METHODS OF IMPROVEMENT OF STUDENTS MENTAL HEALTH IT THE TERMS OF FORCED DISTANCE LEARNING AND SOCIAL DISTANCING

Relevance. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning has become mandatory for numerous universities worldwide. The massive transfer to distance learning was unprecedented and unparalleled. The related need for isolation and social distancing influenced student groups' formation, the adaptation of students to a new social group – the student body. Higher education students faced additional new challenges, which led to increased mental health problems. Against the background of administrative restrictions and the impossibility of creating or maintaining traditional social ties due to the nature of the student society, the manifestation of anxiety, symptoms of depression, hard stress condition, and alcohol abuse facts became characteristic among students. It became necessary to identify the main symptoms of mental health disorders and their causes and methods and minimize such negative symptoms. This article also considers the format of personal communication between students as a necessary factor for full-fledged socialization and the formation of each student's personality. The study aims to comprehensively evaluate students' mental health disorders with the subsequent establishment of key channels of social support – active leaders of formal and informal student communities and teachers. The work results expressed in specific recommendations for improving students' mental health, with a targeted indication of the social ties they need to implement.