A mental health crisis was spreading on college campuses. The pandemic has made it worse.

Jesse Brownell said she felt lost last spring, when the coronavirus pandemic upended her freshman year at Dartmouth College. But in the months that followed, the 19-year-old regained her footing. She moved into a house near campus with friends this school year and restarted practices with the women’s squash team.

Then, earlier this month, she contracted the coronavirus and had to spend more than a week in isolation housing. She couldn’t be around friends and was barred from playing sports. Alone, she consumed herself with schoolwork.