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Reagan Beach
Introduction
With the onset of a global pandemic, people worldwide have felt the impact of declining mental health and perceptions of wellbeing due to social isolation and anxiety. As discussed in the previous chapter, this has been especially true for students attending colleges and universities. Through the use of digital resources students have been able to get the psychological counseling that they need despite the social limitations of COVID-19. Even with increased resources and access, however, it’s important to recognize the challenge of such a unique and unprecedented crisis. As the mental health cases have steadily increased during the impact of COVID-19, digital resources have become more and more important for the well-being of college students. Digital resources reduce the number of in-person appointments, thus, decreasing risk to both counselors’ and clients’ for contracting the virus. These digital resources has been essential in addressing the increased number of mental health cases in the United States and must continue to increase to meet
the demand.
Connection to STS Theory
The Modernization Theory is used to explain the development of societies in correlation with the improvements of science and technology. As we grow and change as a society during the impact of COVID-19, we must also adapt our resources and technology to fit the needs of our society. One of the ways in which we must adapt is through the implementation of digital health resources. As in-person appointments have become harder to arrange through times like these, we must utilize our technology and convert to online formats. This transition to online health resources would not have been possible several years ago, but thanks to the constant improvements in science and technology the pandemic came at a somewhat convenient time for national mandates requiring and suggesting isolation. The needs for online resources have been met, making it easier and less risky to make an appointment. Furthermore, it can potentially increase the number of patients a medical provider can speak with in a given day which provides more help to those who in need. The concept of modernization is a push toward a safer, healthier environment with up-and-coming online appointments.
The Rise in Mental health Cases
The onset of COVID-19 has greatly increased the number of mental health cases. As mentioned in the previous chapter, there has been a lot of research illustrating the correlation between increased lockdown measures and a corresponding increase in those self-reporting suffering with depression and anxiety. A study done in Italy compared emergency room visits for mental health cases from before and after lockdown was put into place (Gaebel & Stricker, 2020). It showed that although there were fewer emergency room visits, the reported cases of anxiety and depression had significantly increased from the year prior. The CDC also reported that adults in the United States re