As coronavirus infection and death rates explode across the nation, a survey reveals a marked increase in graduate and undergraduate students\u2019 mental-health struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Signs of depression among graduate students in the United States have apparently doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey that drew responses from more than 15,000 graduate and 30,000 undergraduate students<\/a> at 9 US research universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The survey, conducted by the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium \u2014 a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis \u2014 found that indications of anxiety among graduate students rose by 50% this year compared with last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s very alarming that so many students are suffering from mental-health issues,\u201d says Igor Chirikov, director of SERU and a senior researcher in higher education with the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley. \u201cThe pandemic has obviously had a big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The survey, which ran from 18 May to 20 July, used simple two-item questionnaires \u2014 the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2<\/a> and Patient Health Questionnaire-2<\/a> \u2014 to screen for symptoms of anxiety disorders and major depression. Thirty-nine per cent of graduate students (a group that includes law- and medical-school students) screened positive for anxiety, and 32% screened positive for depression. When the same screening questions were asked in March to July 2019, 26% of graduate students had signs of anxiety and 15% showed depression symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n