TABLE of CONTENT

CHAPTER: 1 Page: No

Chapter 1

1.1 Abstract ………………………………………… 3

1.2 Introduction ……………………………………

Chapter 2

2.1 Literature Review ……………………………. 5

2.2 Method ………………………………………. 6

2.3 Results ………………………………………...

2.4 Conclusion ……………………………………

2.5 Reference ………………………………….. 7

Chapter: 1

ABSTRACT:

Covid 19 pandemic has resulted in a powerful impact on student's mental health and uncertainty about the future. The coronavirus emerges in December 2019 in china and after that its layers spread all over the world. To overcome the expend of the virus the government imposed an isolation strategy with quarantine. As a result, people adjust their selves to the internal environment and cut off from outside activities. Covid 19 affected students’ mental health and high level of stress are expected when crises affect people’s lives. Various studies found that coved 19 affected badly on student mental health. The study conducted by us is based on a questionnaire. The study Incorporated 50 students from Akhuwat College for Women Chakwal's average response shows negative impacts on her mental health. The correlation result negative and significant relationship between mental health, illness perceptions, anxiety, and depression systems. The multiple regression analysis states that anxiety and depression disorder mediated the relationship between mental health and present illness perception. The perception of illness exhibits a relation to depression and anxiety disorder. Keywords: Anxiety, Covid 19, Depression, Illness Perception

Introduction

In Pakistan, the first case of COVID-19 appeared on February 26, 2020. The situation increased rapidly, and a complete lock-down was forced in the country on March 23, 2020, to efficiently contain COVID-19. This complete lock-down was transformed into a “smart lockdown” on May 9, 2020. However, all the educational institutions, as well as big markets and all public places, were focused to remain closed. By the 67th report of the WHO on 29 march, Pakistan identified 14 death and 1597 cases of continuous spread of the disease, myths, and blame games; memorable media reporting of COVID-19; frustration and boredom; application of social lock-down with classmates, friends, and teachers; lack of personal space at home; and family financial loss due to lock-down are some of the main risk factors significantly influencing the mental health of the university students. There have been reports on the psychological impact of the epidemic on the general public, healthcare workers, and college students. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have assessed the psychological impairment of COVID-19 in Pakistani university students. Therefore, the present study was conducted to emphasize the psychological impact of CVOID-19 on Pakistani university students. We hypothesize that the COVID-19 pandemic has adverse effects on students' mental-health well-being and education. The Covid 19 pandemic and the mere of lockdown and quarantine have created stress and anxiety along with other predicaments for the general population including students stress is a response to a demand that triggers biological changes in our body and brains. Anxiety can become a mental health problem when it starts to impact one’s ability to live one’s day-to-day life smoothly. Lockdown has been used by different countries globally as one of the strategies to contain the spread of Covid 19 in communities.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Rahman et al. (2020), in their systemic review, highlighting not only the psychological effects but also the neurological effects of this pandemic. The neurological signs that they found in COVID-19 patients included “headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, loss of taste and smell and impaired consciousness”. We can already observe the emergence of a kind of social stigma around COVID-19 in the form of xenophobic behaviors, posts, and comments, albeit not everywhere. But undoubtedly this is the result of fear and anxiety in the population about the pandemic. In their study done on a cohort of SARS patients 30 months after the outbreak, Mak et al. (2009) concluded that “SARS can be regarded as a mental health catastrophe” that resulted in “PTSD and depressive disorders”. Haider, Tiwana & Tahir (2020) are of the view that pandemics like COVID-19 increase stress levels and lead to psychiatric outcomes and that “it is possible that people may begin to experience transient mild to moderate depressive symptoms”. It is not only that the COVID-19 patients are the only sufferers but “for other members of the public, without direct contact of the COVID-19 cases, mental health may be affected by preventive measures of social distancing, self-isolation, and lockdowns” (Haider, Tiwana & Tahir, 2020). Students, being part of the population and the institutions of society like family and education, are undoubtedly affected by epidemics. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, Wong et al. (2004) did a study with Hong Kohealthcare students, with non-healthcare students as the controls. Their “principle finding was that both healthcare and non-healthcare students were highly stressed” and there was no gender difference. The reasons behind the high levels of stress were different: nursing students were stressed due to a “perceived higher risk of infection due to prolonged contact with patients”, while the non-healthcare students had a “fear of the unknown”. Zeng, Jimba & Wakai (2005) conducted a study on the psychosocial impact of SARS on students. However, the unique feature of their study was that they did the study on Chinese students who were living in Japan. They found that 60% of the students had “fear, helplessness, worry, and depression ... even though none of them had SARS”. Almost the same number of students (59.6%) “felt an impact of SARS on their college life”. Social discrimination was reported by 20% of respondents based on ethnicity. A recent study by Wang & Zhao (2020) that explored the impacts of COVID-19 also found “higher anxiety” levels among university students. SAS was used in this study of 3,611 students, and the mean SAS score was 40.53, “significantly higher than the national norm of 29.78”. Also, an important finding was that “female students showed more anxiety than male students”. One of the main concerns of the students in this study was “the start of the new term”, which would now be done online, instead of traditional face-to-face teaching. Pakistani scenario: mental health impacts on the general population and students. Mental health refers to the state of well-being in which individuals realize their own ability to cope with normal life stressors and productively work to contribute to their community (World Health Organization, 2005). The COVID-19 pandemic, apart from the physical health-related signs and symptoms, poses serious threats to mental wellbeing and consequent changes in behaviors. A study was done by Balkhi et al. (2020), from the 400 respondents of the city of Karachi (where the very first case of COVID-19 in Pakistan was reported), shows that 62.5% of the respondents felt anxious daily, 88.8% feared going to marketplaces, and 94.5% were concerned for the health of family members. The study also found “a higher tendency for graduates to fear for the safety of their health, even at home (p < 0.01)”. To stem the spread of COVID-19, along with other measures, on 13 March 2020, the Pakistan government announced the country-wide closure of all schools, colleges, and universities (Nafees & Khan, 2020). Aqeel et al. (2020) suggest that this closure of educational students as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 also closed “a source of many students to cope with numerous personal and familial issues”. This study found that students suffered anxiety and depression and that “young students who had exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic are more vulnerable to the predisposition of mental health issues”. In another study done with 347 university students from Pakistan by Hongbo, Alishba & Muhammad (2020) looking into predictors of anxiety, the authors found that students “appeared fearful of COVID-19, this fear was related to disgust sensitivity, anxiety sensitivity-related physical concerns, body vigilance, contamination cognitions, and general distress”. Yet another study done by Salman et al. (2020) with 1,134 students from higher education institutions in Pakistan found that COVID-19 has a “significant adverse impact on student’s mental health” and “males had significantly less anxiety and depression scores than females.”

