Lasting Impacts of COVID-19

 By: Sierra Benger

Mental health struggles surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now, six years later, students and a mental health expert say its emotional aftershocks are still shaping lives today.

Some students, like Brianna Murray, a junior at Dean College, say that COVID has caused mental health issues that are still present in her life.

“It got to the point where I couldn’t go in public without having a breakdown. It’s not like I couldn’t just go to places like the store, I couldn’t even go to the parking lot without crying. I still get more anxious in social situations than I did before COVID. It left a mark on me that I thought I’d grow out of, but I definitely have not yet,” said Murray.

She is not the only one who experiences increased anxiety linked to COVID. According to a survey conducted by the World Health Organization, within the first year of the pandemic anxiety and depression increased by 25%.

 Alison Boganski, a licensed therapist and a psychology professor at Stonehill College, said that she has seen an increase in patients with social anxiety in her therapy practice after the pandemic.

“We’ve seen a lot more people with social-related anxiety, not just with crowds but also thinking about fear of interacting or dating,” said Boganski.

Not only has anxiety been an increased issue in her practice, but it’s also an issue in the classroom.

“I feel like I have quite a few students who are presenting with ‘I’m not comfortable presenting,’ ‘I’m not comfortable working with other people.’ That really wasn’t as common pre-COVID,” said Boganski.

There are many side effects of COVID on mental health, but Boganski said that one of the most glaring side effects has been a lack of tolerance for discomfort.

 “There’s a lack of willingness to tolerate discomfort. I see that in academics, I see that in social situations, I see that with students, I see that with kids with parents in my practice,” said Boganski.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is over, statistics show that anxiety in Americans in 2026, six years after the pandemic started, has more than doubled since before the pandemic in 2019.

According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “In 2019, 8.1% of adults aged 18 and over had symptoms of an anxiety disorder.”

That number rose to 19.1% of U.S. adults who had an anxiety disorder in the past year, according to a survey conducted by The National Institute of Mental Health.

Northern Essex Community College freshman, Gabrielle Jacobs, said that COVID has created anxieties for her that still impact her today.

“I wasn’t just anxious about the broader aspects of COVID like being isolated or scared of the virus itself, I also had anxiety about more simple things, like going on Zoom calls. I think I associated Zoom with the feelings of isolation and anxiety from COVID, and even now I get super anxious when I have classes on Zoom,” said Jacobs.

Some students said that they were affected mainly by anxiety stemming back to COVID, but others, like UMass Lowell freshman Madeline Hennessy, say that depression has been a serious issue as well.

“Especially as an only child, being away from my friends just made me feel so alone, which made my depression so much worse. After COVID, I couldn’t stand being alone. Even now, I feel like being alone at my house or in my room brings me back to those depressing feelings of being isolated during COVID,” said Hennessy.

Laura Martin, a Stonehill College freshman, also has lasting mental impacts stemming from her lack of socialization during the pandemic.

“Before COVID I was a lot more outgoing. I think being isolated for so long made me naturally more introverted and too anxious to be my full self since I was never around people in person. I felt like I’d have that old spark back after COVID, but years later I still feel shy and stay quiet in most social situations,” said Martin.