The experience and mental well-being of Tulane university students living through the Covid-19 pandemic
Description
This thesis sought to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic changed (1) the degree to which Tulane seniors felt integrated into and regulated by their communities, and (2) how this affected their mental health. The study drew on Émile Durkheim's classic work on suicide prevalence, as well as qualitative data collected through 7 in-depth interviews of Tulane University seniors. Some of these seniors had prior psychiatric intervention, making them members of a particularly vulnerable population worthy of further investigation. The data obtained from the interviews was phenomenologically coded. This allowed for participants' unique experiences and perspectives to guide analysis, so that the "universal essence" of the phenomenon could be understood. The study sought to determine whether some sort of relationship can be drawn between mental well-being and shifting levels of social integration and regulation amongst Tulane University seniors by qualitatively exploring mental health degradation. The research also highlighted whether physical co-presence was necessary for social bonds and relationships. Overall, the results of the study suggest that those who had mental health issues before the COVID-19 pandemic experienced a greater degree of social isolation and felt more intensely affected by and dissatisfied with the CDC, Tulane, and interpersonal regulations that were in place. Those who did not have prior mental health issues still felt socially isolated and regulated, but not to the same degree as those with preexisting psychiatric conditions. Furthermore, the findings suggest that physical co-presence is necessary for complete social integration since, in general, virtual communication was not sufficient to form and or maintain quality social bonds.