Long-Lasting Impact on Mental Health

Smriti Maini

The long pandemic span of two years and going further as the reports indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic may be an Endemic, it has changed the lives of people across age groups.

Impact on Senior Citizens

The profound changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic caused great distress in infants, adolescents, teens, adults, and the elderly. Due to social isolation, adverse mental health effects may be mainly seen among older adults and households with adolescents, as these groups are already at risk for depression or suicidal ideation. Studies have shown that depression within the elderly links the subsequent cognitive decline and risk of Alzheimer’s. 

Among people, the ‘social distancing’ seems to have become a way of life, living physically at a distance. Mental, emotional loneliness has set in among people. The counselling sessions, which would be face to face earlier, are now virtual, losing out on some confidence vibes that gets established between a psychologist and the therapy seeker. Many, especially senior citizens, cannot get help from counsellors due to their limited digital access.

The virus has been affecting people physically, financially and emotionally as well. While the physical and financial impacts find a voice by many, the emotional side somewhere remains less expressed. During early childhood, cognitive growth is at its peak. It is also when the child develops physically, mentally, psychologically, and socially, but the Covid protocols have also hampered all child development areas. Confined within four walls, the young child who is not exposed to the outside world may develop behavioural issues when exposed to the real world. We are getting to see such cases of anxiety among very young children. The children with special needs are also facing hurdles.

College students getting devoid of the prime college life sitting in front of the screens are in despair. Interestingly, until a year back when thousands of people lost their jobs, currently, the cycle seems to have reversed. Individuals are working for more than one company.

The New Office

Work From Home norm has increased the sedentary lifestyle and stress, while at the same time, the person has lost touch with his office. They are losing out on the office culture, coffee breaks, and more. The office has shrunk to a laptop, and the login ids are the employees, devoid of any connection with their environment or people working together.

In every situation, there is a silver lining. Here it’s time to upscale your skills, go digital to connect and accept the line that is going blur between the real and virtual world. This precious time can enrich lives and make resolutions that can continue after the pandemic. While many of us may not be using our time indoors to write the next great novel or master an instrument, there are other ways of finding potential in the pandemic. With a slower pace comes an opportunity for discovery and the realisation that we often don’t have to go very far at all to feel the enrichment within us.