With the COVID-19 situation getting worse with every passing day, it’s no secret that the pandemic has taken a toll on our physical health. However, no one is addressing the elephant in the room: our deteriorating mental health. People are becoming highly restless and the thought of being alone is enough to terrify us. We are all living in a perpetual state of despair, wondering if our family and friends are going to be alright.
If the situation gets worse, will we be able to get to the hospital in time? Will things ever go back to normal? When we’re consumed with thoughts like these, it doesn’t help to be bombarded with disturbing news, false narratives, and toxic social media posts.
Little kids are happy because their parents and siblings are finally around at home to play with them. But with how busy everyone is around them is, it’s easy for them to get addicted to electronics and gadgets. They are unaware of the fact that they are missing out on a major part of their childhood, one which shapes them into the person they will become in the future. All the naughty pranks they pull and the valuable life lessons they learn at this stage have all been reduced to mere virtual connections.
The pandemic is especially hard on high-schoolers, who have to excel in their board exams to get into the course or college they desire. College students don’t have it any easier either, as they’re losing some of the most important years of their college life. First-year students missed out on the excitement of their first day on campus and had to make friends online. At the same time, the final year students are deprived of the opportunity to organise fests and sit for interviews. Despite this, it is amazing to see how well the seniors have taken in the juniors and made them feel right at home. The efforts to make the fests virtual were much appreciated and yielded a great positive response.
It’s important to remember that keeping our grades up is important but not at the expense of our mental health. With all of us staring at a screen for endless hours doing assignments and projects, it’s not easy concentrating when the world around us is crumbling. Is there nothing else we can do? Students have been suggesting pausing education until things return to normal. But in that case, teachers will be unemployed and won’t be able to meet their expenses. This could also broadly affect the economy of our country.
Though employees are terrified of catching the virus, they have to continue working to maintain their finances. People who are given the option to work from home aren’t spared either, as their work hours can have no fixed limit at times.
The trauma that the front-line workers are going through daily is something beyond our imagination. Daily wage workers and the homeless are even worse off. Finding shelter and bread to keep them going in these conditions is tougher than it ever was before. With lockdowns imposed almost everywhere, they have no one to turn to for support. The most awful part is that some of the homeless are still unaware of the present conditions and are unable to afford the vaccine and other required medications.
With all this negativity surrounding us, it feels like we’ve reached an impasse. This is all so perplexing and frustrating but the best we can do is sit back and live in the present and try helping those in need in any way we can. Staying home counts towards these efforts too! Take time to embrace each moment, and while it may be a difficult time, this too shall pass!
