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Bhavanshi Dave
STRESS, DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY AMONG INDIAN STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Abstract
The effects of COVID 19 have been seen all over the group. It has caused significant distress around the world following the lockdown protocols and self-quarantine protocols initiated. Apart from the evident physical symptoms that are usually manifested in infected patients, covid 19 has caused significant public mental health damage. In India, some measures like the lockdown were implemented by the government to contain the disease and prevent further disease spread. This study’s objective is to discuss the prevalence and frequency of anxiety, stress and depression among students in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted by querying various databases with relevant information on the topic of discussion. This study focused on students with signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, anxiety, and depression. The rate of mental illness in students was recorded to be quite high during this difficult time.
Introduction
Covid 19 is a contagious disease that originated in Wuhan, China. CITATION Dan20 \l 1033 (Daniel, 2020) This disease has greatly spread all over the world causing a lot of deaths. More than half of the world has been put under strict measures to try and prevent the transmission of the disease. People have been forced to forget social activities and practice social distancing and wear protective clothing like masks, sanitize, and wash hands frequently. CITATION Sha20 \l 1033 (Verma & Mishra, 2020)Despite the many efforts that teachers in teaching online, the impact of distance learning is not as good as physical learning. because not all students can afford online platforms, and it is really hard for them to cope up with the online learning, which will definitely have some negative impact on the student’s career path.CITATION San \l 1033 (Gover, Sahoo, Mehra, Avasthi, & Alka, 2020) The study proves that the main cause of anxiety issues among students during this pandemic is the various economic challenges and the depressing daily events that are occurring during this pandemic. Adequate research on depression and anxiety in students in India has not been explored further. Therefore, this research is meant to fill this gap so that the legislators and the practitioners can plan interventions to manage the student’s mental health. CITATION Nan20 \l 1033 (Kapasia, et al., 2020)Geography
India is one of the countries where these strict measures have been initiated. The lockdown measures and the social distancing measures have been implemented. During these times, people tend to experience the fear of contracting this disease, resulting in anxiety, stress, and depression. In India, the lockdown affected different groups of people differently. The students were unable to go to school, and therefore, distance learning was introduced by various learning institutions to ensure that learning occurs. Students in India have greatly been affected by the pandemic because of the uncertainty of examinations in their schools and colleges concerning jobs’ availability. CITATION Bis20 \l 1033 (Satpathy & Ali, 2020) 43% of the Indian population are suffering from depression. The prevalence of major depressive episodes is usually higher among females (28%) a compared to males (15%). Depressive episodes are prevalent in adults between the age of 18-25 years, who are usually students (22%). CITATION Maj19 \l 1033 (Major Depression, 2019)Below is chart, that shows the psychological impact of the covid-19 pandemic to the students in India. CITATION Raj20 \l 1033 (Gupta, Pal, & Pandey, 2020)
Literature Review
Usama Rehman et al., 2020, is a study that aims to discuss the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to the mental health Indian population, including the students, teachers and other professionals. Even though this paper gave limited information on the impact of Covid-19 to the mental health, it still gave us relevant information to our topic of discussion. This study was conducted from the 3rd April 2020 to the 6th April 2020. This was during the first lockdown that was put in India. Research was done by circulating questionnaires using the google forms and circulating through the social media platforms. Online written consent was taken before the participants answered the questions. Over 403 people participated, out of them 139 were students. From the study it was determined that the main cause of stress among students was the pressure that came with adapting to online classes. The new lockdown measures that have prevented social activities and has led to closure of schools. This has increased the stress levels in students because they unable to interact with their friends and there’s limited social interaction.
Bijoy Chhetri M et al., 2021, is a study that aims to discuss the stress levels of Indian students, any psychological imbalances and the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown to the students. The snowball sampling method was used for sampling and an online survey was conducted using the perceived stress scale. The snowball sampling method is a non-probability sampling method where the participants recruit future participants among their acquaintances. The sample is therefore said to grow like a rolling snowball. CITATION Mah17 \l 1033 (Naderifar, Goli, & Ghaljaei, 2017) It was observed that most students were generally stressed during the lockdown and the pandemic. Female students(average=3.03) were more stressed than the male students (average =2.61) because of the pressure of the stressful life events. The main cause depression among students, was the lockdown measures that prevented social activities and led to the closure of schools. The other cause of depression was the pressure that came with online classes. The paper then concluded that the mental health of students has greatly deteriorated and it needs to monitored continually so prevent them from developing suicidal ideations and to prevent it from affecting their academics.
Discussion
Health status and Demography
Research shows that about 25% of the students of the India are negatively affected by the pandemic and have experienced an above-average stress level. 6% have experienced severe stress, and around 45% have experienced mild stress. CITATION Usa20 \l 1033 (Rehman, et al., 2020). 41.6 % of the students are affected by anxiety, 36.4% are affected by depression and 35.8% are affected by relationship problems. 24.5% of the patients are under the psychotropic medication CITATION San \l 1033 (Gover, Sahoo, Mehra, Avasthi, & Alka, 2020). This came as no surprise, because the strict lockdown measure during the pandemic would definitely affect the mental health of students.
In a study conducted between November and December by Chaudhary et al. (2021), with the objective of understanding the psychological and behavioral consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic effects on students. It concluded that depression was more prevalent among the female student. Out of the 324 students who took part in the study, 55.6% of the female students were affected by depression and anxiety, while 44.4% of the male population were affected by depression.
Social, Environmental and behavioral health determinants
Research has proved that the main cause the depression among students was the fear of contracting this disease CITATION Usa20 \l 1033 (Rehman, et al., 2020). Students have reported high numbers of mild levels of depression which has greatly been caused by the closure of the schools and learning institutions, which have opted to introduce alternative learning methods, this has made students very stressed and concerned about their future and careers. This pandemic has forced students to adapt the online learning methods with limited access to the learning resources. The stress is generated from the lack of learning materials and has limited resources for the study. Many students come from less fortunate backgrounds, and they cannot access the online learning gadgets or materials; some have been forced to defer or even drop out. Hence increased anxiety and stress levels seeing other students progressing with their learning activities, yet they are not. (Rehman, Shahnawaz, & Uniyal, 2021)
The anxiety and stress levels in students also increased because of the lack of interaction among the students. During normal times students usually distract themselves from stressful activities by interacting with their peers in various social activities CITATION Abs20 \l 1033 (Ahmad, Rahman, & Agarwal, 2020). Given the lockdown measures introduced, students are forced to interact with others through digital means due to the reduced physical and social interaction; this had led to increased stress and depression among students. Students are forced to keep their challenges to themselves, unlike the normal times where they could share their troubles with their friends, and through their interactions, they couldn’t feel lonely and alone. CITATION Bel201 \l 1033 (Satitsky, Findling, Ereli, & Hendel, 2020)Moreover, online learning may not be very efficient due to the various technical issues that might arise and this might have an impact to the future careers of the students. Because of this, students are stressed about their careers. Online classes have also enhanced students’ stress because they are not learning how they did earlier. They could be fatigued and stressed since they have to continue their learning activities in extremely challenging situations for very long hours, which can be very stressful and challenging.
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