The Psychological Implications of COVID-19: A Mental Health Perspective

This planet has witnessed several pandemics earlier in its history. The last pandemic, Spanish flu which was far more deadly, happened about a century ago and apart from a few centenarians, nobody who is alive today has any experience of living during the time of pandemic. COVID-19 discovered about 9 months back has reached almost every continent and country. With around 29 million known COVID-19 infected people, about a million deaths and with billions are affected due to quarantines, lockdowns, and restrictions on movement of person and goods, and social distancing measures. This has resulted in adversities and hardships in the areas such as financial, employment, school, family, and health. All these directly affect the mental health and well-being of an affected individual as well as their family members. Some of the common mental health conditions observed are anxiety about coronavirus infection, and worries about stigma, well-being, and future of the family members. In addition, the prevailing situation has further worsened people with already existing mental health conditions, such as inability to consult the mental health professionals due to COVID safety measures and fear of contamination in the mental health institutions. To mitigate mental health issues and to improve psychosocial well-being, NIMHANS, with the help of the government and other institutions, adopted several measures, such as creating IEC materials for the general public, counseling people who are quarantined, and starting a national telephone free helpline. This chapter will discuss the efficacy of online counseling, related issues, experiences, lessons learned and offer suggestions for the future. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Taylor and Francis Pte Ltd. 2022.

Psychosocial support for community of migrant workers during lockdown imposed due to COVID 19 pandemic

Background: Migrant labourers had particularly tough time after imposition of complete lockdown in India during March, 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of people in India migrate out of their natives to large cities, in search of work and livelihood. In large construction projects, groups of families of labours usually camp in temporary shelters (labour colonies) at construction sites for months together. This practice not only serves their need for shelter but also social needs. As multiple families living, together in shared physical space and work environment, they form communities that provide for protection and affiliation needs for children, women, and elders. Community level interventions during COVID-19 pandemic have rarely been reported. Methods: This paper report a case study based upon authors' experience of psychosocial intervention for a community of migrant labourers distressed due to unexpected lockdown. The report describes the rapid assessment and fast action of psychosocial care provided to community of migrant labourers at the campus of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India. Results: Rapid assessment indicated significant distress among the community members due to lack of basic facilities, nonfood essentials, lack of information on Covid-19, loss of wages. Basic amenities and non-food resources, as well as health education and counselling were delivered as part of psychosocial interventions. Conclusion: The psychosocial aspects of the living of migrant workers are an issue that is tangled with several stressors including family separation, acculturation, unpredictability of job and livelihood, restricted mobility and marginalization. Thus they particularly vulnerable during major socio-economic disruptions. Keeping these considerations in mind, migrant workers require focused attention and support from concerned authorities in order to manage their psychosocial issues and well-being. © 2023 DMICS.

Psycho-social support based intervention for patients and caregivers stranded during the lock-down during COVID-19 pandemic: A case study report from India

This research report is based upon experience in psychosocial intervention conducted during COVID-19 pandemic at a large National Mental Health Institute. The aim of this intervention was to relieve from distress the patients and caregivers stranded at the campus of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), India due to imposition of lockdown. As the institute is a tertiary care center, patients from everywhere regularly seek treatment at the institute. Three hundred discharged patients and their caregivers who had come for treatment from different states were stranded due to lockdown. They were distressed due to multiple challenges related to lack logistics, adequate shelter, uncertainty about food and medicines. A team from the Centre for Psychosocial Support in Disaster Management (CPSSDM) of NIMHANS proactively initiated a gross assessment of needs and challenges faced by this distressed group. The team delivered psychosocial intervention to this group in mobilizing various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) support. We followed the CARE case report guidelines while preparing this report. The report provides practical insights into nature of psychosocial needs and interventions relevant to a specific group of people in transit during a pandemic. © 2023 DMICS.

‘SAANTHWANA'—A Psychosocial Support Helpline for Health Care Workers during the COVID 19 pandemic at NIMHANS

