LOCKDOWN With the rapidity of the coronavirus infection spread, lockdown is the only way to contain the virus. However lock down coupled up with quarantine is sure to have several psychiatric effects on people varying with age, economic status, and profession.
THE PANIC
Irrespective of economic status or profession, panic amongst the grown-ups is a common reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. With fake WhatsApp forwards and different guidelines to stay safe by different sources, the general public is on the whole petrified. Not being able to go outside and personally meet people, the lockdown is instrumental in escalating nervousness and anxiety among people. Partnered with pre-existing conditions of depression, anxiety, and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), this lockdown panic is deteriorating the mental health of the general public and creating a common air of fear and apprehension.
THE ELDERLY GROUP
The coronavirus has proved to be fatal mainly to the elderly group i.e. above the age of 55- 60 years. Thus people belonging to this age group are advised to be more careful and leave their homes only when it’s extremely necessary. For older people staying with their children the lockdown isn’t as difficult as the people living alone. With loneliness, helplessness, and panic grasping the elderly, it’s anticipated that they might suffer more from depression rather than from coronavirus infection.
Several government organizations, NGOs, and private agencies have taken serious steps to provide the elderly group with essential items at their doorsteps and these organizations have contributed a lot in keeping the older people safe. The next step is to provide them with connectivity that the governments have to look upon.
THE CHILDREN AND STUDENTS
The bubbly and super energetic nature of the children has been caged in their homes during this period of self-quarantine and lockdown. Children are a group that is extremely vulnerable to depression. Being closed inside the gates of the house, children are mostly ignored by working from home parents, and with no school or playground to go, they’re inexpressibly lonely.
Students are also deprived of their education as the majority of India is underprivileged to use technology and connectivity that is essential e-learning. The difference between “Digital India” and “Hungry India” is too large to be ignored and its mental effects on non-privileged students are quite serious.
Though the mental condition of the public is serious, lockdown and quarantine cannot be lifted unless the virus spread is fully contained because people as human resources are considered above everything else.
