I feel like it did affect students mental health because they were so used to what it was like last year when they could actually hang out with their friends more and everything, and the school just hit them with canceling all that, so I feel like the school should have done better with slowly transitioning students into the new protocol so it would not have affected their mental health as much as it has.
–Dorothy Yanku-Palmer
I really feel like they could have eased into the transition a bit better. They just went in so quick and so rapidly.
–Taylor McGuinn
It’s important to still abide by the new COVID rules that are in place, but it’s also important to see your friends and know they are still here going through this with you.
–Hunter Selby
For me, I suffer from anxiety and depression, so I think that all of the restrictions of not being able to go see your friends and being basically trapped in your room all day is very bad for, at least, my mental health. I like to be surrounded by people who make me feel great and comfortable, and now I’m kinda alone in my room. So, that’s kinda hard.
-Ariyana Brown Watts
I suffer from many forms of mental disabilities—depression, anxiety, all that—and I have an ESA on campus and if I did not have him, I would be very much depressed with these new rules. I still am a little bit more than usual because I am not allowed to go see my friends and I’m not allowed to have that social interaction that we […] need and it’s affected my ability to function and be able to get my classwork done because I feel like I don’t want to do anything because I’m so depressed and upset.
–Katy Licurgo
I think the new COVID regulations have made students’ mental health go down the drain.
–Brittni Arrington
During J-Term, my two-hour class period just talked about how much our mental health is more horrible now because of the COVID regulations, and our twenty-some-odd-person class said, “yeah my mental health is not good.”
-Ariana Fletter
The school has openly admitted to not following the CDC guidelines completely. They have admitted that they are taking the CDC’s guidelines and making them into their own set of rules. If you isolate these students for days on end and leave them alone in rooms separated from society, it causes them to lose their minds.
–Jordan Gilliam
The policies have negatively impacted my mental health in the sense that I no longer feel connected to the VWU community. Not being able to see friends much, especially since the weather is so old out currently made me lose a connection to my support group that helped me through my studies on campus. I noticed I have less willingness to engage in social activities and find it difficult to get started on assignments when I used to be able to have study groups with friends to keep us all motivated.
–Hailey Schumacher
Personally, the policies have been detrimental to my mental health. It has left me feeling isolated, alone, and depressed both physically and mentally. The policies don’t factor in the student’s mental health.
-Elijah Eley
