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health cases. and it will exacerbate my health conditions in the long
According to National Mental Health Survey com- run,” Gurmehar said.
missioned by the Indian government and executed by “It was only last year that I had started working as a
Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans), pointed full-time fellow with the Delhi government and could
out that in 2016, 150 million Indians (10.6 per cent of see that mental health condition was improving. Now
adults) were suffering from a mental health disorder. with this isolation amid the practice of social distanc-
Subsequently, a report by World Health Organisation ing, my symptoms will rebound in some form,” she
in 2017 highlighted that mental illnesses comprise one- added.
sixth of all health-related problems, and India account- According to a senior doctor at the department of
ed for nearly 15 per cent of the global mental, neurologi- Physiatry at All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
cal, and substance abuse disorder burden. coronavirus pandemic has already led to an increase of
The report also predicted that by the end of 2020, 30 per cent cases. And most of the government hos-
20 per cent of Indians would be living with some form pitals did not have the necessary infrastructure to deal
of mental illness. The organization estimates that with such a surge in the number of cases. And growth in
between 2012-30, India’s mental health emergency will mental cases will also adversely affect the economy visa
cost the economy as much $1 trillion. vis decreased productivity of the workforce.
The experts accept that with Coronavirus and The outbreak of the virus has already caused anxiety
efforts like social distancing to curb it, a psychological for one’s health among individuals. With the govern-
health crisis in India will emerge. ment putting a complete lockdown now to prevent
Dr Sanchari Mukhopadhyay, mental health profes- transmission of the virus, people are also experiencing
sional and Ex-senior resident of Lady Harding Medical “fear of social isolation, loneliness, financial lockdown,
College, New Delhi, believes that even though in people constraints at home... accompanied by feelings of low”,
not predisposed to have a mental illness, it is unlikely the doctor said.
they will have extended time life-changing experience. The medical journal, The Lancet, published a study on
However, fear, anxiety and distancing may cause ad- the psychological impacts of quarantine that suggests
justment issues and that is trauma-related and stress several negative consequences such as post-traumatic
reactions. stress, confusion and anger. The study highlights the
Nevertheless, it is pertinent to mention that even the reason f0r stressors will include fears of infection, a
slightest increase in mental health cases will make In- longer quarantine duration, frustration, boredom, in-
dia vulnerable further to socio-economic losses as we adequate information, lack of supplies, financial loss
do not have the necessary infrastructure to deal with and stigma.
psychiatric issues. The 2017 WHO report had pointed Commenting on the general conditions to tackle
out that there were fewer than two mental health pro- any surge in mental health cases, Dr Mukhopadhyay
fessionals for every 1,00,000 people. said, “As of now, awareness of the people regarding
“Social distancing and isolation can aggravate things mental health is not very satisfactory. We still stigma-
for people already facing mental health issues, and it tize persons with mental illness. We surely need more
is valid for quite a lot of psychiatric illnesses like psy- knowledge, more readiness to appreciate and accept
choses, mood disorders. Fear and distancing may cause and more accessible mental healthcare (available for
adjustment issues, anxiety, trauma-related and stress all- rural/ urban, male/female, educated/ not formally
reactions. But in people otherwise not predisposed to educated, employed/ unemployed and so on). Though
having mental illnesses, it’s doubtful that they’ll have a we’ve come a long way from when all illnesses were
long-term life-changing experience. If at a mild to mod- considered witchcraft or ghostly, we still have a long
erate level, trauma-focused therapies or behavioural way to go.”
activation scheduling or developing healthy coping Meanwhile, two deaths by suicide, allegedly linked to
strategies should be sufficient to deal with it,” says San- the pandemic, have been reported. In what is most like-
chari Mukhopadhyay. ly as the first death by suicide anywhere in the world re-
For other patients like Gurmehar (name changed), 28, lated to the epidemic, a 50-year-old man died by com-
a fellow with Delhi government, obsessive compulsion mitting suicide after becoming convinced that he had
disorder along with anxiety, social distancing can add contracted the virus. According to the deceased’s son,
to her misery and bring down her work productivity. the man would continuously watch coronavirus-relat-
“Although I would often put myself to isolation due ed videos circulating online. On March 18, a 35-year-old
to interest in life, now enforced social distancing has man, suspected to be a coronavirus patient, committed
made that mandatory. I do not feel anything as of now suicide at Safdarjung Hospital.
as isolating myself from the world has been not new for
me, but I also understand the consequences quite well letters@tehelka.com

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