Health

Aiming for mental wellness at NYU

By Aaron Baluyot

“I think we are still coping and we are not yet there,” said grad student Chrysolite Mongoly when asked if the pandemic affected the mental health of individuals, mainly youth and young adults. ”It’s still a long way to go because mental health is a challenge for every single individual.” As a student pursuing her master’s degree in global public health at New York University, Mongoly has covered the topic of mental health with colleagues and its effects on students studying at NYU. She has also covered the topic of mental health  and lifestyle choices on her YouTube channel, titled Game Changer.

A recent survey released by NYU revealed that about 55% of students say that their academic performance has been hindered by symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, highlighting a concerning trend among college students in recent years. Suicide rates among youth have also gone up since 2007. 

Insight was received at NYU’s very own Bobst Library, a prominent hub on campus for study and research, to a variety of questions pertaining to the state of mental health right now, and its relation to COVID-19, young people, and resources at the University. When questioned if the pandemic had affected today’s youth mentally, incoming computer science freshman Jeanmarck Ceant, recalled his own experience with life and education via the computer screen, when he was only in his early years of high school: “I do think that the youth have definitely struggled during the pandemic because it was a big shift…Also, like…”, letting out a sigh before shifting his tone, “taking classes virtually was not the best option because not many kids stayed and actually paid attention…[I]t made it harder for kids to come into school like the next year and have to focus… [T]hey literally didn’t learn anything from it.” The sudden shift the pandemic caused changes in learning for the foreseeable future, and its effects still linger today, affecting students such as Chrysolite and Jeanmarck.

Mongoly was also asked if she was comfortable with opening up to someone about struggles with mental health, aka anxiety and depression: “[Y]es, I would be comfortable but it also has to be an individual I trust who cna hold things up as someone who can be confidential . . . whom I know that my information is safe, and that I think is the most important thing.” 

The next question asked if the interviewees have ever been affected by anxiety or depression during their studies. Ceant chimed in: “In the past in high school, it helped. But now, like right now, it’s not helping so much,” changing the tone of his voice before continuing. “I think being anxious sometimes can get in the way . . ., so that was actually hard, like actually focusing.” Mongoly gave a different perspective, stating that her struggles mainly came before she went to NYU: “So for me it wasn’t more during the academics, it was like a phase before I got into a university where I was going through a very, like a hard time with anxiety and depression, and I really saw the effects of it . . . [T]he university helped me to cope up with what I was going through because I had the academics that I could focus on . . . I was able to have some goals, and being someone who’s been there and gone through those kinds of things, it really helped me to really have that empathy with what I was studying and the interventions that I could contribute to the community.”

The interviewees were then simply asked: “How do you keep your mental health in check?” Mongoly splits her dealing with mental wellness into three components, describing them each: “So I break it down into physical, mental, and spiritual. So physically, like I’m working out, in the past year, in 2021 and 2022. I’ve completely changed my lifestyle – the diet that I consume and like just like making it a habit to workout and like and being committed to that time . . . Mental health, like I read books, I like to learn new things . . . I also hang out with friends, spending quality time . . . I can contribute to them and they contribute to me . . . [A]bout the spiritual health I go to Church, I also read the bible . . just knowing that God loves me and . . . he has a plan no matter what he sees in my presence.”

Ceant replies and touches on mental health resources at NYU: “So I go to the gym sometimes. Sometimes, that helps. Like hanging out with friends helps a lot. Like doing activities. There’s a lot of resources at NYU for mental health, so using that, finding people to talk to, doing therapy . . . There’s like this one saying that my instructor told me is to “be proactive and happy”, just trying to tell yourself you’re happy is not enough, you have to go do something that makes you happy, and physically do it.

The two students were also asked if they believe that today’s youth is more open about mental health today. Citing the effects of social media, Mongoly reveals a sort of double-edged sword with young people being more open: “Yes, in a way, but also it’s not a complete yes . . . A lot of people, like young people who show like “life is perfect and I have so many followers on social media”, but . . . we know that they have insecurities, we that they have mental breakdowns . . . [W]e see only good parts of social media . . People forget or fail to understand that the other person is a human being just because they are not posting the worst part of their lives . . . I feel like this generation, even though they are open about a lot of things, they are not truthful about a lot of things. You can be vocal and not speak the truth,” Mongoly explained. “Who’s posting about like “Hey I had a mental breakdown. This is the reality of me.” [or] “Hey I went through a sleepless night and I was like lonely or depressed.” Ceant briefly explained that “[I]t depends. I would say younger people are more likely to talk about mental health because it’s more accepted now than it was before.”

The final question asks if being a member of the NYU community makes it easier to reach out to resources offering help. Mongoly answers “They have literally built a community where they are there for you as a family, . . . but the hard part is the student has to reach out . . . [A colleague and I] were just thinking . . . how good it would be to have a counselor or program something that has a place at the library because this is the place where a lot of people struggle with mental health because of the academics and the deadlines coming up, and sometimes all that a student needs is a conversation . . . You just need someone to speak to you . . . A lot of people struggle at the library. I think like just having counseling groups of some entity would be a great help for NYU students.” Ceant replies, stating that “I feel like it’s easier. It depends on the person I would say. If you want to seek out for help, you’ll look for help, and there will be a lot of people around you, from students to administrators . . . They will help you but you have to take a step in asking, and if you can’t ask, you won’t have it.”

Overall, the effects of an increased visibility of mental health and wellness in the digital age and at NYU have been felt, but some, including the interviewees, emphasize the fact that more should be done, citing their previous challenges with mental health and their views of the University and it’s community’s dealing with the stigma. Please do not visit in person without an appointment. If you need Urgent Counseling, please call the Wellness Exchange at (212) 443-9999 to arrange a same-day session.