An Impact Assessment of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Graduate Students with reference to Sikkim

Abstract

There is abundant research work connected to the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of graduate students. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a vital urge to address the mental health of graduate students. However, there seems a need of pragmatic studies that reliably assess the issues of graduate students during and following the occurrence of the pandemic. This study examines the stress experienced by graduate students in Sikkim, with a specific focus on stress, anxiety, and depression. A questionnaire was framed and the data were collected from graduate students in two phases. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test. The outcome specifies mild to moderate levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among graduate students in Sikkim, with significant difference in stress, anxiety and depression levels between male and female graduate students in both 2020 and 2021. However, there is no significant difference in anxiety in 2020 and 2021.