Mental stress in Covid-19 times
Amid the pandemic, growing concerns have been raised over mental health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that stress, anxiety, fear and loneliness is leading to depression. In these unprecedented times, Dr Rajat Arora, an interventional cardiologist and director, Yashoda Group of Hospitals, Ghaziabad, pens his thoughts on how the Covid-19 crisis has taken a toll on the mental well-being of people.
AN EXPERIENCE LIKE NEVER BEFORE
How many, from the past or the current generation, have ever experienced such a scenario, wherein the entire nation has been under a lockdown for months? Even though the lockdown called for by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been widely appreciated as the most effective way of containing the spread of Covid19, the lockdown in itself has been taking a toll on people. Social distancing, isolation, closure of schools and offices, restricted movement, and anxiety that prevails over the uncertainty of not getting salaries or losing jobs has been daunting. While much is given to ensuring the virus is stopped in its tracks, and a lot of effort is going into physical well-being of the public, mental well-being of those struggling to cope with the lockdown is being sidestepped. Mental wellness has always been an abstract concept in India. This nation, with a population of 1.3 billion, is still stigmatised on consulting a shrink (this, in most cases, is considered an offensive word!).
MENTAL WELL-BEING OF WOMEN, CHILDREN
With the pandemic contributing silently, but liberally, to the mental health of our populace, this is the time when psychologists and psychiatrists can take control. Provide counselling sessions to mothers struggling to engage their ever-demanding children; take care of the household chores and also attend to the needs of their spouses. This overburdening can result in high levels of stress, anxiety. Cases of domestic violence have spiked, as perpetrators find ‘ample time’ in company of the victim.
It is also very important for psychologists to speak to kids in these times. They experience fear and confusion just like adults — fear of dying, relatives dying, effect of the illness and effectiveness of the treatment. It is very important to alleviate their fears, give them clarity on what’s going on and at the same time, not give them too much hope that they later despair.
The WHO has announced it is preparing a set of guidelines, addressing mental well-being of those aged between four and 10, which will soon be released.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF ECONOMIC DOWNTURN
The economic incertitude with a majority of the country locked indoors, the ambiguity over salaries and businesses that have shuttered, has brought about a mental gloom. Concern of health economists, that the number of people who die due to the economic downturn will be as disturbing as those dying due to the virus itself, is worrying.
US-based researchers note that groups hit particularly hard by job loss or a decline in earnings are likely to witness an increase in deaths during a recession. Job losses during a recession push people to social isolation, thus graduating into depression.
TOLL ON DOCTORS’ AND NURSES’ MENTAL HEALTH
Very vulnerable to mental sickness during these times are doctors and paramedical staff, who do not have the privilege of holing up in their homes to shield themselves from the virus. They suffer from anxiety of taking care of their sick patients — not to mention the lurking fear of contracting the disease due to lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). For them, it is loneliness on a different level. They miss the companionship of their children, aged parents, and home. The emotional turmoil they undergo, having to give steady stream of reassurances , shallow or otherwise, is taking a toll. Their families are stigmatised, as they are in contact with the infected, and India is seeing cases where doctors and medical staff are harassed and insensitively sent out of rented homes.
Doctors in Italy had to take the most disheartening decision of whom they should put under ventilator and who they should give a pass, that which is most likely to have devastating and lasting psychological effects. This is something that we should save our Indian doctors from.
So, socially DISTANCE, NOW, and make each one of their sacrifices worth it.