College Students Worst Affected By COVID-19 Pandemic, Followed By Working Professionals

Bhubaneswar: In a study on mental health post the coronavirus-induced lockdown, college students were found to be the most affected.

Conducted by YourDost, an online mental health platform, the survey covered 8000 individuals and found that working professionals were the second-worst affected group of people.

Students were seen to have had a 6 per cent increase in anger and irritability and a 13 per cent increase in loneliness and boredom in the early phase of lockdown.

As the lockdown got extended, students continued to be worst-hit emotionally.

“Students registered a 41 per cent increase in emotions of anxiety/fear/worry, 54 per cent increase in anger/irritability/frustration, 27 per cent in hopelessness, sense of sadness was increased by 17 percent, and 38 per cent increase in the feeling of loneliness/boredom,” the study stated.

The level of anxiety and fear went up due to difficulties in adjusting to life at home.

“They miss college, their peers and the string of activities that keep happening on the campus. Most of all, they report difficulty in reconnecting with their parents which has caused them to feel severely frustrated. They also report a ‘loss of freedom’ with their parents around,” the study revealed.

Working professionals, on the other hand, were troubled by the uncertainty and an apprehension of ‘what’s next?’

“Working professionals registered a 41 percent increase in emotions of anxiety/fear/worry, 34 per cent increase in anger/irritability/frustration, 17 per cent in hopelessness, the feeling of sadness was increased by 18 per cent and the sense of loneliness/boredom increased by 26 per cent,” the study found.

The study also found that at the beginning of the lockdown, 33 per cent of respondents were highly stressed and 51 per cent moderately stressed. However, the stress levels of Indians rose significantly over the course of the next two months.

From Lockdown 1.0 on March 25 to Unlock 1.0 on June 7, 55 per cent of the respondents reported an increase in their stress levels. Sleep quality deteriorated for most, with a net change of up to 11 per cent. Indians experienced a drastic increase in emotional outbursts with a net change of up to 22 per cent.