Aug 28, 20203 min read

The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health

Updated: Jul 11, 2023

The hustle bustle of cities, the honking noises and smelly buses and not to forget the constant need to be somewhere. These are some things that were a huge part of our lives whether we were aware of it or not.

When lockdown was announced, within a few hours, all of these things came to a sudden halt and we all felt a temporary relief of not having to wake up at 5 in the morning to catch a crowded train or be in traffic for 3 hours with people honking all over the place. We all felt a sense of peace in the silence of our cities.

But as time went by, the same feeling of relief faded away and we started missing those things and today, we would do anything to have those things back in our life; to get back to our normal life again.

Now, whereas a lot of us have been realising this change within us, it has also led to a considerable rise in the number of people reporting that they are dealing with mental health issues.

In one of it’s recent articles, The New Indian Express stated that- “Noted psychiatrist Anand Nadkarni said before March this year (prior to the outbreak of COVID-19), he used to get six to seven cases of OCD daily, but now the number has gone up to 32 to 36 every day.”

Moreover, according to a review of a research done by The Lancet, they found quarantine to be linked with PTSD symptoms, anger and confusion. In addition to this, people have also been noticed to be more nervous, stressed, fearful of catching the virus, having disturbed sleep, panic attacks, loneliness etc.

And this is not something that has been restricted to a particular age group. People from the older generations have been facing fear of contamination, whereas the middle generations are always under the pressure of making ends meet with all the salary and job cuts. Then there is the young generation whose FOMO and stress levels are going out the roof with extremely limited exposure to the outside world and friends and with the onset of online school and colleges.

Moreover, there are also the students and working class people living in different cities or countries who are also feeling increased levels of stress, anxiety and loneliness due to the constant uncertainty as to when they would be able to go back home, or about the measures taken in their city or country and even due to the sudden shift to work from home.

With the world coming to this sudden halt, all of humankind is in a state of utter confusion as to what they should do right now and what lies for them in the future, whether it be in any aspect from jobs to education.

Nevertheless, there is a bright side. For one, people have started talking about mental health much more than they did before, under some or the other context. This is huge progress for our society as it’s finally opening up conversation about the topic. Secondly, due to the fact that most people haven’t been able to meet their family and friends, the importance of face-to-face conversations and relationships will increase as people have started realising the benefits of collaborating with people in real time as compared to reel time.

I would now like to suggest some simple ways to cope with the current situation- healthy food and sleep patterns, meditation, communication with people around you or through devices, having a routine, etc. To conclude, I want to share with you this line by Martin Luther King Jr.- “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”

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How has this pandemic been for you? Feel free to share your experiences in the comment box below. Also, if you liked this blog or related to it in any manner, please don’t forget to like, comment, share it with your family and friends and for further blog updates follow me on my Instagram handle https://www.instagram.com/helzeeblog/ and also on WordPress. See you next time! Till then, always remember, Be brave. Be strong. Be great. ♥