0457 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES INDIVIDUAL REPORT

Centre Number: IA081

Centre Name: Gems Modern Academy Kochi
Candidate Number: 9037
Candidate Name: George Vacha

Topic: Health and Wellbeing

Issue: Mental Health
Research Question: How has COVID-19 affected the mental health of Indian citizens?
Word Count: 1565 Words

Introduction:
On December 1st, 2019, China reported its first official case of an unknown virus plaguing
the country rapidly. This virus was unlike anything the world had seen, it affected the
respiratory systems of infected individuals and was easily spread as it circulated through the
atmosphere. China immediately tried to react by closing its borders to the outside world, and
so did other countries such as Kuwait, Singapore1, and India. But it was too late by then. The
virus spread like wildfire throughout the world, every day the infected patient's tally rose by
hundreds of thousands and the death toll showed no signs of stoppage. India had reported its
first case of Covid-19 by the end of January2. India had the second largest population (at the
time) coupled with a high population density, the government had to act fast before the
disease spread like a plague. The Indian government took action by making it mandatory for
PCR tests to be done throughout the nation, enforcing all to wear masks, and enacting a
lockdown on the citizens3. These restrictions were upheld for a long duration and had
withstanding effects on the Indian nation, especially the lockdown. In this report, I will dive
into the effects COVID-19 had on the well-being of Indian citizens

1 Kang, Nahae, et al. "The Effects of Border Shutdowns on the Spread of COVID-19."
PubMed Central (PMC), 30 Aug. 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7569011/.
Accessed 2 Jan. 2024.
2 Areekal, Binu, et al. "First Confirmed Case of COVID-19 Infection in India: A Case
Report." PubMed Central (PMC), May 2020,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7530459/. Accessed 2 Jan. 2024.
3 Ghosh, Aritra. "How India is Dealing with COVID-19 Pandemic." PubMed Central (PMC),
Jan. 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7376361/. Accessed 2 Jan. 2024.
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National Perspective:
Kerala, a small state located in the south, had already had its first reported COVID-19 case
just three days after the virus was detected in the country. And by April, there were already
427 ongoing cases of Covid cases paired with 3 deaths4. After seeing these overwhelming
statistics in just a month, Kerala declared its first lockdown from the 21st of March till the
end of the month, this lockdown included residents not being able to meet in groups of five
people or above, restriction of all passenger modes of transport, and establishments such as
shops, restaurants, and banks were not permitted to be open5. This action single handedly
caused mayhem in the state. Business owners already have to worry about paying their
electricity bills, giving salaries to their employees, and trying to cover their families'
expenses6. But COVID-19 isn't making the process any easier for them, the tourists and
customers refrained from going to stores that sold more fashion items to reduce the risk of
catching the illness, which caused some shops to go broke7. After seeing the cases continue to
rise, most businesses decided to close for a period, for the betterment of their employees'
health.

The situation was even worse for the youth, as the virus hit them very hard. Nearly three
thousand eight hundred children had lost either one or both of their parents, in addition, this
drastic loss had also left nearly 142 children in the state as orphans8, this action would have
taken a toll on these children. Through conclusive results from numerous studies, it has been
concluded, with the help of numerous studies, that orphanhood had a direct link with
depression, anxiety, and stress9.

4 Ramakrishnan, Anoop. "Kerala Government’s Response to COVID-19 (January 30, 2020 -

April 22, 2020)." PRS Legislative Research, 22 Apr. 2020, prsindia.org/theprsblog/kerala-
government%E2%80%99s-response-to-covid-19-january-30-2020-april-22-2020. Accessed 2
Jan. 2024.
5 Ibid 4
6 "Coronavirus in Kerala: It’s a Stress Test for Small Traders Too | Kochi News - Times of
India." The Times of India, 20 Mar. 2020, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/its-a-stress-
test-for-small-traders-too/articleshow/74719632.cms. Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
7 Ibid 6
8 Sudhi, K.S. "142 Children Orphaned by COVID-19 in State." The Hindu, 3 Feb. 2022,
www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/142-children-orphaned-by-covid-19-in-state/
article38371344.ece. Accessed 2 Jan. 2024
9Yosef, Tewodros, et al. "Psychological Impacts of Orphanhood in Southwest Ethiopia."
PubMed Central (PMC), 5 Apr. 2023, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10113851/.
Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
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Global Perspective:
Italy had closed its borders to all outsiders to prevent more COVID cases from springing up
throughout the country on March 10th, 2020, but by then they had already accumulated to
about 2000 cases & 52 deaths and showed no signs of slowing down10. The government also
thought it would be in their best interest if they imposed a lockdown, the government had
upheld several lockdowns ranging from March 20th, 2020 to May 2021. These constant
quarantines had a dramatic effect on the public and their health. These lockdowns had a direct
effect on the Italian's physical mobility, sleep, and overall well-being. Along with this, it was
shown that the mental health of all Italians had been severely affected and there were more
online queries which were related to loneliness, sadness, and worry11.

The quarantines imposed also made it more difficult for children who are on the autism
spectrum or suffering from other anxiety disorders. They require extra support and care from
extra services, but due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, it was very challenging to
provide these children with adequate resources. Most of the children were neglected by their
reparative services, which jeopardized their well-being and routine12. Unfortunately, before
the lockdown was imposed, most hospital staff and services were not permitted to give one
treatment to anyone, unless it was within the hospital13. So it wasn't a possibility that hospital
staff could perform one-on-one therapy with the individual.

