line: 1(800)273-8255
OCAPICA (12 free sessions) 12912 Brookhurst St., Suite 410
Garden Grove, CA 92840 (714) 636-9095
