Content warning: mentions of suicide, interpersonal violence, and mental illness

In response to the onset of COVID-19 in March, universities shut down and cancelled commencements, governments mandated lockdowns, and our entire nation was put on pause. Eight months into the pandemic, while COVID cases spike, we are seeing a parallel rise in mental illness that continues to be ignored by those in positions of power. Sacrificing mental health for physical safety is not an acceptable trade-off, and we have a collective moral obligation to treat this crisis with the same urgency that we met the pandemic with.

An August study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 40.9% of American adults reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral condition caused by the pandemic. Amongst young people aged 18-24, the outcomes were even worse: 74.9% of people reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral change since the start of the pandemic. A quarter reported they had considered suicide the month prior. It is hard to articulate how heartbreaking this is—our country is failing the next generation of young people who are our future. My peers are losing job opportunities, friends, and family, and along with it, motivation, purpose, and hope.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize why this is happening: prolonged periods of social isolation have been shown to cause mental illness in study after study. Lockdowns have also trapped survivors in abusive households, leading to internationally documented spikes in interpersonal violence and domestic abuse. The screens on which we are forced to spend eight hours a day for school, work, and companionship have been proven to increase depressive symptoms amongst young people and cause “Zoom fatigue” after prolonged use. And every day, millions experience COVID anxiety, characterized by the fear of having a loved one contract or personally contracting COVID-19. It has become so pervasive that it’s now termed “coronaphobia” by scientists studying the phenomenon. These daily struggles are compounded by an economic decline described by the International Monetary Fund as “the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression,” daily news stories reminding us of the grim and rising death toll of COVID-19, and the largest wave of demonstrations in history protesting against anti-Black violence.  

Solving this crisis requires both a policy and a cultural shift. Legislatively, local and federal governments must offer immediate financial relief to struggling citizens; without basic financial security, it is difficult to feel mentally well. By the end of the year, an estimated 30 to 40 million Americans will be at risk of eviction. Half of the tens of millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic remain unemployed (and uninsured). At the end of December, unemployment benefits will expire, further sinking the 14 million people who count on those checks to survive. This economic depression has forced over 40% of Americans to tap into retirement accounts and savings just to get by: as of early September, 14% of Americans had exhausted all of their emergency savings. 

In Canada, unemployed workers receive 2,000 Canadian dollars a month, and students receive CA$1,250. When these programs expired, the federal government passed new welfare programs to keep their citizens afloat. In Spain, a national universal basic income program has been launched to support those economically impacted by the pandemic. In comparison, the United States government has failed its citizens: there was only one round of means-tested checks sent out in March. Once unemployment benefits expire in December, almost all federal financial support for COVID-19 will end.

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, there is no fiscal or moral justification for failing to step in. In a poll done two months into the pandemic, 82% of Americans supported the idea of monthly stimulus checks. If the federal government does not intervene, millions of small businesses will die, and millions of Americans will become unhoused, impoverished, and left behind. In the wealthiest nation in the world, no human being should be too poor to live a dignified life: governmental intervention is the only way to blunt the impact of the market failure sparked by this pandemic.

On a cultural level, we must shift our efforts from “returning to the new normal” to taking care of those who are hurting. This is not the time to demand productivity or innovation: it is a time that requires rest and recovery from the crushing weight of everyday life. Continuing as if all else is normal is unnatural and requires us to ignore the constant trauma, anxiety, and fear we are experiencing on a daily basis. Forcing ourselves to produce for the sake of production turns us into mindless machines and leaves no space for reflection about the values, passions, and dreams we hold as human beings. 

Check in on the friend who might be hurting. Reach out when you are in need. If you have the means, chip in for a mutual aid fund or donate your time to help those around you who are suffering. At our core, we are not just individuals, but members of our community. We cannot be strong unless our community is, too. We must care for and about one another because the fabric of a strong society lies in our connection, not our rugged individualism. In tough times, we need to have people to lean on: it is painful to be alone.

COVID-19 is absolutely a crisis we must respond to with resilience and sacrifice, but so is the mental health crisis this pandemic has sparked. We need governments that care for us, and we deserve institutions that give us the space and time for rest. To solve the mental health epidemic across our country, individually and institutionally, we must respond with radical empathy for one another and a commitment to our communal wellbeing. We must recognize, in the words of the WHO, that “there is no health without mental health.”

Ranen Miao ‘22 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at ranenmiao@wustl.edu.