Covid-19 and Mental Health Issues

Covid-19 has wrecked the global economic, social, and healthcare systems of the world. The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Pakistan on 26 February 2020. As of today, more than 443,246 cases have been reported and 8,905 people have died. Due to covid’s contagious nature, physical isolation, and lack of proper treatment, people are suffering from serious mental health challenges.  

(Hindustan times)

Pakistan is the 5th most populous country in the world with a population of 222,821,830. According to WHO, 24 million people in Pakistan need psychiatric assistance and Pakistan has only 0.19 psychiatrists per 100,000 citizens, one of the lowest numbers in the whole world. The mental health problems due to the novel coronavirus are widely observed across the country. 

The country went under lockdown in mid-March, 2020. The lockdown created stress, panic, anxiety, frustration, fear, and a sense of insecurity among people. These reactions are observed in ordinary people due to several reasons; characters may suffer from stress or anxiety due to uncertainty about their health, fear of death, lack of vaccination or treatment, and financial problems. Approximately, the one-quarter population of Pakistan lives below the poverty line. They depend on daily wages to meet their needs. 

 

There are a lot of other mental issues faced by people during this pandemic situation. This COVID-19 situation causes various mental health issues among public. People on daily wages hardly make their both ends meet. The lack of financial support for the family of a person who is the only support for his family cause serious stress issues. Business man face loses that cause stress among the business community. These mental health issues have some effects afterwards like changes in eating and sleeping patterns. And these stressful situations increase the intake of Tobacco, Alcohol and other substances that itself injurious to mental health.

 

On the other hand, this COVID-19 also cause stress and other health problems among student community too. Students face severe difficulties in learning that cause them stress. Some students are worried about their health while others about their grades. This pandemic not only collapse the economic stability of the country but the mental health of its native. These mental health issues effect different people differently according to their backgrounds. Pandemic fall differently on the people who earn on the daily basis like our laborer community as compared to those who have settled business. Talking about the jobbers, so they also face severe mental issues during corona. Companies fired a lot of their employees due to collapsed economy of the country and this cause stress among those employees.

 

Now the question arises that how we can cope with these stressful situations. And the answer lies in the mental therapy and counselling. And for this counselling you don’t need any therapist and psychologist but the strong mind itself. Try to understand the situation and make decisions according to it. At the same type our government is equally accountable for this economic collapse, mental health issues and shutting down of educational institutes.

We all need to devise ways to cope with this situation in a different way suitable to one’s background and surroundings.

Esha Shamim

Roll No: 01