Rise of Mental Health Crisis and Violence in Pandemic
The year 2019 would always be written in Black letters in the history of the world as SARS-COV-2 or
CORONA VIRUS siezed the world from being distinctively somatic. From the 'lab-chambers' of Wuhan,
China Covid19 took its giant steps towards the entire atlas causing unanticipated changes in socio-
economic and physiological domain which, in fact took a ghastly form.
From unaccountable infected patients to hulking death rates, from infinite curfews and lockdowns to
battle against this the then unknown yet beastly enemy to unemployment, poverty, to self-immolation,
mental breakdown, financial insecurities, everything took a hellish shaped.
The COVID-19 has undeniably paused and altered the standard of living for every person for over 2years
now, causing severe psychological reverberation and mental health crisis.
Analytical Studies demonstrated several psycho-social factors that indulged distress among Indian
population during the outburst of Nobel Coronavirus Pandemic which even raised the violence rates,
paranoia, neurotic disorders like phobia, neuro-psychosis, unsoundness of mind, emotional
derangement etc.
Fear, cautiousness are general human traits but Covid19 took mankind in the vortex of phobia and
anxiety causing depression beyond the margin. Experts on Mental Health seen quoting "Financial
breakdown, uncertainty to future sustainability and loss of loved ones are the prime factors for
culminating instability in behaviours and thought disorders".
The entire world underwent inflation. Joblessness hiked graphically as daily wage services stopped, non-
essential dispersion of goods and services were put to halt making thousands jobless. Small to medium
ranked private sectors downsized, every where scaling down of manpower took place, monthly salary or
remunerations were halved. This gave a severe jolt to the living and lifestyle of the population. Icing on
the distress increased medical expenses, hospital charges almost brought half of the population on road.
Suicide or Attempt to Suicide became the easy escape from this helplessness.
Statistical Studies say while people remained glued at home doing 'Work from Home', daily or monthly
expanses increased at least 25-45%, mainly in food and beverages.
Child Psychiatrists and Children Behavioural Experts mentioned how children have grown irritability
within themselves as 24/7 they remained locked inside 4 walls as in most of the cases, parents' were
seen not even letting children go to the balcony or terrace due to overprotective nature due to the fear
of getting infected. Nor they could gave them ample of time as parents remained involved in their
official works or household chores which actually increased. This led to immense loneliness in children
and exposure to electronic media.
It is seen, very recently due to 'School From Home' or Online Classes children, teens are facing issues like
redness and puffiness of eyes, stress pains (backside of head, forehead), backaches. Speech disorders
and writing problems are also been observed. Primary education level children even forgot alphabets,
numeric and how to write them. Insomnia is noticed among teens as they are consistently hooked on to
internet seeing web series and chatting.
Looking at the pre primary kids or play school goers they have no clues what should be done. Their
innocent childhood questions, quest for knowing everything, energetic physique often leading parents
to scold them as they keep of nudging of things which cause annoyance , irritation and disturbance
while working or after overtime and stressful work from home for the parents. Even several other
worries regarding crisis management, managing collateral damages also kept the earning members of
the family over stressed and over burdened.
The scenario still persists.
Losing of family members, colleagues, friends to the grasp of Covid19 caused huge mental and
emotional turmoil. It did shake people from within, taking away the zeal to live and work. Even normal
patients who were previously admitted to the hospitals got infected and co morbidity led to fatality. This
incidents most of the time created a sense of guilt among the closed ones which tends to seclusion of
self, depression and suicidal out of this known miseries.
Rural crisis have been completely different from Urban ones. In rural areas, in villages or in financial
backward families violence like beating, intake of alcohol increased because of joblessness and poverty.
Students get mid day meal, monthly grocery items, books, from school all stopped. These students were
send to work as daily helps in houses for income or adolescent minor girls were married off. Boys
became laborers in anywhere they could make for income. Daily wage earning families suffered
extensively. Consumption of local liquor, cards gambling games increased as no work to do for men.
Even women who worked as household helps were discontinued because of the spread of the infection.
Covid19 disintegrated every strata of the society in a broad spectrum and it is still not over. While things
are in the process of normalcy yet a fear of new variants, everyday rising of cases, death tolls and
'Online Life' persist, still. Students r lagging behind 2years in their courses from new school goers to
students pursuing higher education, is one irreplaceable loss. While every other segments of life and
livelihoods are taking baby steps towards uniformity but educational institutions remained still in the
hand of uncertainty.
Still the country, the world are struggling to gain back its lost stability and sooner or later we shall
overcome.
Journalist Tania Ghosh