Two months of lockdown. Working from home. And working for home. All the news around us is negative. “What’s the score” has assumed macabre proportions — number of positive cases, number of deaths — the numbers keep going up. While stock market indices keep falling. Every. Single. Day. Hitherto powerful countries brought to their knees. Shortage of essentials. Restricted movement. Social distancing. Isolated communities. The future looks bleak. Yesterday seems always a little better on hindsight. Yet today did not give us any reason to smile.
Stay home. Stay Safe. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your eyes, mouth or face. As if these directives from authorities weren’t already enough, stressors associated with a nationwide lockdown, social distancing, infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, lack of information, financial loss and stigma associated with contracting the disease are further making us feel out of control and helpless. To borrow from Dr Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis theory, the society, authorities and facilitators are in different ego states that are criss-crossing leaving behind a trail of broken communication creating fissures and negativity. This explains our inflamed social media conversations.
This pandemic may trigger a loneliness and mental depression epidemic
That the Covid-19 crisis shall bring with it a huge loss of not just human lives but also nations’ collective wealth and a looming economic recession, is a stark reality now. But what’s not known so much today, is the fact that it’s also going to cause what we might call a social recession: our mental well-being is going to be challenged like never before. This pandemic may trigger a loneliness and mental depression epidemic. We have to prepare ourselves for this social recession now, during and after the lockdown is lifted.
Human beings are innately social. Social isolation goes against our very grain of existence. How to be together while apart is key to warding off this social recession. Schools have already started online classes, virtual gymming/yoga classes are the rage, music is being created by artistes across continents, people are making and/or distributing food for the homeless, zoom conferences have become the latest hang outs of the corporate employees, start-up founders are brainstorming virtually.
But the worst hit are the students staying in hostels, unmarried professionals staying alone, middle class housewives with no domestic help, migrant workers, small business owners and the elderly and empty nesters — their social oxygen supply seems to be cut off thanks to Covid 19. The societies they live in must look at them as resources that can be tapped for any initiative being undertaken by the society, for the society. What is it they can do from the comfort of their homes?
Learn from our experience — a govt initiated task of thanking the health workers with applause or beating the thaalis; lighting candles, flashlights and diyas as a symbol of closing the social distance, proved hugely successful. It is an adult to adult ego state conversation. It brings alive the “together while apart” spirit gainfully. It cuts across social strata and life stages. It spreads cheer and optimism instead of panic giving the people a sense of purpose in aimless times. Even the die hard critics of the dispensation give in as there is nothing bigger than shared optimism and contagious hope.
In times of stress it is easy to self isolate, but it’s crucial to maintain human interaction to help reduce anxiety levels. Keeping strong connections shall help you feel supported and surrounded by positivity. We can only do so much to prevent the virus from spreading, but we can help each other by reducing the amount of panic and dialling up our collaborative spirit.
Our collective consciousness should be able to lessen the collective stress before it manifests itself in violent behaviour and social recession. Freud, Jung, Dr Berne and Yoga Vasistha — all would heartily approve.
#socialdistancing #recession #mentalwellness #economicslowdown #stockmarket #covid19 #covid19impact
