Survey: Student Loans More Stressful than the Pandemic

In the past year, we’ve dealt with one crisis after another. From a pandemic that shut down daily life to racial injustice, economic destruction, and election stress. Our latest 2021 Mental Health Survey found that high-debt student loan borrowers experienced additional mental health affects that might surprise you.

The pandemic caused a mental health strain particularly among thousands of our readers, most of whom have six figures of student loan debt. We sought to unpack whether the pandemic or student loan debt caused greater stress.

What we found reveals the true burden of owing more from your education than some people owe on their house. Among high-debt borrowers, student loans led to more mental health struggles compared to the pandemic.

Suicidal ideation still among borrowers whose income rose

The pandemic ushered in historic job loss for millions of people. We found that 1 in 20 respondents who are high-income professionals had suicidal ideation due to the pandemic, regardless of debt amount. Although many people experienced job loss or a loss of income, some workers saw an increase of income.

What we found is that wage increases weren’t enough to eradicate the feeling of suicidal ideation when it comes to student loan debt. In total, 1 in 14 respondents who are high-debt borrowers experienced suicidal ideation because of their student loan debt.

Twenty-six percent (26%) of respondents said that their income increased compared to before the pandemic. But 1 in 17 of these respondents whose income went up still reported having suicidal thoughts due to debt.

What’s also interesting is that suicidal ideation due to the pandemic was higher for those whose income rose when compared to those whose income remained the same.

One in 16 borrowers whose income remained the same experienced suicidal ideation because of student loans, while suicidal ideation rates were 1 in 10 among respondents whose income fell. Suicidal ideation jumped to 1 in 7 for respondents who lost their income completely, confirming that lack of income as well as debt-to-income ratio is a major issue.

Debt-to-income ratio is the real issue

When it comes to student loan policy and ways to mitigate financial stress related to debt, it’s easy to think that earning more or having loan forgiveness options available are easy solutions.

What our survey found is that while forgiveness options and earning more can be useful, they actually did little to alleviate the mental strain related to student loan debt.

We see a clear correlation between debt-to-income ratio and mental health struggles and suicidal ideation. When respondents owed significantly more than they earned, the instances of suicidal ideation increased. Even if a borrower is earning more, it might have a negligible effect on their debt-to-income ratio.

We found that 1 in 11 borrowers who owed more than two times their earnings had instances of suicidal ideation. This is a drastic change from 1 in 26 borrowers who experienced suicidal ideation who owed less than they earned.

That’s a huge difference that marks the increase in mental distress as the gap between earnings and student loan debt widen.

A common personal finance rule is to avoid borrowing more than your prospective annual salary, post-college. Imagine owing much more than your annual salary — it can feel tough to get ahead when your debt significantly exceeds your income.

Student loans, not pandemic, caused more stress

The pandemic led to more reasons for mental health struggles. There was a disruption of our routines and increased anxiety around COVID-19 itself, on top of grief and trauma, triggered by death and loss due to the virus. Despite all these pandemic-related concerns, our survey found that student loan stress still had a greater impact on mental health compared to the pandemic.

Despite pandemic student loan relief, most respondents experienced suicidal ideation at higher rates due to their student loans, rather than due to the pandemic. This was the case for every single profession except for physicians.

Physicians might be an exception, because they tend to have a lower debt-to-income ratio and more loan repayment options, like refinancing and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Plus, it makes sense that physicians would experience more stress and suicidal ideation over the pandemic than their student loans given their type of work. Physicians have been on the front lines seeing the trauma of the pandemic up close.

Below you can see the sample size and percentages of people in specific occupations who experienced suicidal ideation due to the pandemic.

Occupation	Sample	Suicidal ideation due to pandemic (%)
Occupational Therapist	41	12.20%
Naturopath or Acupuncturist	20	10.00%
Business/Corporate World	153	7.80%
Nurse	71	7.00%
Teacher	90	6.70%
Other	520	6.30%
Lawyer	146	6.20%
Nurse Practitioner/CRNA/Nurse Midwife	51	5.90%
Engineer	37	5.40%
Psychologist	77	5.20%
Optometrist	58	5.20%
Chiropractor	104	4.80%
Dentist	258	4.70%
Dental Specialist	46	4.30%
Student	106	3.80%
Physician Assistant	81	3.70%
Physician	287	2.80%
Physical Therapist	116	2.60%
Veterinarian	183	2.20%
Pharmacist	99	2.00%
Social Worker	61	1.60%
College Faculty or Staff	71	1.40%

The pandemic affected genders, equally

Our survey found that suicidal ideation related to student loan debt disproportionately affected women. Single women who earned $50,000 or less were hit the hardest.

However, when it comes to suicidal ideation due to the pandemic, it seems that genders were affected equally. We found that 4.7% of male respondents and 4.8% female respondents experienced suicidal ideation due to the pandemic.

According to survey data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), mental health issues increased due to the pandemic with 30% of respondents stating they were dealing with symptoms of depression and anxiety, 26% experienced trauma and stressor disorder symptoms related to the pandemic, and another 13% turned to substance abuse.

The bottom line

The trauma we’ve experienced over the past year will be felt for years to come. For student loan borrowers, student loan debt is one more thing to stress about. Even then, it seems student loans among high-debt borrowers and financial stress are having a greater impact on mental health than the pandemic itself.

Although it’s important to address mental health concerns individually, the survey data illustrates the connection between high debt load and financial stress as well as mental health struggles.

If you’re experiencing mental health issues due to the pandemic, check out tips and resources from the CDC on coping with stress or call the 24/7 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.