Introduction: Covid – 19 has impacted all nations across the world, disrupting lives, economies, and societies. Working during this pandemic has placed frontline workers, especially health care personnel under immense and unprecedented pressure, putting their physical, mental, and social well-being at risk (WHO 2020). During this pandemic, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) launched a helpline called SAANTHWANA (meaning consoling people in distress) for its staff, students, and employees who were involved in health care services for the patients and their families. Objectives: The main objectives of the SAANTHWANA helpline are to identify psychosocial issues of the health care workers, to provide them with psychosocial interventions, and to create supportive networking in the hospital. Methods: SAANTHWANA helpline services were started in June 2020 and calls are answered by mental health professionals. It is a 24 x 7 hours toll-free helpline exclusively dedicated to the health care professionals working in the hospital. The calls received from June 2020 to March 2021 (N = 327) have been considered for the current study. The data was collected from the helpline records using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Most of the callers reported psychosocial issues such as distress, social stigma, confusion, lack of motivation, worries about their family, work stress, confusion, sleep disturbance, fear, being unable to look after the family, uncertainty, and lack of concentration on the work and daily activities. These issues of the health care workers were addressed by mental health professionals with psychosocial interventions such as proving correct information, ventilation, activity scheduling, guidance, social support, sleep hygiene, active listening, relaxation, and spirituality. The callers reported positive changes in their attitude and behaviour towards the pandemic as well as work. The SANTHWAANA helpline has been able to reach out to the health care workers who required not only administrative support but also psychosocial care. The helpline team is following up on all these cases to provide them with regular intervention required at different phases of the pandemic. There is a need to start such services for health care workers and other frontline workers across India. © 2023 DMICS.

Perceived stress and Wellbeing of School Teachers during COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Teachers have been placed in an unpredictable position as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and making the switch from classroom teaching to online educational methods has been more challenging for them. Since the beginning of the pandemic, teachers have been one of the groups severely affected by the covid-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to see how the lockdown influenced teachers' mental health and well-being. Methodology: The study followed a cross-sectional study design and purposive sampling method. The sample included from school teachers of Kerala state (N = 321). The socio-demographic schedule, perceived stress, and general well-being scales were used for data collection and the data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The majority of the participants were in the age category of 40 to 49 years, 86% of the participants were women, and most of them were married. Sixty-one percent of participants had finished their post-graduation and the majority of them were working in private schools. The majority of school teachers were found to be stressed in a moderate to severe level. The participant's well-being was rated as moderate by 35.2% and poor by 4.4%. Similar study results were incorporated in the discussion part of the study to validate the results. Conclusion: There is a need for teacher's mental health issues and concerns to be addressed at the earliest to prevent them from developing severe mental health problems in the future. © 2023 DMICS.

Stress and burden among caregivers of persons with bipolar affective disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in India

Introduction: Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) is a severe mental illness causing significant problems in the lives of individuals with the disorder and those who care for them as well are. Most of the time people with mental illness are taken care of by mental health professionals, while little priority is given to their caregivers. There are numerous studies in India attempting to understand the impact of illness on caregivers and the problems faced by the caregivers of persons with BPAD. Methods: The study aimed to assess the family caregivers' stress and burden among caregivers of persons with BPAD at a tertiary care center in Dharwad, India. Descriptive research design and simple random sampling was used for recruiting 50 samples. Apart from sociodemographic schedule, burden assessment scale and perceived stress scale (PSS) were used for data collection. Results: The mean age of caregivers was 44.76 years. The average duration of illness of the patients was 9.80 years and their mean annual income was 35,500 rupees reported in the study. The mean score of impact of wellbeing subscale was higher (11.34) when compared with other sub scales of the burden assessment scale, and the overall score of burden assessment scale (31.82) indicated high levels of burden. PSS mean was 21.44, indicating high stress levels. Conclusion: The study concludes that burden and perceived stress were elevated among the caregivers of people with BPAD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical and psychological comorbidity among COVID patients during the first wave in Dharwad District of South India: A cross-sectional study

Background: The COVID-19 is a viral communicable disease and the World Health Organization declared it as a public health emergency of international concern. This pandemic has challenged the entire world including India's health-care system and resources. It is a devastating recurrence in people with underlying health issues or comorbidities, eventually resulting in mortality. Comorbidities including both medical and psychological disorders among COVID patients have a large amount of impact on the individual's mental health as well as functioning. Materials and Methods: The study comprised 800 hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the first wave from North Karnataka region in India. The data were collected using a structured interview schedule through hospital telephones. The ethical approval was obtained from the Institute Research Ethics Committee. Results: The mean age of the hospitalized COVID patients was 41.02 ± 15.21, and the mean age of comorbidity was 47.69 ± 14.84. Following medical comorbidities such as diabetes (9.3%), hypertension (9.3%), cancer (1.8%), diabetes + hypertension (2.1%), and asthma (0.9%) and psychological comorbidities such as anxiety (3.8%) and depression (3.3%) were found among the hospitalized COVID patients during the first wave. Conclusions: It can be observed that comorbidity may increase the risk of death among COVID patients who were hospitalized and appropriate medical and psychological interventions can be provided for various co comorbidities at the earliest to prevent further defuncting and distress caused by the pandemic. © 2021 Archives of Mental Health.