November 11, 2020 5.26 pm This story is over 40 months old

‘The isolation eats me away each day’: Student turns to drugs to deal with lockdown

Weed keeps him “above water,” he says
| Photo: Adobe Stock

A student at the University of Lincoln has opened up about how using marijuana has kept them “above water” during the coronavirus pandemic, as lockdown and isolation are impacting on his mental health.

The second year student, who wished to remain anonymous, sent a confession to The Lincolnite on Wednesday saying he was slipping “further down a hole of sadness” as “students get unfairly blamed for everything.”

The student said their human interaction had “disintegrated” to only visiting their best friend’s house once or twice a week, with their struggles leading to using marijuana as a coping mechanism, even though they are aware of its potentially negative effects.

The student said he had five face-to-face lessons since the start of term, with tutors “supportive and great” during this difficult time, so he blames the government for the current situation.

The confession in full

I’m a university student at the University of Lincoln and this is my confession.

I’m a second year student, yet every day I slip further down a hole of sadness. University students have been blamed and left behind by the government.

We have been sent to university under a false hope of normality.

The freshers who have only just arrived look more depressed than I’ve seen anyone in my life, but they won’t admit that.

My lecturers look so sad but try the best they can under the government’s rules to help us, but even they struggle.

The government has failed us and will continue to do so when they don’t ask the general public what we want.

Since starting back at university I’ve had one face-to-face lesson a week (five in total) and now the government once again blamed us and says we have to stay inside and do work on a computer for two weeks before we can go home. [see story]

My human interaction has disintegrated to just me visiting my best friend’s house maybe one to two times a week.

It’s so hard as I live alone in my own studio, the isolation eats me away each day.

My coping mechanisms used to be being with friends to have great nights out — that’s what kept me going until the government put a six person ban then decided to close pubs early and now completely.

This year at university I’ve been to the pub/bar three times in total and held one six-person sesh.

I now endorse the use of marijuana wholeheartedly as it’s the only thing that has kept me above water — and yes I study crime and look at its effects.

It’s selfish the government has kept it illegal, especially during this pandemic. The effects have more positives than negatives, and I owe my dealer everything for working during a pandemic.

Please help university students, we have nothing and no life, and still get blamed for everything.

If any of the themes in this story affected you, please seek support. Here are some resources.

If you are a student who has been affected by the coronavirus crisis, please get in touch with your experiences to [email protected].

For help or advice, please contact your personal tutor or get in touch with the Student Support team on 01522 837080 or email studentsupport@lincoln.ac.uk. The UoL Wellbeing Centre is also on hand.
Practical and emotional support details are available here: https://studentservices.lincoln.ac.uk/covid-19-wellbeing-support.

This support includes delivery of a free care pack with food supplies for self-isolating students on request via isolatingstudent@lincoln.ac.uk