A pair of university mental health surveys paints a bleak portrait of life at Ohio State during the fall semester. Credit: Lantern File Photo
A pair of university mental health surveys paints a bleak portrait of life at Ohio State during the fall semester.
The surveys, which were administered by the Office of the Chief Wellness Officer and completed by 3,589 students, faculty and staff, showed that seven out of 10 student respondents and 37 percent of staff and faculty were burnt out or burning out by December.
More than one in five of the students and 16 percent of employees drank more alcohol to cope with the increasing depression and anxiety.
“We offer so many fabulous wellness programs across the university for our students, but we need to increase engagement in these particular programs,” Bernadette Melnyk, Ohio State’s chief wellness officer, said at a University Senate meeting Thursday.
The study included an initial survey in August 2020 to gauge mental health and emotional levels and determine student’s readiness, stressors, and their safety and wellness concerns over a return to campus during the pandemic. A follow-up survey of the same participants was then conducted in December to assess changes.
The most concerning results were the staff and student rates of depression, Melnyk said.
The number of students who “screened positive” for anxiety increased from 39 percent in August to just over 51 percent in December. The numbers for depression also went up, from 24 percent to 33.4 percent.
In August, graduate students suffered the greatest amount of anxiety with regional campus students recording the lowest.
Staff depression rates increased from 10 percent in August to 11.3 percent in December. Faculty depression rates increased from 7 percent to 9.4 percent.
The same did not hold true for anxiety, with faculty and staff reporting lower levels of anxiety in December.
According to the report, more students, faculty and staff have also reported less physical activity, unhealthy eating habits, increased use of tobacco and sleep as ways to cope with dealing with the pandemic.
Student respondents who reported the lowest levels of anxiety and depression said they connected more with family and friends and engaged in more physical activity, Melnyk said.
But other coping mechanisms can have long-term effects according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Melynk said.
“One out of three people are predicted to have diabetes by 2050 with the unhealthy behaviors we are seeing to cope with COVID, the racial tensions we experienced in this country,” Melnyk said.
Students, faculty and staff became more satisfied with Ohio State’s safety protocols in December, according to the report. Most students at least“somewhat believed” the university was implementing proper safety measures in August and were at least “moderately satisfied” with the measures in December. Faculty and staff opinion of the safety measures changed from “moderately” satisfied in August to “very much” satisfied in December.
According to the report, 10 percent of all student respondents in December indicated that they were feeling lonely — five times higher than faculty and staff reported. Eight in 10 students reported receiving a new mental health diagnosis since the beginning of the pandemic.
Based on these results, Ohio State said in the report it will play a larger role in encouraging and supporting students, faculty and staff to participate in wellness activities.
“We’ve got to, again, continue to focus on a fabulous wellness and caring culture at Ohio State and really keep great emphasis on prevention and early intervention,” Melnyk said.
