Covid-19 and Mental Health! Social deterioration!

2020 has been a stressful year. We’ve all been placed in situations we didn’t ask for, we’ve experienced hardships we never imagined, seen things we never thought we would. But here we are, still battling with the ramifications of this deadly virus.

Where covid took many things from us like our jobs, our social life, distancing us from our families and the lives of our loved ones, sending us into a pitfall, at the same time it attacked our mental health quite brutally. The loss of jobs for people which is an obvious source for bread winning along with paying rents, bills, mortgages or loans etc. Parents having to deal with the kids who are forced to stay at home during this whole pandemic, homeschooling them and trying to explain the WHATS and HOWS of this situation actually deteriorated the mental health of many men and women no matter what profession they belong to.

This pandemic has gripped every profession, be it medical, education, engineering, aviation, you name it and it has been affected. Doctors are working day and night to deal with the patients of covid and others as well even if they have to increase their working hours, and not being able to give due time to themselves or their families. We can only imagine what would be the state of their mental health when they are under constant pressure of saving lives.

Now imagine what the mental condition of a taxi or an uber driver would be when their source of income was only based on transporting people from one place to another, in this situation where people are being asked to stay at home. Or the crew members of the airlines who are dropped from their jobs because the airline cannot afford their pays due to no functioning flights. All this is very difficult to handle as none of us has ever seen such a situation that has destroyed not only the economy, but the lives of people.

Children have also been equally affected by all this as they can hardly understand what’s actually happening around them. Why are their parents not at work? Why aren’t they going to school and meeting their friends or teachers? Why are they not visiting their family members whom they used to visit quite often? Why are they not being able to play outside? Parents are having a tough time explaining this situation to these tender minds.

Senior citizens living in aged care who expected regular visits from their family or friends are also having a difficult time as those visits were also at a halt.

Aristotle said: “Man is a social animal”, and today, with this sense of captivity, we can very much understand its true meaning.

While some people are being stranded into other countries as the international borders have been closed to stop the spread of this virus, for an unknown amount of time, or maybe until it’s safe to do so, living and dealing with all this all alone away from families and loved ones is an added pain and some also couldn’t attend the last rituals of their loved ones due to this.

Accumulating all this we all can now have a better understanding of how tough all this can be for people who are going through all this with their funds shrinking at the same time.

There is another painful aspect of this pandemic as well, those people and children who have been dealing with abusive relationships at home (could be a partner, or any other family member). Their only way out of dealing with the unfortunate situation of their relationship was to seek refuge at their workplace or school or any institute where they used to go. But now their only outlet has also been taken from them by this pandemic by staying at home, quarantining and every time under the radar of that abusive person they are being falling victim to.

I personally feel that the impact of this deadly virus on our lives was ferociously strong that it forced many people to take their own lives even if they weren’t diagnosed with covid, and knowing the fact that all this is temporary and this too shall pass but it didn’t let that happen.

Over 1200 people committed suicide since March 2020 due to isolation and loneliness, losing jobs and loved ones and what not, leading many down to tough path. Its true life can be very cruel sometimes and one thing I’ve learnt from this gore situation is that we should value what we have today, as tomorrow is not promised! You never know what the other person is going through, if today he or she was looking happy that doesn’t mean they truly are and are not thinking or attempting to take their own lives.

As a community or even as an individual please keep check on your surroundings and try to lend a hand for help instead of judging because like I said earlier; someone may be in dire need to talk to someone, or in need of serious help, it can be a child or an adult. Many lifelines are also working for this purpose, 24 hours to save lives and to help people in need, e.g Lifeline Australia – Crisis support & Suicide Prevention (13 11 14).

Stay safe!