Pandemic stress, like all serious stress, produces surges of cortisol, which activates fight-or-flight responses that can interfere with focus, concentration, and decision making. Beyond the initial shock, the relentless drumbeat of news, statistics, and minute-by-minute crisis reminders heightens our sensitivity to pandemic-related information.
Even among some people who haven’t had Covid-19, this has resulted in what is loosely described by many as “Covid brain.”
Moreover, for college students in their late teens and early 20s, this is happening as their brains are still developing. Whether students are experiencing sporadic distractions or debilitating obsessions, these patterns have led to an avalanche of need for mental-health services for an already maxed out industry. Many colleges are watchful, wary, and bracing themselves for students’ psychological aftershocks.
The Chronicle report,
Building Students' Resilience, provides advice on how faculty can acknowledge these struggles, share appropriate resources, and reengage their classes.
