‘Covid patients faced psychosocial issues’

NEW DELHI: People diagnosed with Covid-19 suffered from a range of psychosocial problems, a study conducted by the National Disaster Management Authority in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences has found. Apart from health problems, there were also financial concerns and stigma that induced emotional reactions like stress, loneliness, boredom, anxiety, fear, sadness and hopelessness, the study has found.

The study titled ‘Psychosocial Support for Individuals Diagnosed with Covid-19: Experiences of Volunteer Counsellors from India’ and published recently on the NDMA website was based on the experiences of volunteer tele-counsellors of Covid helpline that was started in April last year and has 120 counsellors — trained mental health professionals like clinical psychologists, counsellors and psychiatrists — who have counselled 105,000 lakh people.

The researchers obtained data from about 500 call feedback forms of 20 counsellors who attended over 7,100 calls between April and September last year. Psychosocial concerns were aired in 657 calls, and the counsellors said the callers often complained about ill-treatment by neighbours, authorities not providing them basic facilities, discrimination in society due to the pasting of Covid notices outside their homes, inflated hospital bills without proper facilities, loss of savings and jobs, etc.

The report reveals that 95.12% of those who reported experiencing stigma blamed it on neighbours and people around them.

“Alienation and hostility were reported by counsellors towards individuals suffering from Covid-19 as people distanced and segregated themselves from them. Many individuals were also asked to vacate their rented houses after being diagnosed with the infecNDMA’s tion,” the study reads.

A staggering 548 individuals out of 657 (83.4%) shared different emotional responses that included anxiety, fear, stress, helplessness, depression, irritation, frustration, hopelessness, loneliness, feelings of disempowerment and boredom.

The report says another major source of distress to individuals was financial loss.

While the pandemic and its associated containment measures have taken a heavy toll on economies and societies worldwide and more than 300 million full-time jobs are estimated to have been lost worldwide in the second quarter of 2020 (International Labour Organization, 2020), about 87% of the respondents in this study reported having lost their source of livelihood during the pandemic, which was a major stressor.

THE STUDY WAS BASED ON THE EXPERIENCES OF VOLUNTEER TELECOUNSELLORS OF NDMA’S COVID HELPLINE THAT STARTED LAST YR