Psychoanalysis of the Excommunicated

ABSTRACT

Afew months after the World Health Organization declared the global coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, I wrote to the mental health NGos and initiatives I have collaborated with for up to a decade now, clinics and centers that offer varieties of psychotherapeutic assistance to poor populations in global cities (Kolkata, Chennai, New York, London). The answer, unequivocal, from the three corners of the globe, was that work hadn't stopped, however stressful the increased caseload was for mental health professionals and despite the fact that grief counselling, a taxing job as well as a hard-earned skill, had overtaken other forms of therapy. There was no respite, no salutary social, economic, or psychological interregnum, for the slum inhabitants or transient and refugee populations these charities tend. Therefore, not only could the interventions not be stalled but they also had to be repurposed quickly to become Covid safe and lockdown compliant. The homeless inhabitants with psychosocial disabilities were staying put, said Dr. Tony Stern, resident psychiatrist at Harlem's TLC (Transitional Living Community), and the Covid infection rates were remarkably low as a result. The participants in the horticultural psychotherapy initiative of