Ranchi: Things changed for Siddhant Kumar (30) a young businessman, who loved socializing, after he and his family members gradually recovered from Covid.
He stopped talking to people around him and spent most of the time in seclusion.
He identified that things were not usual and normal with him and decided to contact Dr Siddhartha Sinha, senior consultant at Ranchi Institute of Neuro Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (Rinpas).
Siddhant is not a lone case as many others are going through a similar situation even after recovering from the viral disease.
In this particular case, Siddhant had lost his close family members, spent days in anxiety when his paralytic father and co-morbid mother developed Covid symptoms and himself got admitted to the hospital following cytokine storm.
Mental health experts believe that although every case and personal experience of patients are different, issues associated with Covid are taking a toll on the mental health of those who have encountered the virus.
“There is no study to prove that Covid has direct impact on mental health but the kind of challenges people are facing, it obviously triggers anxiety, depression, panic attack and even suicidal tendencies at times,” said Dr Nishant Goyal, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP).
Ruling out the issue of brain fogging, which is being associated with Covid, Goyal said it has no medical explanation but is related to anxiety.
Acknowledging rising cases of mental health even during the first wave, CIP launched several helpline numbers in association with the district administration to cater to patients.
Although the footfall at the OPDs of both CIP and Rinpas has reduced because of movement restrictions and lockdowns, the helpline numbers remain busy all through the day.
“We receive around 100 calls every day on the helplines but it is difficult to identify how many of them are related to post-Covid complications,” Goyal said while adding that around 40% of the calls that he personally attends are related to Covid.
The state mental health authority (SMHA), which decided to constitute a tele-psychotherapy committee at Rinpas back in December 2019, also underlined the need for tele-counselling at this point of time.
The committee that was ultimately constituted on April 3 this year is still to float a helpline number though.
Dr Sinha, who is also a member of the committee, admitted that Covid-related anxiety has precipitated into psychotic conditions in some individuals.
“Isolation, social ostracisation, fear of complications and uncertainty of medical attention because of lack of beds and facilities coupled with financial constrains have affected a large population,” he said.
“Anxiety often leads to severe clinical conditions like panic attacks and suicidal tendencies,” Sinha said, adding many people turn up to cardiologists as they experience palpitations, cold sweats and uneasiness.
Admitting that awareness about seeking medical help from experts is still low, Sinha said personal counselling and medication at times can help to a great extent.