College students all over America are in turmoil as they battle mental health. According to recent research done by Boston University, “33,000 college students across the country reveal the prevalence of depression and anxiety in young people, which continues to increase, now reaching its highest levels.”
The pandemic plays an obvious role in this as the research also demonstrates, two-thirds of college students struggled with loneliness and the strong feeling of isolation. COVID-19 has caused a lot of these emotions along with the social distancing mandates, the loss of loved ones, and financial stresses from the loss of jobs. Such issues are more likely to occur for students of color as well as low-income students.
The weight of these problems can not only hurt the students in terms of their academics, but they can harshly influence their mental health. So, although all students encounter the struggles and stress of college life, these specific students suffer from additional circumstances. The pandemic has made it so nothing is absolute.
Such uncertainty, especially for the students who do not have the luxury with resources to go home into a comfortable environment. Some students do not have homes at all and some may not be able to afford to go back home. According to the New York Times, “Trapped between the financial hardships of the pandemic and the technological hurdles of online learning, the millions of low-income college students across America face mounting obstacles in their quests for higher education.” All of these accurate scenarios contribute to the fact that the mental health of students is a sinking ship. Hopelessness consumes students and sadness takes over.
However, there is a solution to relieve such stresses of college students. This is the mobile application, Happify: for Stress and Worry, created by entrepreneurs Tomer Ben-Kiki, Ofer Leidner, and Andy Parsons. These men believed in using technology and science together to help empower people so they could live happier lives. Happify provides a variety of tools to assure that its users are capable of taking control of their emotions.
With Happify, users can personalize it to their needs as the app keeps a measure of emotional well-being. This is measured through engaging activities and games that help fight mental health problems and negativity. These activities can be found within specific tracks. There are a vast amount of tracks in Happify, which are certain directions the user can follow to transform their life for the better. Some of these tracks include Coping better with stress, Building self-confidence, and Achieving mindfulness through meditation.
In addition, there are multiple articles and remarkable quotes provided by the app which entail different tips on how to become healthier mentally. There is also a wide range of articles pertaining to Black men’s struggle with mental health as well as Bipolar Disorder. Happify presents itself as an application for all people, it does not matter your race, gender, background, or your struggle.
Nonetheless, this app can be beneficial for college students, especially those who deal with disadvantage on top of disadvantage. These students can use Happify to change their mindset from being hopeless to becoming more optimistic. Informative reads, interactive games, meditations, and activities will bring comfort to these overwhelmed students, as well as every other student who is going through a lot.
Instead of drowning in sadness, Happify ingrains comfort and faith in that their concerns will get better. Although this app cannot exactly change their actual issue, it can change their mindset which is an extremely crucial component to helping them get out of their problems.
This well-renowned app has nothing but positive reviews from several well-acclaimed corporations like ABC World News, The New York Times, Forbes, and The Today Show. The Today Show states, “There are things you can do every day– tasks you can complete and be rewarded for–to feel better, reduce stress, live a better life, and actually be happy.” Such reviews are encouraging and inspiring to struggling college students.
Happify wants its users to experience a shift in their lives. A shift that makes their lives truly happy and full.
Spartan Echo 