The overall quality of life seems to have worsened for students, especially during these uncertain times of the Covid-19 pandemic and the increased limitations on movement and access to schools, colleges and universities. The restrictions on learning emerged once more as the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) was implemented in certain areas around Malaysia again.
Awareness activities were held at INTI International College Penang in conjunction with Mental Health Month 2020.
INTI International College Penang (INTI)’s student counsellor, Siti Nazwa, shared, “University students have not been spared with this decline in the quality of life. It is something that continues to impact students the world over.”
Research on how the pandemic has affected tertiary education students revealed a rise in anxiety and depression1. For a typical tertiary education student, there is now added pressure to perform well academically, despite limited access to faculty and resources.
Nazwa, who has six years of working experience as a student counsellor, expressed, “Students are striving harder since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was relaxed in June. While some of them are coping well with the current situation, most of them are still struggling – emotionally, mentally, physically and financially.”
INTI students were excited to participate in the activities held during the Mental Health Month 2020.
“We have seen an increase in counselling sessions since August, with some students even contacting us late at night. We always do our best to render our support to them as we understand the increase in anxiety and stress during these trying times,” added Nazwa.
According to Nazwa, some students have had to work part-time as their parents were badly hit by the effects of the pandemic. This in return has affected the students’ academic performance because their focus is split between various concerns and has their worry about completing their tertiary education smoothly.
COVID-19 has taken a toll on relationships too.
“Students are having trouble maintaining healthy relationships with their partners as they didn’t see them as regularly as pre-COVID-19. Some parents have been pressurizing their children to earn some side income to help their families survive the ongoing crisis. Due to this, the bond between parents and their children have been affected negatively besides causing these students to neglect their friends and partners,” said Nazwa.
But, there’s always something to learn from any situation, which is often beneficial to us.
“The students that have approached me to seek my advice are now problem solvers. If there is a miscommunication between them and their family members, they are able to patch things up right away without too many hiccups. They have also attributed this to the long hours spent at home and the understanding between their family members has strengthened,” added Nazwa.
Siti Nazwa, student counsellor at INTI International College Penang during one of her online sessions with students pertaining to mental health.
Nazwa concluded “COVID-19 has had its positive sides too. We should always work towards moulding our perspectives because when one door closes, another door opens. 2020 has been a roller coaster ride for everyone, but I firmly believe that we will walk away from this stronger.”
Apart from the dedicated work of the student counsellors in tackling mental health problems, INTI has been carrying out proactive programmes, including during the World Mental Health month in October. The Student Services Department (SSD) of INTI International College Subang also released a series of videos in conjunction with World Mental Health month on their social media handles; Facebook and Instagram.
The videos, featuring mental health professionals, teach students about how technology can be utilized to overcome worsening mental health, the importance of today’s youths’ mental wellbeing and why mental health should be discussed without fretting – breaking the stigma that mental illness is considered a taboo topic.
1 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239696