PITTSBURGH — Most Americans have long since let go of the pandemic requirement of social distancing, but the social isolation that COVID-19 imposed has left lingering effects for many.

Experts say mental health has taken a dive, and the impact is especially pronounced for college students, an age group that struggled with mental health even before the pandemic.

Researchers from across the country collaborated on a large study called the National Healthy Minds Study, which tested more than 350,000 college students for mental illness from 2013 to 2021. They found that more than 60% of those students had at least one mental health problem during the 2020 to 2021 school year, an increase of nearly 50% from 2013.

All demographic groups were affected by this, but Native American college students fared the worst. And after two years of decline, the suicide rate in the United States increased in 2021, especially for young people and men, according to data the CDC released in September.

Colleges have been tasked with re-engaging students as they have returned in-person to classrooms, many with unresolved trauma or mental health problems since the pandemic started. Both students and faculty members have thought up creative ways to meet their needs, all based upon the fact that college students seem to be opening up about their struggles more than ever.

Zachary Seddon, 20, who started college at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 2020, was one of millions who struggled through this period. “I realized my own mental health had taken a hit in the pandemic,” he said. Seddon became an R.A. for his dorm and saw an opportunity to show up for other students. “I knew I needed someone to talk to, so I figured I could be that person for someone else.”

This morphed into a series of events encouraging honest conversations about student mental health. In September 2021, he hosted a session about anxiety that can arise when transferring to college. And this past October, he started a program called “Let’s Talk,” a mental-illness-centered discussion aimed at reducing stigma and pointing students toward campus resources.

By the fall of 2021, Duquesne faculty worried that student engagement was the lowest they’d ever seen. Ashley Kane, the assistant director of freshman development and student programming at Duquesne, and Adam Wasilko, dean of students, conducted focus groups and passed out wellness surveys to ask students what was lacking and what they needed most.

“We wanted to meet students where they were at,” Kane said. This led to the development of a food pantry and food delivery services to students as well as classes on interpersonal skills, which their survey showed were lacking after many months without socialization.

Seddon, too, knew that interpersonal relationships would be crucial to bringing many students out of dark mental states. For “Let’s Talk,” he brought in Luke Fabisiak from the counseling center to talk about mental illness and the services offered by Duquesne. Seddon discussed various mental illnesses and their respective physical and emotional effects. He then prompted participants to write down and share their own experiences.

In the session, Seddon encouraged participants to pick one mental illness and draw what it might look like. He said he got the idea from TikTok and thought the activity could dethrone heavy emotions. The results pointed out a diversity of diseases, some he had never heard of.

While young people have relied on social media, like TikTok, during the pandemic to connect with friends and family and to open up about their mental health, Seddon called social media a double-edged sword. “I feel like social media did more harm than good in the pandemic,” he said. “I don’t really use it, which makes me the odd one out in the friend group.”

Seddon said nine people showed up to the program, and an additional 20 or so approached him after and said they were anxious about attending due to stigma but still wanted to hear the main points of the session. “I made sure they were very well-informed on what resources were available, because we have so much available,” he said.

Seddon has big plans for more sessions, including one scheduled for February about dating violence and consent and a second installation of “Let’s Talk” for the 2023 — 2024 school year. His hope is to continue to reduce stigma, especially for men’s mental health. “We’re getting better, but I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Duquesne University has a counseling center that offers in-person and virtual services in addition to a meditation room open 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday. They also have a separate psychology clinic which offers behavioral health services to students and the community, in-person and virtually. And Duquesne students get access to the Oasis Mental Health app, which offers 24/7 support services.

Another private college in Pittsburgh, Chatham University, has made recent strides to support students post-quarantine. This fall, the college updated a referral system called Cougars Care to include student referrals. This means students can submit a referral for mental health services for a classmate, friend or for themselves. Support staff at Chatham can then send an email or phone call to schedule a conversation with the student and direct them to relevant resources, like the counseling center or an anonymous peer-to-peer mental health app called “Talk Campus.”

Amanda Oaks-Christen, coordinator for student success at Chatham, said she was amazed with the way students have already taken advantage of the Cougars Care system. Her team has seen a record number of referrals since the update, which she said speaks both to the decline of mental health during the pandemic as well as the ease of accessibility of the Cougars Care system.

“I’m impressed with how comfortable students are talking about their mental health,” she said. “It’s hard to ask for help sometimes. It’s hard to know where to turn for help.”

And on Chatham’s Eden Hall campus north of Pittsburgh, occupational therapy students had a creative idea to tackle mental illness and disconnectedness: a sensory garden.

A sensory garden is a green space meant to envelop visitors’ senses to help them feel more present. Research shows that spending time in nature can reduce stress by lowering heart rate and levels of a stress hormone called cortisol.

Kacey Stepansky, an academic fieldwork coordinator who was involved in the sensory garden project since its inception in 2018, said the goal was to give visitors a “menu of choices” so they can enjoy the garden in a way that works for them.

“Our students come up with their own ways to use the space,” she said. The garden was built in April 2020 and faculty members at the campus began a small scientific study to measure students’ feelings before and after visiting the garden. They found that negative emotions decreased and positive emotions increased after spending time there. Some students climbed trees or did cartwheels; others studied, meditated and sniffed aromatic plants like mint and lavender. A trickling water fountain and wind chimes provided peaceful ambiance.

But Pittsburgh isn’t San Diego — in places with cold winters and snow, sensory gardens are most effective in the warmer seasons.

Janet Bucey, a professor of occupational therapy at Chatham, said that nature can still have benefits indoors.

“You can make green spaces inside,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be at a 400-acre farm.” The literature says 20 to 45 minutes in nature is adequate for stress-relieving effects to kick in, and that there should be either some element of nature surrounding you or a variety of plant life.

But in an urban environment, even looking out a window at a natural scene, stepping off the pavement to walk on the grass, bundling up to take a walk and feel the cold on your face or digging in the dirt to pull weeds out of a winter garden can activate our stress-relieving system.

This can look different depending on the person, said Theresa Delbert, assistant professor and capstone coordinator at Chatham. “Recognize signs of what your body is looking for or craving,” she suggested. “These are small pieces that can add up in terms of having an impact on quality of life and well-being.”

Delbert also said that in the study, students identified a feeling of connection when at the sensory garden, whether or not they were accompanied by a friend. The researchers want to know more about how this feeling arises and why, and use it to improve on the garden for next season.

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If you’re struggling, call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

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