Story by: Ryan McGarty

Studies show that college students are more at risk for mental health issues like anxiety and depression than the general population. Everyday, college students all around the world are struggling. The COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t help that. In fact, it actually causes more students to feel stress that can lead to anxiety or depression.

“We know that while we’re living during COVID-19, a lot of our routines are being disrupted right? We’re not getting to see people the same way that we would have previously, maybe we’re not being able to go to class everyday like we would have. And we know that, when we think about stress, that stress often comes when we have any kind of change even if it’s not necessarily a bad change.” Says Dr. Melissa Shepherd, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at UM. Shepherd gives several tips to students about how they can handle mental health in this pandemic.

Her first piece of advice is to get organized. “Sometimes, if you are worried about things in your classes like exams and different assignments that if you’re not organized and don’t really have a plan of when you’re going to get all that work done, that definitley can worsen stress.” says Shepherd.

Another tip that Shepherd gives is to exercise. “Things like physical activity can really help when it comes to anxiety and depression.” She says.

The temporarily named Humanities Hall is home to most of the psychology classes at UM

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, another Assistant Professor of Psychology at UM, says the key to keeping mentally healthy during this pandemic is to continue socializing with others. “One big problem I think is kind of inherent on how we’re dealing with the pandemic right now and that is that we have to remain physically distant. And I want to use the term physically distant and not socially distant because as human beings we’re inherently social creatures meaning we get a lot from healthy relationships and healthy sources of social support from good friends, family and loved ones. And so when we have to be different that kind of removes one of our main sources of support and coping.”

Both Dr. Richardson and Dr. Shepherd recommend reaching out to the Counseling Services on campus if you are struggling. You can schedule an appointment with Counseling Services by emailing them at counseling@montevallo.edu. To learn more about Counseling Services, visit their page on the University website here