mental health

Adding alcohol to the already-potent mix of livelihood loss and food insecurity set off a range of mental health issues. It manifested in domestic conflicts in low-income households. Women were often at the receiving end of volatile emotions and domestic violence.

During lockdown, cases of child abuse are likely to spike but children have fewer avenues to seek help.

Lockdown can lead to boredom, depression and other health complications for senior citizens. Walking indoors, online engagements etc can help them cope.

The government had promised much during the lockdown – availability and home delivery of essentials, financial relief for senior citizens, and so on. Yet middle-class senior citizens have been left in the lurch.

In June 2018, NIMHANS, which has 5.5 lakh people from around the country seeking help at its doors annually, formally launched a digital academy that will impart virtual training to doctors around the country to address and treat common mental health disorders.