The pandemic has been brutal to the population throughout the world. The attending circumstances have led to the lockdown where we all are again boxed in our houses. The situation is overgrown, analysing the destructive situation where every day one listens about demises, mourning people and losing near ones. It’s very tough to mention a positive outlook and stress-free life.
The pandemic has appeared with its own set of challenges. Where every media channel, blog, and website discusses health policy delinquency, economic downfall, and the negligence of the system, we tend to forfeit focus on one of the significant subjects, mental health. Even last year, people worldwide faced depression and other mental illness challenges, yet it has not got strengthened to date.
The prevailing situation not only makes it hard but also makes it intolerable for a lot of people. The pandemic has a psychological effect on each one of us.
Loneliness
Since humans are programmed to be social, the pandemic has not only stopped it but also made it fearful, which leads to the feeling of loneliness amongst individuals. Often individuals who suffer from long-term loneliness are far more inclined to undergo some depression. Research from 2018 shows a potential link between loneliness and depression.
Nonetheless, if left unchecked, it can trigger stress and head to one growing depression, as if the fallouts of loneliness on our mental health weren’t bad enough.
Work From Home
The lockdown not only occurs with stress and loneliness but also too much workload from the office. Work from home was once leisure, but now it is a concern of your productivity. Some call it a boon, a piece of the pie. Some have seen an intense increase in their productivity. Others reported losing their interest, inactivity and low productivity.
In evidence, according to a 2019 study, “Working from home considerably benefits employees by putting an end to office commute, increases productivity, and results in healthfuller lifestyles.”
Let us focus on some of the individual aspects where work from home didn’t result as leverage. People who found work from home to be a windfall were facing the issue to concentrate better as the home is full of distractions, so it was more difficult to perform better than the workplace.
Few employees lose the zeal to work as they were in the habit of meeting people every day in the office. They can’t do that at home as it impacted their coordination, and since technology has certain limitations, it was worse. This not only leads to less productivity but also increases shiftlessness, pending work, heading to stress.
The thriving situation where you are crushed with overloaded information every day is very stressful as it drives a feeling of suspicion for your own and you’re near one’s healthiness. The excess concern not only gives rise to an individual fear but also leads to anxiety. And the fake news industry makes it impossible to distinguish the validity from the fallacy.
“False news spreads much faster than true news owing to its ability to appeal to our emotions, and thus, capture our attention.” The pandemic has wreaked destruction on the nationwide and worldwide economy. Around 122 million people in India lost their jobs in April 202, according to estimates from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. This not only makes one anxious but also is a traumatic experience.
According to various research studies, “Losing a job may take longer to recover emotionally than a divorce or the death of a partner.”
Insomnia
Now let’s glimpse how insomnia directs to depression. Around 50% of adults experience occasional insomnia. In the lockdown, several studies have come out where people worldwide have encountered sleeping disorders and an increase in insomnia cases across the globe.
Many people cultivated insomnia as remaining encompassed inside can have the unintended result of influencing our rest. Our “body clock” that makes a difference keeps up our sleep-wake plan, among other things. If your body clock gets aggravated for any reason, it can seriously influence your capacity to drop sleeping or remain snoozing and can lead to you feeling depleted and unfocused. In several cases, insomnia leads to triggering depression.
The fact that these are times of boosted stretch is evident. Whereas a few stretches are vital and fundamental, and thinking appears that when the levels cross a certain limit and are experienced for an extended period, they can lead to sadness. According to a new study, depression symptoms have been three times more prevalent during Covid-19 lockdown. According to another result, 65% of Indians are experiencing mental stress because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even after this is all over, we may still be mentally scarred.