Isolation From The Pandemic

Profession: Medical Student

Submitted On: October 7th, 2020

"This pandemic has clearly been super difficult for the mental health of healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients. I wouldn’t know how I’d handle that situation so huge props to them. But this crisis has also been really hard on students, in particular medical students.  I haven’t made any friends yet and it’s been over 2 months into medical school. I think I have now developed social anxiety. I feel like being vulnerable and open with others isn’t possible now because of online classes. I also feel like I’m drowning with how fast the pacing of medical school is, and it’s so hard to keep track of everything in an electronic form. Every time I hear a notification go off, I have so much anxiety because of course updates. It might be a summative exam, a case study, or even just a learning module but I become paralyzed whenever I hear the notification. I can’t just turn off these notifications either or else I’d fall behind. I tried to seek treatment but its impossible to book appointments because I’m just so busy now. I just feel like giving up sometimes, and recently had a few breakdowns. I feel like between online medical school and all the election season events, it’s been sensory overload. I’m sure others have faced this, you’re not alone."

We appreciate the opportunity to share stories like these with our community, with the goal of destigmatizing the struggles faced within the medical field.