> Society > Mental Health
“I am having panic attacks and don’t feel like talking with anyone. I literally want to shout the hell out of me and cry”, cries out a college student of Jorhat District in Assam. The story of this student is not just his but is representative of a bigger picture of how the mental health among a section of students in the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation has become a ticking time bomb.
An online survey conducted by nezine.com amidst students of Assam studying in different universities and colleges of Assam and beyond brings to light that while a section of students are disturbed due to lack of internet, the other section is disturbed by the sheer presence of it during the long home stays.
In this survey of 208 respondents, more than 76 per cent of students shared that the COVID-19 home stay period has to different extents, taken a toll on their mental health. However, only 37 per cent of the respondents have sought counselling from any professional counsellors, teachers, friends, or family members.
Students are grappling with immense anxiety due to the ongoing pandemic and lockdown restrictions. The educational scenario of the country has taken an upturn with the commencement of online education. Classes are now being conducted with the help of meeting apps over phone or laptop. While some view this scenario as the starting phase of ‘new normal’, the cries of a huge bunch of students from the underprivileged section of society goes unnoticed.
The participants were also asked to tick some of the boxes which they feel have been true in their case, during this stay at home study period. The option that had the highest percentage (56.7%) of respondents was, “I feel disturbed by the constant flow of negative news from the outside world”. Staying indoors has led to increased screen time consumption and the news is flooded with death tolls. Social media is overloaded with information, increasing difficulty to draw clear conclusions of a subject matter. “I can’t focus on doing things. Let be it watching a video or reading an article. I find it difficult in focusing on anything,” describes another respondent.
With a sudden breakage from their daily lives of following a routine many students also report feeling frustrated on having to stay at home for such a long time. Restlessness has surfaced amidst them and a lot of students also say that they constantly overthink, finding it hard to relax. While a lot of students in the survey also reported to feel pressurized towards being productive, a student of Tezpur College while specially describing her case says, “I cry sometimes, feel low and think that I am wasting my time as well as life. I assume that people surrounding me are a lot more productive than me during this pandemic.”
Responding to a question of whether they have been comfortable with the online medium of teaching, a student of Assam University Silchar comments, “Network is very poor, I am unable to attend the classes. I used to go almost two kilometers away from home to download the study materials, it’s a very pathetic situation.” The student also believes that online classes are creating discrimination among students.
Thus, the students who have the resources are progressing with their classes and the rest are clearly frustrated on being deprived of their education. Especially in the state of Assam, people have been crippled not just by the pandemic, but have also been strained with severe flood and incident like blow out and subsequent fire at a gas well at Baghjan. Under such situations, the notices issued by several universities to conduct exams for final year students have added to anxiety in many students.
A resident of Assam, Sibasish Thakur is a final year student at Rajasthan University of Health Sciences. While admitting that personally he is not undergoing any mental health related issue raises the question, “How will a person earning 2000 rupees a month provide his son or daughter a smartphone with active internet connection?”
Describing the impact of news on mental health, a student of Gauhati University says, “The surrounding environmental or man-made problems like various cases of mob-lynching, Dehing Patkai or Baghjan issue etc are making me slowly anxious.” The news of alleged suicide of a favourite film actor Sushant Singh Rajput flashing constantly on the television screens, or the social media buzzing around it have also added to anxiety among some of the respondents.
Moreover, the pandemic also heightened the feeling of uncertainty among the students over their future. In the survey, the option which received the second highest percentage (52.9%) of respondents was, ‘I feel a sense of hopelessness regarding my life and future’. Witnessing the current situation, students have been feeling unsure over the economy, employment, finances, relationships, and of course health as well as life. While India’s overall GDP growth for the full financial year(FY), 2019-2020 stands at 4.2 per cent, being the lowest in 11 years; RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has further said that economic growth in 2020-21 is likely to be in the negative territory. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) too which had earlier forecasted a growth rate of 5.8 per cent for India in FY 21, has now cut its projection to 1.9 per cent.
According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, 27 million youths in the age group 20-30 years have lost their jobs in April following a nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19. Furthermore, a report published by Global Consultants says that India is set to lose around 130 million jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following such alarming figures from all the credible sources, the students are feeling insecure about their future. On asking the respondents to describe any other mental health issues that they might have undergone during this time, one of the student from Assam studying in Mizoram University says, “Sometimes I feel a decreasing future of our career opportunities in next two years, as there is no ray of hope of Corona cure in this year.” Such distressing situations of the country and world have made students to feel powerless over their direction of life. However the student adds, “But, we should not de-motivate ourselves. Let’s stay positive.”
In another finding of the survey, more than 52 per cent of the students have reported that faculties from their educational institutes have checked on their wellbeing during this period.
A student from Tezpur University while reflecting upon his struggles and how he overcame it says, “Yes, I have been feeling low so many times but overcame the same with support of spending more time writing, talking to my best friend or even having evening walks. I tried developing a few new interests and overall, I'll say, this is a difficult time but understanding that we are in a slightly privileged condition than the ones like migrant workers and so on, makes me somehow disvalue most of my own concerns.”
Dr. Diptarup Chowdhury, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology of Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health (LGBRIMH). He and his team consisting of Tama Dey, Pramita Sengupta, Barsha Boruah runs a centre for Psychological Care and Mental health promotion among the youth named ‘Youth Wellness Hub’ at LGBRIMH. On asking Dr Chowdhury if there is a special way to keep one’s mind healthy during this pandemic he says, “There is no magic bullet to make our minds healthier or stronger overnight, rather this pandemic has reminded us that we also have something called the mind and that we need to take care of it at all times, be it pandemic or no pandemic.”
Upon the high rise of anxiety and restlessness amidst students Dr Chowdhury says that developing a perspective also means that one tries and steps out of the difficult emotions that one is going through. He further adds, “There is a thin line between being cautious and feeling scared. Many of us start with the first but end with the later; and it immediately changes our whole approach to things. We start to panic and lose perspective that we are trying to achieve.”
Reflecting on the present situation of mental health issues amidst students Dr. Chowdhury says, “The first thing we have to do is to acknowledge that things are hard for all of us. The feelings of being disturbed and hopeless are not simply our over reactions but they are our ways of responding to this fast changing scenario around us. Amidst this chaos what we need to do is to pause for perspective inviting anything within or outside us which is helpful and feels right for us and hold on to it tightly.”
Navigations 
Quick Contact
Subscribe Us
Quick Mail
