IndexIntroductionThe mental health of students pre-CovidThe mental health of students during CovidThe mental health of students after the Covid lockdownConclusionIntroductionAccording to the World Organization of Health, "Mental health is a state" of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community." The mental health of higher education students around the world has become a growing concern in recent years and has dramatically worsened over the past year due to the global pandemic. A large number of studies examine mental health trends in the general population. However, as the focus of this research is the mental health of college students, these will not be examined in detail and will only be cited where appropriate. In the first section, sources investigating the mental health of students pre-covid will be examined. The following section will review sources examining student mental health during covid. Finally, the last section will look at sources examining student mental health post-Covid lockdown. I propose to investigate whether there has always been a level of mental health crisis or whether Covid-19 has exacerbated these issues. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayStudent Mental Health Pre-CovidWhile student mental health in higher education has increasingly been viewed as a crisis due to the global pandemic, pre-Covid concerns had already increased. The impact of mental health problems on students can be severe as it can lead to academic failure, dropping out of school, poorer career prospects and, in the worst case scenario, suicide. Numerous pre-covid studies have highlighted how the changing demographics of college students may partly explain the increase in mental health problems. Macaskill (2013) discusses how the Royal College of Psychiatrists states that the government is encouraging more students from a wider sector of society to attend university. Johnson (2018) agrees that the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in higher education has increased over the last 5 years. See how coming from a socially disadvantaged background is associated with a substantially higher risk of experiencing a common mental health disorder. Therefore, these discussed issues highlight that years before covid-19 there were already issues related to students' mental health. Both authors highlight the link between college financial concerns having a negative impact on mental health, such as students' management of their finances. However, neither addresses how the organization of universities themselves affects students' mental health. On the other hand, Burns et al (2020, pg2) examine how increasing student numbers have affected the personal relationships that staff and students enjoy, leading to a serious reduction in time spent on pastoral support by academic staff. As a result, the way universities are run today does not help the major transition that many students face from leaving their homes to a new university life with problems such as loneliness, social pressures such as making new friends and academic pressure. Furthermore, Owen (2017) makes an interesting comment on whether there has been an increase in mental health problems or simplyawareness. It could be seen that a positivistic perspective is more valid for determining this point as it may appear that there has been an increase in mental health problems due to more measures being put in place such as surveys to find research on this topic. Similarly, Gorczynski et al (2017) examine students' level of mental health literacy. However, in their study they discuss how college students do not have sufficient mental health literacy skills to be able to recognize mental health problems. This contradicts Owens' (2017) point about how there may actually be an increase in student mental health issues and not just awareness. Furthermore, Shackle (2019) further highlights this point by explaining how the student mental health crisis made headlines in 2017 following a high number of suicides at the University of Bristol. Shackle (2019) explains how “given that around half of young people now attend university, the number of students seeking help is inevitable.” Undoubtedly, it is important to discuss student suicide as it draws attention to a real-life problem in the student community and highlights the importance of research. Student Mental Health During Covid Moving on to the pandemic, there are some sources that look at how the negative The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of college students is serious and concerning. They are based on the concept of loss of social trust during Covid-19 towards universities which were seen as incapable of fulfilling their duties and being relied upon to fulfill their responsibilities. Statistics provided by the National Union of Students (2020) highlight the scale of the problems as “53% of respondents said their mental health and wellbeing was worse than before the pandemic”. However, this study cannot be considered large enough as the survey only involved more than 4,000 students, as there are 2.38 million students studying in higher education institutions. Rimmer et al (2020) exemplify how waiting times for help have increased due to covid-19 and how they are "overly dependent on self-help methods". Therefore, these sources are crucial to the idea that there may be growing concerns about the future if students feel they cannot trust their universities, especially after the impact of covid-19 on declining student mental health. Student mental health after Covid lockdownThe following section will discuss student mental health after covid-19 and how universities have adapted to this situation. Kotouza et al (2021) state that over the past five years the university mental health crisis has reportedly worsened, particularly following a series of student suicides and, more recently, the pandemic having had a large effect on this. Savage et al (2020, page 5) highlights how “these findings need to be taken into account by universities when developing policies and interventions to support their students after this difficult time”. However, these sources do not provide specific information on what universities can do to improve this situation during the covid-19 period. On the other hand, Out-Law News (2021, no pagination) suggests what universities can do, such as offering online 1-1 counseling resources to provide support for the “increased demand” for mental health services as they “adapt to covid". -19 guidelines". As a result, it is clear how the pandemic has increased pressure on universities to support mental health, 2010).