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COVID-19 has the world concerned about the health of the body, but what about our mental and emotional health? Do you feel like there's some things that people need to be considering?

JF: Definitely, the pandemic has created quite a bit of a challenge for everybody. Over the past seven months, we have literally had to shift to a different way of life. We've had to learn how to do our shopping differently, we are worshiping differently, we are connecting differently and  schooling differently, everything has changed significantly. And so as a result of that, stress all around the world has increased monumentally. Basically we're looking at a world and especially on our campus here with students and faculty and staff and members of the community dealing with greater levels of stress. Things have changed significantly and we have to find ways to reduce the stress and manage it well and adapt to this new way of life.

In what ways do you think life during COVID-19 has specifically impacted students' mental health?

JF: From the very beginning, people have been told to be socially distanced. We as human beings were created to live in communities, and the social distancing mandate created a separation. Now definitely they were talking about physical distancing––and I’d rather use the term physical distancing because socially we still need to be connected. The isolation is very difficult for people. Students who have had to go into quarantine or isolation have experienced higher levels of anxiety, higher levels of depression, because they felt like they were not part of that community anymore. We've had to reach out to students that were in quarantine, students who work in isolation, to provide them with added support so that they wouldn't feel so alienated.

MK: I think anxiety as a whole is bigger, and not just from COVID but the combination of COVID and it being an election year and social media and the media being pretty negative in general. I think just all of that is pretty heavy. So I think the level of anxiety is pretty high. I think some students have been triggered by a lot of the language being used or even having to wear a mask which can be hard just in itself to adjust to. But I think isolation is one of the biggest issues.

JF: Another thing I'm thinking about is that so much has changed, people have lost jobs, businesses have closed down, so the added stress is there. For example, students at Andrews, they're dealing with the economics of it. We still have to pay for school, our parents may have lost their jobs, and not just that, some of them have lost people to COVID so there's also a grief factor. So we're talking about isolation. We're talking about losses. Losses of employment, losses of a way of life. And we're talking about grief as well. People are grieving  the loss of friends, the loss of relatives, the loss of a way of life, the loss of wages and income. So many losses. And so many of those things contribute significantly to the increase in anxiety and feelings of depression.

MK: I know a lot of students have mentioned how they haven't been going home like they normally would, even if they live not that far away. I think just the inability to do the things that they used to do, they are grieving that.

What resources are the Counseling and Testing Center providing for students during this time?

JF:The Counseling Center has offered over the years regular counseling, individual counseling, career counseling, couples counseling and so on, but from the time March came on, the University had to shut down and we had to transition to virtual counseling. While our students were away from school and in different places we still offered support. So over the past months the support has been through virtual counseling with students who are away all through the summer, and with provided documents such as messages from the Counseling and Testing Center periodically, so that students can get tips on how to manage, tips on how to build resilience, and tips on different things, those are some of the things that we did all throughout the summer.
Now that school has reopened we have a hybrid system, where we offer both in person counseling and remote counseling or virtual counseling. This year we also added some counselors in an embedded system. These are counselors that work primarily in a specific population. We have a social worker in Meier hall and this person spends several hours working with students there. We have another social worker in Lamson Hall, we have another one in the University Towers and we have another one who works with the apartments--where the families are here on campus. What we've done is literally taken some of the mental health support to these populations. That way, even if a student is not coming here to the Counseling Center, they can still get mental health support in an embedded environment so these mental health supporters are called “peer embedded mental health ambassadors.”
In addition to that we've provided support groups. As a matter of fact, throughout the end of the Spring term as well through the Summer, we offered a virtual support group to students. We also have offered support groups for students that are in quarantine, especially for students who are quarantining in their rooms and they cannot go out during those 14 days, we have a support group that is available if they want to tap into it. It's a virtual support group, and they can connect with someone else. In addition to that, just recently we completed a video for students who may be in quarantine so that if they wish, they can download the video and they can listen to mental health counselors who are talking about how you can manage the isolation while you are in quarantine.

