Mental Health in the Age of COVID: “You Are Not Alone”

“The holidays can be a hard time for many people — and the isolation and job loss caused by COVID adds a layer of stress that is sometimes the tipping point for those already struggling with depression, anxiety or fear,” says Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) President Anthony E. Munroe. “We’ve focused on physical health, during this age of COVID, but there’s also spiritual health, emotional health and mental health that are critical now. Our faculty and staff are stressed and stretched. Our students need a full range of support to stay on track with their studies — they’re dealing with a lot of complex issues. As a community, we need to reach out to each other, encourage each other to access the resources available to us. No one has to experience this time alone.”

“My mantra is that we have experienced a collective trauma,” says Neda Hajizadeh, director of counseling at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Counseling Center. “COVID has been a traumatic experience we were all forced to face. The year 2020 also uncovered systemic racial injustice in this country followed by what is for many, the most stressful presidential campaign and election in their lifetime.”

Given the historical moment people are finding themselves in, “This is a great opportunity to talk about mental health, to take off the stigma,” Hajizadeh says. “The term ‘mental health’ is more of a buzz word than it ever has been. Many of us have been impacted, and all eyes are on the mental health field, as we address how to help the most people possible.”

Part of that healing process is to raise mental health literacy, Hajizadeh says.

“Mental health is something we all need to be aware of at some point in our lives. Stress is something that we all feel. We all have days we feel overwhelmed, can’t get out of bed — and there’s strength to be found in reaching out to others; not just family and friends, but people who aren’t in your life so they can give you a non-biased perspective.”

That non-biased perspective can be found by consulting with mental health professionals, both through BMCC and other resources.

“There are a lot of community mental health services available to students, faculty and staff, including those that help underserved or low-income groups of people,” says Hajizadeh. “These include NYCWellness and WorkWellNYC. There is also the office of Telemental Health Services through the New York State Office of Mental Health.”

“We are all learning together”

Telehealth, or services provided through platforms such as Zoom, has always been an option, Hajizadeh says, “and now it’s all we do. Every higher education institution has a counseling center to help students navigate academic success as they deal with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues — and most of us have switched our services to be exclusively online.”

There are more benefits to telehealth than just convenience and accessibility, Hajizadeh says.

“I think in a strange way, as a mental health provider, through the Zoom session or another similar platform, you’re getting a window into your client’s life that you never had before. You’re literally looking into their home, and they’re probably looking into yours. It defuses the power play that can be a dynamic of the mental health services experience, and it’s had a positive impact on our telehealth delivery of counseling at BMCC.”

She explains that typically, “students think the counselor has it all together, but just like them, when being online comes with unexpected interruptions and tech problems, the therapist is experiencing the collective trauma of this time alongside the client. COVID-19 has changed all our lives and we are all working towards processing it and finding strength in the mess in which we find ourselves. We are no longer the experts; rather, we are working alongside our clients to figure out best practices and ways to stay afloat as we continue to face the new normal. We are all learning together.”

This shared learning period “normalizes the stress and challenges that students and everyone else is facing,” Hajizadeh says. “As counselors, we are modeling how to acknowledge difficulty, validate it and move forward.”

“The virtual classroom changes everything”

In the past, counselors in the BMCC Counseling Center were able to advise staff and faculty on how to recognize situations in which a student might benefit from mental health services, “but the virtual classroom changes everything,” says Hajizadeh.

“Faculty are the eyes and ears for everything that’s going on in a higher education facility and without input from faculty, it would be hard for us to do our jobs,” she says.

“Things a professor once watched for, in the classroom, are now moot — but they are still watchful. If a student in a Zoom class has always had on their video on and participated, then suddenly stops having on their video and is muted — that could be a reason to check on that student.”

Likewise, she says, “If you have a student who’s quiet, then suddenly they’re constantly interrupting, super-involved, that’s also a sign, a change that could warrant a conversation.”

That one-on-one conversation, she says, can start as simply as, “Is everything okay with you?” and go on to remind the student that BMCC has a free counseling center. Some students might also appreciate knowing that counseling records are not shared without written permission, and are entirely separate from a student’s academic records.

Another option is for the faculty member to directly introduce the student to the Counseling Center.

“Faculty can’t just walk with a student to the Counseling Center, like they used to,” Hajizadeh  says. “So, we adapted our services to accommodate both the privacy of the student and enable the professor to introduce the student to us.”

