Negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health

The ever spreading virus has taken a toll on mental health drastically. People are still coming out of their shells to deal with the environment effectively. This is not just another blog about suicide, depression or anxiety which remains the most discussed topic in current scenarios.

Here, we shed light on few other rarely spoken issues that people have been facing in this pandemic.

• Relapses or recurrence of past conditions: Relapses of various pre-existing mental illness which was previously under control has been observed. There has been a steep increase in drug addiction relapses like alcoholism and tobacco usage which has led many to the Emergency Room. Patients with bipolar disorders and schizophrenia are more likely to have relapses due to jeopardy in both the availability of medication and medication compliance. The pandemic situation has also seen a spike in cases of patients with withdrawal symptoms ranging from anti-depressants to alcohol and tobacco usage leading to delirium or seizures in such patients.
• Less productivity or Lethargy is one more topic that has been less talked about, but has been affecting many peoples’ life. It has made people lose their work-life balance making their time spent ineffectual. In the past few months’ people have felt restlessness, emotionally unstable and at large experienced loss of their old selves. Beginning of lockdown brought a sense of relief for few people who worked tirelessly without any days off. However for others it came as an excuse to put their work on hold and eventually losing it due to their loss of will to pursue it. Many people have lost their motivation to do their work. The pandemic has also taken a toll on people’s creativity. Instead of pursuing recreational activities to keep themselves busy, people were found to waste time binge-eating, ruminating about daily concerns. In such scenarios people have become extremely lethargic.
• Although not a medically or psychologically diagnosed condition yet, Caution Fatigue is a new phenomenon being observed globally in the aftermath of the current pandemic. It refers to low motivation to adhere to safety and hygiene guidelines that are to be followed to prevent diseases or illnesses.
• New emerging phenomenons such as these have added to the current widespread surge of COVID- 19 cases. A positive thing which has come out during the pandemic is the cleanliness regime but some people are overdoing it as well. Whereas, some have succumbed into Caution Fatigue. An old proverb “Anything done in excess can be harmful” still stands true. As much as taking care of one’s hygiene is appreciated, being dominated by fears of catching the virus is not. Many have experienced themselves washing hands frequently than required, to use sanitizer more than necessary, being occupied by thoughts of getting the virus and transmitting to others unintentionally. These incidents have reached to such heights where people have to get professional help.

We all are witnessing a global pandemic, as much devastation and mental breakdown it brings, it also has made us aware as to how important our mental health is and what measures should be taken to avoid any illnesses in near future.

Written by Shreenidhi D.S.