ABSTRACT
Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Government called for a nation-wide quarantine or ‘Lockdown’ from 21st March 2020. While initially planned for 21days, satisfactory disease control was not achieved and cases continued to rise till November 2020. It is well established, that a Pandemic is associated with a decline in mental health of the population. This study was conducted in order to assess the prevalence, as well as to understand the causative factors for Depression, Anxiety and Stress in the population. Methodology: An online questionnaire including a consent form, semi-structured proforma, and the DASS- 21 was administered via various platforms. All subjects above 18 years of age, willing to give informed consent were included, while those with pre-existing psychiatric illness were excluded from the study. A total of 504 responses were thus analysed. Results: According to this study, 48.4% of the participants showed signs of psychiatric morbidity; younger age groups and females were more severely affected. Isolation and loneliness, fear of infection and death were reported as major causative factors. Conclusions: Thus, during a disease pandemic, another pandemic of mental illness may also be present. It is important to recognize and take measures to prevent such ill-effects of otherwise protective measures like quarantine.