By Nandi Sommers ‘ 21, staff writer

For the past several months, the big 2020 election has been a large topic of discussion and after months of campaigning and days of counting votes, on November 7,  Joe Biden was selected as the United States President-elect.

Election stress, as well as the stress of there being a pandemic, has impacted students’ mental health and well-being across the nation. USC (University of South Carolina) student health offered facilities for their students who may have been experiencing poor mental health this season. They offered students election stress workshops to help combat poor mental health, navigate emotions, and navigate stress levels in late October through mid-November. 

St. John Fisher College student Mariah Frazee said  “There are so many negative things out on social media and it surrounds you. Online school and election does cause more stress. I don’t deal with election or online school stress, I just let it build up till I snap”. 

Due to post-election and the current state of the pandemic, there has been a heightened level of anxiety and an increase in the poor mental health of students.Some argue that colleges that   offer mental health classes for students can help them combat the increase of poor mental health in students. With mental health classes becoming common, basic training for teachers/employees about learning mental health conditions would have to be a necessity. 

When correct training is offered it makes it easier to identify symptoms of mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, cyberbullying, trauma, and/or more. Reducing the stigma of mental illness is the main priority of election stress workshops and mental health classes.

According to The National Alliance on Mental Health “50% of all lifetime cases of mental illnesses begin by age 14”.