BENGALURU: After the traumatic second wave, the biggest concern now is about how people cope with grief and fear.
During the panel discussion on ‘Surmounting the Second Wave — Pandemic Lessons on Dealing with Grief, Loss and Fear’, organised by the Bangalore International Centre, experts said many people may suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and there’s a need for innovative methods that spark hope and policy shifts.
Rohini Nilekani, writer and philanthropist, said grief, loss, and fear had rarely been encountered together by so many people all at once in the country.
“The Nimhans helpline received around 4.5 lakh calls, mostly from people with no history of clinical mental illness.
The psychosocial crisis was observed because of the fear of death, fear of not finding beds and oxygen shortages,” she said.
Another study cited by Nimhans showed that PTSD had gone up by 7-9% among those living in areas with more Covid cases.
She added that a shortage of mental health professionals was an issue, with just 9,000 certified psychiatrists for over 1.3 billion people.
Prabha Chandra, professor of psychiatry, Nimhans, said there was a shift in concerns haunting people.
While in the first wave, it was the stigma around the infection and economic losses, in the second, it was all about loss, grief, and death.
“Suddenly, people in their 20s and 30s lost both parents, families lost multiple members, entire families were in ICUs.
I was looking at grief and trauma together for the first time on this scale.
Isolation had also stripped social support from people,” she says.
She added that the stigma around seeking help for mental health and taking medication had reduced in the past few months.
Paulomi M Sudhir, professor, department of clinical psychology, Nimhans, added that concerns had shifted from anger to anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.
Soumitra Pathare, director, Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, Indian Law Society, said large-scale grief, fear, and mental health problems must be addressed on a policy and social level.
“Public health messaging has been bad, confusing and unclear which did not prepare people.
They were told it’s a 200-metre dash, whereas it was a marathon,” he said.
He added that the country had displayed effective public health messaging during the HIV crisis, which shows we have the expertise.
He said problems in processing grief happen because of the absence of all the rituals people observed after a family member’s death.
“For the large majority, it’s not words but actions like rituals that are important.
A funeral helps people come to terms with loss,” he said, adding that Covid death protocols stopped families from doing it.
Protocols in other countries had been updated and they allowed families to complete the final rites normally.
Dr Ravindra Mehta, chief of pulmonology & critical care, Apollo Hospitals, Bengaluru, said that during the second wave, he saw the medical fraternity willing to do everything.
In addition to battling the virus, they had to speak about death and convey it to families.
The crisis also took a toll on their mental health.
The panel hoped that people would emerge from the crisis with post-traumatic learnings, not just disorder.
They said psychological first-aids (providing safety, calmness, optimism, and hope), better informal support systems and policy shifts would be the way forward.