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The anxiety about the latest policy in India has not just affected the mental health but has also taken a toll on their physical health and social well-being too. This is an experiment that has no precedents in human history, neither in India nor of the world, to put 1.3 billion people on a 21-day lockdown without any adequate preparation.
Firstly, there has been a sweeping fear of misinformation that this disease is deadly, but in fact, it is proven to actually kill about 0.5-1% of people who are over the age of 65 as per the UK Government’s scientific advisers; this is lower than the rate of death among confirmed cases, which is globally 5% in WHO figures as of March 29th, 2020 because not all infections have been confirmed by testing. Secondly, there has been a fear of uncertainty due to a change of rules and regulations and new set of restrictions being put every day without knowing what tomorrow will bring. Thirdly, a misuse of the term ‘isolation’ and ‘social-distancing’ has led to anxiety. Dr.Shekar Saxena, the former Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO has pointed out that the term to use must be ‘physical-distancing’. We all need human connection with one another and particularly at a time like this to maintain good mental health.
It has to be noted that India has the largest population of poverty-stricken citizens and is deep rooted with inequality. If the government does not quickly address the acute poverty that is going to affect millions of people nation-wide, it may inadvertently find that a policy that was intended to prevent deaths due to the COVID-19 virus, might in fact lead to increased deaths due to a range of other poverty driven diseases. It is extremely important for the government to emphasize that existing health care for other chronic diseases must not be affected by the tension caused by covid-19.
There has been a wave of panic and fear engulfing the country leading to an increase in anxiety, which will contribute to loneliness and stress related mortality as well as mobility. The lathi-charges across the country would not happen in the most significant political crackdown on dissent but is ironically happening during a health emergency.
Dr. Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist and researcher from Harvard Medical School, in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai stated that “Ironically my bigger concern is that if not properly implemented to keep in mind all other related concerns, this policy may actually wind up doing more harm than good that it potentially could do.”
There are senior citizens who are alone, there are students who feel disoriented that exams have been put-off, there are salaried people who are fearing losing jobs, affluent people who are fearing that their business is down and a number of people who have not been able to access essential commodities over the last 24 to 48 hours– all of it directed towards psychological makeup of people.
Dr. Harish Shetty from Mumbai, in his interview with India Today on 29th March, 2020 pointed out the importance of ‘gloom busters’ during the lockdown. He suggested that revisiting old memories though albums and pictures can be a way to keep the elderly entertained and avoid loneliness.
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