Open AccessCOVID-19 PANDEMIC LIFESTYLE: STUDENTS MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES
Author(s) -
Iryna I Boiko,
Olha Herus,
Larysa Klymanska,
Victor Y Savka,
Лілія Клос,
Mariana Shkoliar,
Valentina Vitale
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
wiadomości lekarskie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.133
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 2719-342X
pISSN - 0043-5147
DOI - 10.36740/wlek202111107
Subject(s) - loneliness , mental health , feeling , psychology , thematic analysis , anxiety , panic , pandemic , qualitative research , applied psychology , medical education , social psychology , covid-19 , psychiatry , medicine , sociology , social science , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The aim: To determine how quarantine restrictions affect the lifestyle of Ukrainian students, and their mental health.Materials and methods: 37 student essays were submitted to the university contest held at Lviv Polytechnic University in May-June 2020. They were analyzed with the help of qualitative thematic analysis and standard qualitative analysis method. Essays are focused on a list of issues important for assessing the social well-being of students during quarantine. Each fragment of essay’s answer was coded into the data matrix system according to either multiple or single themes, built in the statements. The thematic analysis identified several categories that determine students’ attitude to the pandemic situation and its consequences for them.Results: It is determined that students’ lifestyle, including study and leisure, has changed significantly, which has affected their mental health. Learning online provoked a number of emotional disorders. At the same time, the desire for communication in person and self-improvement increased. «Quarantine lessons» were divided into categories: challenges, threats and opportunities. Threats and challenges were considered at the global level, while opportunities affected rather the personal level.Conclusions: Mental health of students disorders: anxiety, restlessness, fear, self-doubt, feelings of loneliness, panic, sleep disturbances, and increased fatigue indicate the negative effects of the pandemic. At the same time, recording such facts as the feeling of satisfaction from communication with loved ones, the ability to help them, the desire for self-improvement, etc. allows to say about the positive effects.