What began as a localised outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan spread within a year to every nook and corner of the world, turning into a global pandemic. The novel Coronavirus disease has already taken the lives of around 1 million people. With the possibility of developing a vaccine not seeing the light of day, it is not going to leave us anytime soon. Even if the vaccine is developed, its worldwide distribution will take time. So, what is termed as “Covid Appropriate Behaviour” has become an indispensable part of our life.
Pandemic like this is a once-in-a-century crisis. It has turned our world upside down. There is not even a single aspect of life that has remained untouched. It has also inflicted untold sufferings to all the people. We have lost our dear ones, economies are going through a recession, global supply chains have been disrupted and so on. The pandemic has disproportionately affected the countries with low income.
For example, when the lockdown was imposed in India, a massive wave of migrants started going back to their villages. They lost their lives from hunger, road and rail accidents and diseases. A large number of people have been slipped back to poverty.
Children’s education has been impacted due to the digital divide, inadequate resources and poverty. Due to all this, the issues related to mental health problems have risen exponentially. With social gatherings like a get-together, marriage and birthday parties, weekend outings, etc. becoming a thing of past, people have lost hope of life returning to normal anytime soon. Our mind follows a set pattern of life and still reluctant to shed the inertia. It has made us nostalgic about pre-corona life.
More and more people across the world are facing mental health problems at an unprecedented scale. They range from anxiety to severe depression.
Reasons for Mental Stress
- Man is a social animal. There is a natural urge in us to socialise. This is how human beings have been living their life for a long time. But with the arrival of the pandemic, lockdowns have kept us indoors with minimal contact from the outside world. This is the primary reason causing mental stress.
- Overdose of technology.
- Uncertainty regarding future among children, parents, professionals, etc.
- Loss of loved ones and fear of getting infected.
- Neglect of old, disabled and children.
- Little emphasis on mental health and its stigmatisation.
Keeping in mind all the above factors, it is important for every one of us to know about how to take care of our mental health during times like this.
Taking Care of Mental Health
- Talk to your distant relatives and friends.
- Try to learn and acquire new skills and hobbies. It is said that we are all ordinary until we explore the extraordinary hidden inside us.
- Complete the pending novel or book that is lying over your desk waiting to be picked up.
- Meditation: Practicing simple meditation is indeed a great way to know ourselves.
- Spend more time with family and friends so that all their complaints piled up over the years owing to lack of time and tight schedule are over.
Always remember that “tough times never last, but tough people do”. Human beings have endured an even worse crisis than this. Sooner or later, we would come out of all this. Till then, build yourself up by exploring the endless possibilities that you possess.