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.
