President’s Speaker Series addresses the impact of COVID-19 on mental health

The President’s Speaker Series: The Big Questions launched in the Fall 2020 semester, and its fourth event hosted April 23 from 10:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. discussed COVID-19 and mental health. 

COVID-19 and Mental Health:

Dr. Joshua Gordon is the keynote speaker for the event. Dr. Gordon is the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a neuroscience researcher, a former psychiatry professor at Columbia University and a general psychiatrist.

Dr. Gordon discussed the effects of COVID-19 on mental health, lessons learned from the pandemic, and how higher education institutions can utilize the educational platform to deal with COVID-19. 

“Mental health is a major factor that shapes a student’s overall college experience,” Dr. Gordon said. “Research has been telling us for some time that young adults are experiencing significant mental health concerns and emerging data from the last year suggest that the pandemic has only compounded these concerns.”

Kevin Wooten, chief strategy officer for the office of the president hopes participants take away a better understanding of how COVID-19 has impacted the mental health of students, faculty and staff. 

Following Dr. Gordon’s presentation, UHCL faculty panelists led a discussion asking a variety of mental health-related questions including topics like how places of higher learning can best fund mental health resources and Hispanic Serving Institutions can reach out to their Latinx populations. The faculty panel included Roberta Leal, assistant professor of social work, Dorothea Lerman, professor of behavior analysis and director for the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (CADD), Mary Short, professor of clinical psychology and department chair for clinical, health and applied sciences and the director of the clinical psychology doctoral program, Rick Short, professor of health service psychology and school psychology and Cindy Cook, director of counseling services.

“We have many faculty members to showcase tremendous experience and expertise,” Wooten said. “If we could bring them into this, that would really help everyone. It elevates our awareness of who we are, what we can do and it shines some light on just how excellent our faculty are.” 

The faculty members are now a year into their experience as educators and psychologists during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“My specialty is in college mental health, and so if we are talking about COVID-19 effects of mental health issues on the college campus, I want to be a part of that conversation and share the research that is out there,” Cook said. 

 Community partners, presidents, provosts and deans of various universities were invited to this event. 

“I was honored to be included, and I think that it is going to be very informative for not only the UHCL community but for the community at large,” Lerman said.

While resources are available to students, universities are making students aware of the resources offered to help aid in their mental health issues. 

“I think that if universities don’t know what the students are struggling with, they can’t adapt those resources and provide the resources needed,” Lerman said. “I think it goes hand in hand with not only knowing what kind of resources students need, but making sure they are not only available, but students are aware of them and making the resources relatively easy to access.”

The mental health of a student affects how they interact with personal goals. 

“Universities should care about the mental health of students because they want students to achieve their goals and if their mental health barriers are in the way, then universities should pay attention to those and provide the services needed to help students overcome those barriers,” Cook said.  

University-sponsored resources for students:

Students can utilize resources on campus to help their mental health. The Student Advocacy Center (SAC) helps students with student ID cards, course registration and enrollment, student support services, campus resources, e-services and transcript processing.

The Veteran Services Office (VSO) helps veteran students with securing VA benefits, as well as helping students with educational support and career counseling. The Accessibility Support Center helps students with disabilities obtain accommodations for classes. 

The Student Success Center (SSC) provides academic coaching. The SSC tutors assist students in academic reading, note-taking, organization, task management, critical thinking, test strategy, and public speaking. 

Counseling Services offers support to its students through individual and group therapy alongside skills, relaxation, and mindfulness workshops. Counseling services has a mental health care package on their website to help guide students through their mental health issues. 

If students are on the autism spectrum, one can utilize the Connecting to College program sponsored by CADD. This program partnered with the SSC, the accessibility support center, counseling services and career services. Additionally, the program offers general student support, social and behavioral support and crisis support. 

“Students do not have to have an Autism diagnosis, but if students feel like they have similar needs or struggles, then we can provide that support,” Lerman said. “A big part of what we do is make them aware of and assisting them and accessing the resources already on campus for all students.”

There are many things students can do to support their mental health like taking breaks from digital media, taking time to unwind, setting goals and priorities, connecting with others, and focusing on the facts of COVID-19.

“If you do not seek services, there are day-to-day things you can do such as forgiveness, self-compassion, self-understanding and focus on what you can accomplish and try to accomplish those things,” Mary Short said.

Mental health not only impacts one’s personal life, but it also impacts one’s academic life.

“Mental health influences all aspects of a student’s life,” Rick Short said. “When someone is depressed or anxious, it is very hard to do the best that you can in classwork. Sometimes, it is even hard to go to class when you suffer from depression, anxiety and/or trauma.”

Mental health impacts all areas of one’s life, so it is important to use strategies to help decrease the likelihood of mental health issues.

“Good mental health will support students in everything they do, whether it’s in school or out of school,” Dr. Gordon said. “There are many factors that can influence mental health. The good news is there are effective strategies that can help us cope with stressful or challenging situations.”