Covid-19 can lead to mental complications, says expert

Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, January 2

Covid-19 outbreak has affected mental health badly as suddenly many of us are facing stress, isolation, loss of jobs, salaries and loved ones, fear and apprehension of contracting illness. During pandemic, many people are facing insomnia depression, anxiety and increased use of drugs, alcohol, tobacco etc. With everything going on, people can find themselves ruminating, feeling hopeless and helpless and ultimately depressed.

Dr Damanjit Kaur, senior psychiatrist, addressing an online session on ‘Covid effects on mental health’ said that Covid-19 can lead to neurological and mental complications. People with pre-existing mental illness or substance use disorder are particularly vulnerable in such a situation. People already on medication for disorder like depression, bipolar illness or schizophrenia should continue with their treatment and their attendants should be aware of new or worsening of symptoms, she pointed out.

Depression is more common in women than in men. The average point prevalence of unipolar depressive episodes has been estimated to be 1.9 per cent for men and 3.2 per cent for women, and one-year prevalence has been estimated to be 5.8 per cent for men and 9.5 per cent for women, she maintained.

She further said that children are also going through a tough time because of online schooling. Students don’t have physical interaction with people, especially their peers. Due to internet exposure children are getting trapped into cyber bullying, cybercrime etc. Screen time has increased which has affected the mental and physical health of the students. Nobody can have an actual school-like infrastructure at home which affects a lot in understanding concepts instead of mugging them up, she opined.

According to the WHO, the mental health workforce in India is not up to the mark and there is a huge shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists in the country. It states that in India, per 1,00,000 populations there are (0.3) psychiatrists (0.07) psychologists and while the desirable number is above three for psychiatrists and psychologists.

WHO also estimated that about 7.5 per cent Indians suffer from mental disorders and by the end of this year it is predicted that roughly 20 per cent of Indians will suffer from mental illness according to numbers. As many as 56 million Indians suffer from depression and another 38 million suffer from anxiety disorders, she informed.

Dr Damanjit said that over 20 per cent of adults aged 60 and above suffer from mental or neurological disorder and the most common mental and neurological disorder in this age group is dementia and depression. In addition, older people experience bereavement, social isolation, and drop in the socio economic status with retirement resulting in loneliness and distress which may need long term care, she opined.