That adaptation involves connecting the student to the counseling center via email, copying both the Counseling Center and the student in the email.

“Then one of us at the Counseling Center writes back to both the faculty member and the student,” Hajizadeh says. “We say right away, that we will respond to the student separately.”

That way, she says, “the faculty member knows the students has ‘arrived’ in our office. It’s a way to virtually walk the student to our office. It also allows us to then reach out to the student separately and maintain confidentiality around whether the student has responded and made an appointment. It’s not a perfect system, but it has worked well so far.”

Staff awareness is critical, when a student needs help

Frontline staff, those who work in admissions and other offices, also need to be watchful of students’ emotional state.

“That goes back to mental health literacy, developing the awareness that mental health issues are pervasive and could affect anyone,” Hajizadeh says. “If a student comes in to your office and you see that they’re limping, you ask questions. We don’t hesitate, when there is an obvious physical problem — and I want the same thing to happen when we observe what could be a person who is struggling emotionally. I want us to completely normalize the fact that pain is not always physical, and warrants our response.”

She explains that staff use the same email process of the “virtual walk-in” that faculty have put to use.

“Staff might not assign grades, but students rely on their expertise to complete important transactions related to their enrollment and registration,” says Hajizadeh. “Students depend on the compassion and knowledge of staff to connect them with resources when they are in a crisis; for example, experiencing food insecurity. Staff members convey options to students when they are under pressure to meet a financial aid deadline or register for a class they need in order to graduate on time.”

These are all situations, she says, “in which a student might benefit from the support our counselors can provide.”

How to help a colleague in need

Colleagues see each other at their worst and their best. Colleagues can be trusted confidantes, helping each other strategize to do their best work — even as they manage the pressure of providing remote services and courses.

In the process, a colleague might sense a level of distress that is unlike anything they’ve seen before in their work partner. A team leader might observe changes in the individuals they supervise that are uncharacteristic, and reason for concern.

What to do then?

“Trust your instincts,” says Hajizadeh. “You don’t need to be a therapist to know that something is off. Lead with concern. You can open the conversation with something like, ‘I’m concerned. This is what I’ve noticed and I’m worried that you’re not okay.’”

She explains that oftentimes, people don’t want to admit they need help or are hurting.

“In the workplace, we don’t always feel safe admitting any kind of weakness,” Hajizadeh says. “But it helps that person realize they are not ‘passing’ for being okay, and it could motivate them to seek some kind of support.”

She stresses that while a co-worker might brush off an inquiry into how they are doing, “You have planted the seed and now you slowly water it. You could return to that colleague later and say something like, ‘I wanted to check back in with you. Is everything okay? I’ve noticed you don’t speak up like you used to, in our meetings, and you always have your camera off. I’m here to listen, if you ever want to talk. It’s hard for me too, sometimes.”

Acknowledging our own experience with mental health issues is one way to normalize the topic, Hajizadeh says.

“I’m very open about the fact that I’ve been in therapy,” Hajizadeh says. “Everyone has a different comfort level, but sharing your own strategies to manage your emotional well-being can be eye-opening for a colleague who is having a hard time.”

Sometimes, Hajizadeh says, the signs are subtle, that a “new normal” in higher education and this moment in American history are taking a toll on a person’s mental health.

“You might notice that you cry more easily, that it’s hard to hold back tears when talking about things that never used to upset you,” she says. “The worst thing we can do is pretend we’re okay, when we’re not. Anxiety and fear are harmful to the body’s immune system, and can break down our ability to function if we ignore them.”

A good place to start, she says, is to talk with a trusted friend or colleague, and to make use of the mental health resources available at BMCC, through the City of New York or a healthcare provider.

“You’re not alone in this,” Hajizadeh says. “That’s something that bears repeating. We’re all experiencing the changes forced on us in this time, together.”

 

This article is included with resources on the BMCC Resilience, Health and Wellness website, which provides inspiration and support for students, faculty and staff navigating life in the age of COVID.

 

Learn more about the BMCC Counseling Center at counselingcenter@bmcc.cuny.edu.

Services for faculty and staff are available, and there are many services for students including a new group and workshop program.  

There are also racial trauma and anti-racist resources at the Counseling Center, as well as links to mental health resources provided through the City of New York.

COVID-related support includes the COVID-19 Emotional Support Hotline, at 844-863-9314.

Students, faculty and staff can also contact NYC Well at 888-692-9355 for immediate support.