Last summer, I was determined to start the 2019-20 school year with a sense of control.

For me, that meant facing the mental health issues that had reached a boiling point in the spring of 2019 head on.

Depression. Eating disorders. Mad, constant anxiety. At the end of my freshman year, I was already living my life in isolation.

When I gathered the courage to take back control, I had my family, my friends, my basketball team and my doctor behind me. I started a new medication, and I watched myself go from taking a long “depression nap” every day to actually living.

Enter COVID-19.

Shortly after classes moved online and life slowed down, I felt myself slipping again. I texted my mom, “My mental health is horrible not being able to go anywhere. I just wanna sleep all the time… I just keep crying.”

I returned home to Iowa in rough shape.

No matter how much I love my family, the motions of interacting with classmates and professors, sweating it out in the gym and cooking dinner with friends at night were all part of the routine that gave me a sense of control.

For those who struggle with any kind of mental health problem, social distancing is terrifying. I am alone with my thoughts constantly, and even though I have the opportunity to interact with family members, there is no escape from the inside of my head.

39% of college students experience a significant mental health issue. What are we doing to make sure this pandemic doesn’t transition from body to mind?

Now, I’m not saying I have a bad life; I have found small joys in Zoom sessions with extended family, workouts with my siblings and movie nights with my parents.

But daily homework assignments make me as anxious as speaking in front of a crowd. It takes me several days to be able to send a single email. I have found myself sleeping less at night and taking up my “depression naps” again.

Make sure to check on friends and family right now; it might be all the difference.

I can’t wait to hug my friends again.

Mia Laube can be reached at mia.laube@stthomas.edu.

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Mia Laube is a sophomore journalism student at the University of St. Thomas. She is in her second semester as a TommieMedia reporter and will serve as chief story editor in the fall. Mia played for the women’s basketball team her freshman and sophomore years. Mia isolated with her family in Marion, Iowa for three weeks and recently moved back to Minnesota.