“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”

The human body's central unit is the brain which controls the body, unfortunately the problems relating to it are overlooked unless physical. Around the world, every four out of ten people are suffering from mental health and still it is considered as taboo. Mental health problems are nothing but problems like depression, eating disorders, anxiety, stress etc. caused due to genetic of environmental factors. The one such drastic environmental change was the spread of COVID-19; it took a toll on people's mental health and led to significant increase in the cases of mental health problems.

In the year 2019 COVID (Corona Virus Disease) originated in Wuhan, China started spreading in the world, soon declared as pandemic. The disease causes serious physical problems to the ones infected but the mental health issues caused by the COVID are easily overlooked. The Covid-19 has equivalent impact on the mental health of the public. Nearly, there is more than 50% increase in the cases of anxiety, depression after the impact of COVID.

The reasons behind increase in level of mental health problems are as follows:

LOCKDOWN

Lockdown which was merely the dictionary became the word of daily use for everyone. During the widespread of COVID the Central government declared nationwide lockdown which was further continued by State Governments as per the fatalities rate in the States. Lockdown as an action was very sudden, people in the country were stuck wherever they were with least amount of supplies, far away from families, stuck alone in foreign countries; the situation was horrid, but as it is said "desperate times call for desperate measures". However, due to lockdown it negatively impacted people's mental health, some were alone in their hostels, PGs, rented house with absolutely minimal supply of necessities and no provision for entertainment with bizarre situation in the outside world. Everyone, despite being inside were fear stricken, this led to the increase in cases of anxiety, stress level and depression. The problems of depression, anxiety are indirectly related to eating disorders which eventually to the increase in cases of malnourishment and suicides.

The Indian Journal of Psychiatry conducted a survey of impact of lockdown on mental health, in the survey total of 1871 responses were collected, of which 1685 (90.05%) responses were analysed. About two-fifth (38.2%) had anxiety and 10.5% of the participants had depression. Overall, 40.5% of the participants had either anxiety or depression. Moderate level of stress was reported by about three-fourth (74.1%) of the participants and 71.7% reported poor well-being.

STRAINED FAMILIES

Due to lockdown, everyone was stuck inside, some had a great time as it was the first of its kind but some had obnoxious time. There are families which are stranded but due to the engrained value system of joint family, they live together, such families living together had horrible time. The constant quarrels led to the emotional toll and resulted in the increase in cases of anxiety and stress. The lockdown had profound impact on domestic violence cases also, the women had been subjected to physical and mental cruelty; the National Commission for Women had called it the "twin public health emergencies".

LOSING JOBS

The COVID-19 had impacted the economy very badly. The GDP growth rate crashed 23.9% whereas India's GDP shrank 7.3% in the year 2020-21. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy the current unemployment rate stands at 12.4%, urban 15.1% and rural 11.2% in June 2021. The CMIE also stated that income of 97% household declined after the pandemic. The figures and statistics showcases that pandemic resulted in massive increase of unemployment rates.

Till today, in India most of the families survive on sole earner, the amplification of unemployment resulted in either increase of workload on existing workers or sacking of people. As an outcome of the existing situation, increase in workload and losing jobs led to the proportional increase of anxiety and stress level. The statistical data shows that due to pandemic-induced stress the burnout level of working women increased from 34% to 75%.

LOSING LOVED ONES

The COVID being the fatal disease led to the death of many people. The persons who lost their loved ones were succumbed to anxiety and depression and absolutely alone in such tough times. The newspaper reports and articles suggest that around 300+ non-infected people committed suicide during lockdown due to stress and anxiety. In the country, cases of suicide during quarantine were reported as people believed that COVID is non-curable disease and in anxiety they committed suicide.

EFFECT OF MEDICINES

The COVID-infected people also suffered from mental health problems. The medication suggested during the COVID has the tendency of misbalancing the hormones and increase in the level of anxiety. The medically-induced increase of anxiety results in mental health problems like inability to focus reduction in level of concentration and eventually increase in the levels of stress and depression. The various surveys showcase that COVID medications leads to around 10% increase in the anxiety level of an individual.

In India, around 71% of the population still addresses mental illness with prejudice. Mental health in India is still considered as taboo and associated with physical problems. The year (2020 - till date) is considered as the classic example of the Darwin's theory of survival of the

fittest. The fittest do not mean the strongest but the ones who could adapt to the situation. The world has witnessed the huge number of death rates due to COVID but it failed to recognise silent deaths of the people who were suffering from mental health problems. The journey of pandemic years is the roller coaster ride of emotion for everyone. The people have started adjusting to the notion of 'new normal' however, it isn't easy. The COVID has severely impacted the mental health of all age groups.