For many San Jose State students, staying inside is taking an increased toll on their mental health as California’s shelter-in-place order has been extended until the end of May and fears of the coronavirus linger.
“I felt really, almost like suffocated,” Chicano studies sophomore Jeanette Reyes said. “I get really impatient and I almost feel like going through a not-so-happy mood, like, it really falls back on feelings of depression.”
Reyes has dealt with depression in the past and she said that self-isolation tends to trigger the condition.
She is just one of the many students who may feel trapped during this time of social distancing.
“People definitely are experiencing a lot of stress right now,” said Michelle DeCoux Hampton, a nursing professor at SJSU. “They’re fearing for their own safety. They’re fearing for the safety of the people that they love. This can affect their sleep habits, appetite concentration and these are symptoms that are common for mood and anxiety disorders.”
Because of the atmosphere of stress and anxiety induced by COVID-19, Hampton said there is an increased risk of alcohol and drug use which may exacerbate pre-existing mental health and medical conditions. It can eventually cause behavioral, social and occupational problems.
“People have been really thrown off of their usual routine so they don’t have access to many of the coping resources that they might have used before,” Hampton said. “Gyms and exercise studios are closed and their social activities are shut down for hobbies they might have enjoyed.”
Hampton said people naturally try to replace their usual coping methods when daily routines are disrupted.
How an individual’s mental health could fare over the next several months depends on what type of coping strategies they default to or choose, she said.
“And for a lot of people that might be alcohol and other substances,” Hampton said.
Typically, students experiencing depression or other mental health concerns have the option of setting up an appointment at the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), a service 2,670 students used in the 2018-19 academic year, according to CAPS director Kell Fujimoto.
However, to promote social distancing, CAPS has shifted all of its services online and does not plan to open their office at the Student Wellness Center until further notice.
“Students are feeling isolated, anxious and lonely. The shelter-in-place and the uncertainty of COVID-19 raises everyone’s anxiety,” Fujimoto said in an email. “Some also report feeling depressed due to the change in lifestyle.”
CAPS staff members host weekly Zoom workshops and offer a new web-based program called Therapy Assisted Online (TAO) to help students bounce back from frustrations and disappointments in quarantine.
Some students said the lack of face-to-face interaction discourages them from seeking help.
Before the lockdown, Reyes said, she had always wanted to reach out to CAPS but wasn’t able to ask for help and now feels even more discouraged to seek care because appointments are online.
“Now that we don’t have that in-person, like, connection, communication, to receive that help it’s kind of difficult,” Reyes said.
The Student Health Center, which provides treatment from licensed physicians, is only physically open Monday and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
“The health center I think is only open like one or two days a week. And I require medication that I get from the health center and that I get filled at the pharmacy,” special education graduate student Chloe Orton Cartnal said.
After the shutdown of in-person classes was announced on March 9 in an email from SJSU President Mary Papazian, Cartnal moved back home to San Luis Obispo and now orders her prescription online to be shipped to her house.
For students living with a large family in a small shelter-in-place environment, the lack of confidentiality becomes another deterrent to accessing care.
“I live in a really small house and I don’t have a lot of privacy,” Cartnal said. “So it would be hard for me to get to, like, a private space where I could talk to her, you know, and it be confidential, what I was saying to her.”
With appointments typically lasting 45 minutes to an hour, it’s hard to get time alone to seek mental health services online when students are living in tight quarters. Fujimoto suggested students sit in their car, go into their bathroom or take a walk outside if they need a private space.
