COVID-19, LOCKDOWN AND MENTAL WELL-BEING

It's been five months since the first news reports came from the city of Wuhan, in China's Hubei Province about several cases of an unusual pneumonia. Now we are experiencing the full gamut of consequences of the coronavirus and COVID-19. 

Not all consequences of the coronavirus have been harmful. The environment is the largest beneficiary of this scary social scenario. Countries that have been under stringent lockdowns have experienced an unintended benefit. The lockdown has contributed to a noticeable drop in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Mostly however, the coronavirus has brought unprecedented hardships to people in over 200 countries and territories. The virus has infected a reported 2,600,000 people and killed 180,000, with many more suspected to be infected but unconfirmed either due to inadequate testing or asymptomatic infections. Outside those grim statistics, on the level of daily life, it is impossible to quantify the actual scale of the impact the coronavirus has had on the human population in the few short months since the earliest case emerged some time around mid-November last year.

The Lockdown

While morbidity and mortality are reaching gigantic proportions, we are beginning to feel the adverse effects of another aspect of the pandemic – lockdown. Lockdown can be used to describe anything from a curfew or a mandatory quarantine (either in an institution or own locality), to non-mandatory recommendations halting business or events, or simply telling people to stay home. At the moment in Sri Lanka we are experiencing all of the above in varying degrees.

Currently an estimated 2.6 billion people – one-third of the world’s population – is living under some kind of lockdown. This is more humans than the 2.3 billion who were even alive to witness World War II. With the sheer magnitude of the lockdown, it could arguably be considered as the largest psychological experiment ever conducted.

The Psychological Impact

It is an ongoing experiment. But we already have a good idea of the possible results. In late February 2020, The Lancet published a review article on the psychological impact of quarantine; the findings offer a glimpse of what is brewing in millions of households around the country, especially the families from the districts that have experienced continuous curfew for over a month now.

People who are quarantined are very likely to develop a wide range of symptoms of psychological stress, including low mood, insomnia, anxiety, anger, irritability, emotional exhaustion, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Low mood and irritability specifically stand out as being very common.

There are many proven reasons for stress during a lockdown. The first and foremost is the risk of infection and the fear of becoming sick or infecting family members. People also fear losing a loved one. Disturbance to daily life is another reason. Inadequate supplies to sustain an acceptable quality of life and inadequate information to make decisions affect the daily life of people most. Another major cause of stress during a lockdown is frustration and boredom. Confinement, loss of usual routine, and reduced social and physical contact with others are frequent causes of boredom, frustration, and a sense of isolation.

There are possible post-quarantine stressors of as well. The major post-quarantine stressor is the prospect of financial hardships. Financial loss can be a problem during quarantine, with people unable to work and having to interrupt their professional activities with no advanced planning which would lead to financial hardships later. Another possible post-quarantine stressor is the stigma. Quarantined people are likely to face stigmatisation and rejection from people in their local neighbourhoods.

The Way Out

Now that the lockdown has become a bare necessity to control the spread of the coronavirus, we have to look at what can be done to mitigate the consequences. It appears that most of the actions are in the control of the authorities. The responsibilities of the authorities include keeping the duration of the lockdown as short as possible, providing adequate supplies, giving people as much information as possible, providing WiFi networks with internet access and establishing telephone support lines, to mention a few.

As individuals who are affected by the lockdown we, too, have a pivotal role to play. At an individual level, all of us can take action to reduce boredom and build connections. For people to actively take such initiatives, they should be advised clearly about what they can do. Look out for the articles to follow on ‘Staying connected during lockdown’ and ‘Sharpening the mind during lockdown'.