Methods:

The present questionnaire-based observational study was conducted in the Department of economics Akhuwat college for women Chakwal, affiliated with Fatima Jinnah University Rawalpindi during the period April 2020. Selection of the students: The selection of students was random, and students’ information was kept confidential. The sample size was obtained by using simple random sampling. Questionnaire: The electronic questionnaire was distributed among the 150 students through their emails, and 100 of the students responded. The questionnaire consists of 7 questions. Result: The survey questionnaire was distributed among the 150 students through their emails.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our research has revealed that due to the lockdown imposed by the government in response to COVID-19, the sleeping patterns of the students were affected the most. Our findings show that the increase in the use of social media applications led to a widespread increase in the length of sleep, worsening of sleep habits (people sleeping at much later hours than usual), and a general feeling of tiredness. All these findings indicate the decline in the mental health of students due to the lockdown. Promoting better sleep routines, minimizing the use of digital media, and encouragement of students to take up more hobbies could collectively improve the health and mood of students in self-quarantine. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant adverse impact on the mental health of Pakistani university students; the prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety and depression were 34% and 45%, respectively. COVID-19 has resulted in over 108.16 million confirmed cases, deaths of over 2.374 million, and a recovery of 80.16 million people worldwide, as of February 12, 2021. This study focused on exploring the COVID-19 pandemic’s adverse effects on global public health and the indispensable role of social media to provide the correct information about the COVID-19 health crisis. The findings’ generalizability offers helpful insight for crisis management and contributes to the scientific literature. The results might provide a stepping-stone for conducting future empirical studies by including other factors to conclude exciting developments.

References

 Salman, M., Asif, N., Mustafa, Z. U., Khan, T. M., Shehzadi, N., Hussain, K., Tahir, H., Raza, M. H., & Khan, M. T. (2020). Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Pakistani University Students and How They Are Coping. Metrix, 2020.05.21.20108647. doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.21.20108647  Baloch, G. M., Sundarasen, S., China, K., Nurunnabi, M., Kamaludin, K., Khatami, H. B., Hossain, S. F. A., & AlSukayt, A. (2021). COVID-19: Exploring impacts of the pandemic and lockdown on the mental health of Pakistani students. PeerJ, 9, 1–15. doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10612  Wang, X. Y., Li, G., Malik, S., & Anwar, A. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on achieving the goal of sustainable development: E-learning and educational productivity. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istrazivanja , 0(0), 1–18. doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.1927789  Saleem, M., Bakar, A., Durrani, A. K., & Manzoor, Z. (2021). Impact of Perceived Severity of COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) on Mental Health of University Students of Pakistan: The Mediating Role of Muslim Religiosity. Frontiers in psychiatry, 12, 560059. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.560059