Trigger Warning: Mention of Covid trauma, death, su*cide
The ringtone of mom’s phone is always loud, loud enough to wake me up from my catnap.
But why did I need to wake up to pick the calls on my mom’s phone, doesn’t she know how to slide the green floating button on her phone screen? Well, “mom knows everything”. But the phones and the news that is coming every day are just making her anxious and all the panic attacks she is getting are hard to manage.
So let’s today talk about one of the taboo topics of our society “mental health”.
In this pandemic situation, everyone is going through a lot; a lot which is a lot more to handle alone. Losing lives of loved ones, not being able to say the final goodbye, economic crisis, job loss, and the prevailing loneliness in this lockdown.
According to a Lancet study, our country was always engulfed by mental disorders, one out seven Indians were affected by mental disorders in 2017. Now during covid, the cases have increased there to four-folds, 41% of youth in our country have reported as struggling with a mental disorder. Now we do know about the severity of mental health disorders.
But the big question is what to do and what not to do?
The first and foremost step for facing this challenge is the identification of its existence. These are some signs we should be looking for to identify it:
-Irritating and shouting behaviour
-Increased sadness, depression, or worry
-Difficulties with concentration and attention
-Changes in, or avoiding, activities that they enjoyed in the past
-Unexpected headaches and pain throughout their bodies
-changes in eating habits
Things we need to do to calm ourselves-
1. Limit media intake
2.Do a deep breathing exercise
3. Balanced diet
4. Regular daily routine
5. Open up about your feelings and tell the world through art talk and any form let the burden go away
What should we avoid doing?
1 Try and avoid Substance use
2. Excessive online activity
3. Keeping a wall around yourself
Do seek professionals advice if you are having constant worries or suicidal thoughts. We need to be kinder as a society and use social media for good purposes. And try help and seek help if needed without hesitation.
In a world where we could be anything let’s just be kind first.