Italy had seen how the virus had affected those in their countries. And how, now more than
ever, they needed resources to get the help necessary. So the government, along with the
ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo Department of Mental Health, had distributed Therapists,
Psychologists, Nurses, and Counsellors were distributed in every quarter of the country14.
10 Mccann, Allison, et al. "Italy’s Virus Shutdown Came Too Late. What Happens Now?
(Published 2020)." The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos,
11 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/05/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-
lockdown-reopen.html. Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
11 Natilli, Michela., et al "The Long-tail Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Italians’
Quality of Life, Sleep and Physical Activity." Nature, 31 May 2022,
www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01376-5. Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
12 Caffo, Ernesto. "Debate: COVID-19 and Psychological Well-being of Children and
Adolescents in Italy." PubMed, 25 Sept. 2020, Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
13 Ibid 12
14 D'Agostino, Armando, et al. "Mental Health Services in Italy During the COVID-19
Outbreak." PubMed Central (PMC), 27 Apr. 2020,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7185925/. Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
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This team of professionals served nearly 350,000 people across Italy and improved the
quality of life for many in the nation15.

The course of Action:

The United Nations has mentioned that COVID-19 isn't just a health crisis, it is a
humanitarian crisis, it is a human rights crisis, and it is an economic crisis. It is a crisis that
highlights every country's insecurities and weak points16. The only way to move is forward,
helping those who are experienced or still experiencing the devastating effects that COVID-
19 had done to them mentally should be each country’s priority. I believe that promoting
more therapeutic methods to heal those who have suffered pain from the virus will be vital.
Encouraging more to be treated by therapists and psychiatrists would be beneficial.
I also think that it would be in India’s best interest if the government set aside some money to
create support groups and fund social workers to aid those who were affected by the
pandemic, and especially to send social workers to rural areas that don't have access to the
internet.

The World Health Organization has been beneficial throughout COVID-19, They've been
providing the public with lots of useful resources on how to maintain a healthy well-being
and how to take care of yourself throughout this tough period properly. I definitely would
recommend scanning over their wide range of resources to see if any of them would be of
assistance.

I also feel that encouraging programs such as ‘My Health Too’, which are Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy, will be of great value to everyone. This program utilizes the internet to
give online therapy courses that aim to lower your stress level (On the Perceived Stress
Scale) and give you an open safe space to talk about your emotions to experienced
professionals. It also includes a Hotline which is open throughout the week, from 9 am to 5
pm. The program also does routine checkups to scan for depression, anxiety, and suicidal
tendencies. I believe that supporting and encouraging many to join would help lower general
stress levels and improve a person's welfare17. Seeing how almost half of India uses the

15 Ibid 14
16 United Nations. "UN Response to COVID-19." United Nations,
www.un.org/en/coronavirus/UN-response. Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
17 Weiner, Luisa. "Efficacy of an Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program Developed
for Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the REduction of STress (REST)
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internet daily18, I think this method of CBT Online therapy would be highly beneficial and
user-friendly ( Since it can be done from the comfort of one's own home ).

Evaluation of Sources:
I tried to use government websites to find most of my evidence, especially those that were
most active in releasing reports during the COVID-19 period, Such as the National Library of
Medicine, which is a reliable source and a wide variety of resources that gave me a clear
concept on the different perspectives that came under my research question. To find short-
term impacts, I tried to use documents and reports from 2020-2021. But for recent
improvements and statistics, I used newly updated reports from 2023.

I refrained from using info from sites that have paid mental support calls/resources because I
felt like some of their information might be biassed to sell their products to browsers (Which
was right in most cases). Some of the information I used was from reliable news sources such
as ‘The Hindu’ and ‘Times of India’ because they gave reliable information and got their data
via surveys and interviews and had relations with the public at the time, so they have a good
capability to get personal info and can get quicker updates.

Unfortunately the UN hadn’t documented much of the mental health situation for citizens in
India, but this didn’t stop me from using some of their content to get a basic overview of the
situation.

Reflection:
I have dealt with COVID-19 in the past, I had gotten it and was very up to date on how many
cases were going on in my country and how to prevent spreading it. But since I live in a
middle to higher-class family, we had the resources to keep ourselves safe. So I was oblivious
to the struggles and triumphs that Indians, who aren't as privileged as me, had to go through.
COVID-19 causing orphanhood, suicidal behavior, and depression was never something that
occurred in my mind. It made me feel sympathetic for those who were battling with the

Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial." SpringerLink, 21 Oct. 2020,

link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13063-020-04772-7. Accessed 3 Jan. 2024.
18 "Over 50% Indians Are Active Internet Users Now; Base to Reach 900 Million by 2025:
Report." 4 May 2023, www.thehindu.com/news/national/over-50-indians-are-active-internet-
users-now-base-to-reach-900-million-by-2025-report/article66809522.ece. Accessed 3 Jan.
2024
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struggles of COVID-19. After research, I also found that most countries had a similar
response of setting up a lockdown and doing PCR scans, which is also what India did. I feel
like if India had developed proper health resources, the situation might've gone a lot better,
but the country’s improper planning is what caused this much trouble. In the future, every
country should aim to have a plan for situations like this beforehand.

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