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The pandemic has left a colossal impact on the country’s economy including political and social. Psychologically, it has taken a toll on everyone in many untold ways and is still continuing. The economic impact has led to unemployment, recession, financial uncertainty, the collapse of industries and essential services disruption to name a few. Political impact has led to increased restrictions in travelling, change in national and foreign policies, international and national tensions and of course political blame game to show that one is not doing enough to manage the country during such a crisis.
Social disruption is one of the main causes that keep reminding people that things are not smooth and it will take a long time for the world to be as it used to, or perhaps never. Social distancing and restricting people during funerals, paying their last respect during bereavements and following the usual rituals has made it difficult for people when they lose their loved ones. Alongside, the continuous attached stigma, panic and uncertainty has caused more stress than ever. Besides what we witness on a day-to-day basis, we have the media which feeds into its varied audiences’ misinformation which caused more harm – anxiety and distress amongst the people in general.
Mental wellbeing of Students:
Besides many unclear things happening at the background, students have a lot in their plate to complete, studies to take care of, and at the same time deal with other issues of quarantine, delay in examinations, internships, internal-external assessments and so on. Lastly, staying indoors for too long has only worsen the situations. The new realities of working from home, unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends and colleagues take time to get used to. Adapting to lifestyle changes such as these, and managing the fear of contracting the virus and worry about people close to us who are particularly vulnerable, are challenging for all of us. They can be particularly difficult for people with mental health conditions or for those who are not practicing healthy lifestyle to take care of their wellbeing.
Fear of ‘death’ or fear of being contacted with the virus has caused stressed and anxiety to many individuals. Very recently, I came to know of an eight-year-old kid who would wash his hands every 15 minutes for the fear of being contacted by the virus. The practice which seemed like a healthy practice at the beginning has now become an obsession for this kid. The so called ‘fear’ is at the same time being accompanied by the ‘guilt’ of spreading the infection.
Loneliness is knowingly or unknowingly doing the rounds amongst our students and youth. With our standard of living being very westernized, most teenagers prefer living a private life, have separate rooms and so on. While, one is required to stay indoors for months together, literally being locked up inside the room to attend online classes and spending their free time sleeping or with smartphones, has resulted to a lot of youth to feel lonely and anxious – a complete social disconnect.
Terms like ‘information pollution’ or ‘information overloaded’ in this context only implies to the kind of exposure and information that can be distracting and damaging to the youth as audiences because of being over exposed to unpleasant and health content.
Stress during home isolation:
In simple words, stress is the feeling of being overwhelmed or unable to cope with mental or emotional pressure. The common pressures that students are undergoing at present times are fear of failure, tougher academics, other responsibilities (at home, school, classes, tuition, taking care of younger siblings, grandparents etc.), family pressure (parents, elder siblings, relatives), social pressure and to top it all uncertainty about the future with the ongoing situation.
However, some of the most stressful factors include examinations, deadline of assignments, pressure to study and perform and future career plans which hit their thought processes day in and day out. Unfortunately, the majority follows unhealthy ways of coping up with stress which makes it worst. Spending time with smartphones for long hours is what maximum teenagers do in their free time.
To read the further articles please get your copy of Eastern Panorama August issue @http://www.magzter.com/IN/Hill-Publications/Eastern-Panorama/News/ or mail to contact @easternpanorama.in