MK: We used to have booths on campus and a lot of events that students would be able to come to and socialize with, but now that a lot of that has gone away and since we haven't been able to do the booths because we can't do handouts, we've tried to really ramp up our social media presence. We have a social media account on Instagram at @autc. We're trying to get more people to follow us so that they can have more tools because that is a way to try to get some more awareness. We started even doing live videos where we are like “hey, send us in questions and we will provide answers for them” and I think our next Instagram live will be on domestic abuse. We are also putting up signs; you've probably seen them on the lawns. We do that to help students that are walking to class see the signs so that they have more awareness. We're also working with Student Life and the Wellness Center to try to provide more activities for students because I know a big concern is that a lot of students aren't making friends like they used to or are not having as much of a social outlet,  so we're trying to work together to provide more opportunities. Loneliness is often a precursor to some depression and anxiety because when people feel alone their symptoms might get worse.

JF: October tenth is Mental Health Day. We've asked the churches on campus to make mention of mental health, for example we are receiving invitations to talk about mental health issues in different parts of the campus. Towards the end of October, I believe the 29th, we are going to be at University Towers during their evening gathering time so that we can have a panel and answer questions about mental health. What we're trying to do is pretty much have a presence in the different parts of campus so that students who are needing help can come to the Counseling Center and if they're not coming they can still connect with a mental health person. In addition to that we have put up some COVID tips on our website. So students that go to the website can access it in the privacy of their rooms and get  information on how to develop resilience during these COVID-times. On our website, students can access different types of assessments. For example, they can take a survey and find out if they are at risk for depression or anxiety. Especially with COVID, people have had to deal with so much that sometimes they end up engaging in addictive behaviors, whether it is gaming or substance abuse, so we have some assessments that students can access in the privacy of their homes and rooms. And if those assessments do show that they are at risk, they can call the Counseling Center, come in, and talk to a counselor.

Do you have any general advice on how students can maintain a healthy mind during this unprecedented school year, and tackle common issues that have arisen like loneliness and burnout?

JF: Everything that we know about humans tells us that we are resilient people. The way we were created tells us that we have thousands and thousands of genes and neurons that are regenerating on a daily basis. We have what it takes to adapt and to survive this combat. And yes, as humans we were taken aback because we weren't expecting it to happen. We may not have been ready for it and there are lots of changes that have occurred in our lives. The isolation is difficult, yes, the changes are difficult, yes. However, I think that it's important for us to believe deep down in our hearts that we can not just survive this but thrive beyond it.

There are a few things that can be helpful to us. We've got to think about ourselves from a holistic point of view, and that means that we've got to take care of our bodies. That means getting enough sleep, that means getting enough hydration, that means getting enough nutrition. It also means remaining in a positive attitude and one of those happens to be starting each day with a thought of gratitude. There's a lot of research that suggests that when people turn on their gratitude, they tend to do a lot better with managing challenges. So in other words, current students at the beginning of every day, think about something you're grateful for and that in itself will help to turn the tone of your day. So there are lots of strategies and there are lots of resources that are available to students.

MF: I think the only other thing I've done a little bit with clients is to check in with their self talk in their heads. I think sometimes there's a habit of being really hard on ourselves when we're not doing well. What if your friend felt this way? A lot of times there's so much grace given to the friend like, “You know COVID is new. It's really difficult and it's okay that you're having a hard time”  but then if you listen to their own mental talk, it can be a lot of negativity of “What's wrong with me. Why am I like this?  I need to fix this.” It sometimes increases your depression and anxiety. So checking in with your own self talk to make sure it's not shaming yourself and to give yourself some grace because this is a difficult time. It's okay to struggle sometimes, and to open up to someone, whether it's family or friends or coming to the CTC,  I think that it can all be really helpful for feelings of loneliness.