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LOCKED OR UNLOCKED:
TWO SIDES OF THE COIN
AARZOO
Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology
Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh
The Alert
India’s COVID-19 cases started appearing furiously in February 2020, affecting the nation and was followed by the declaration of Janata Curfew on March 22, 2020. National Ministries and those in authority declared the first phase of Lockdown followed by curfew, which was expected. It was welcomed by the country but later the lockdown 2.0 started creating some restlessness in certain segments of society; such as financially hit small business holders, travel and hospitality industries and many others with maximum attention gained by the migrant labourers spread across the nation. The measures were considered in their best interest taken along with many schemes introduced specifically to extend possible support in the times of COVID-19 crisis. Many citizens, celebrities, non-governmental organisations came forward and joined hands with the Government to extend support. Every coin has two sides, so there were appraisals and critical comments prevailing in all types of media. Spotlighted too were the mental health issues of citizens staying indoors and complying with the lockdowns. And in addition, the mental health of migrants, keeping in view their suffering under such circumstances, also cropped up. There was the perception that they all needed counselling.
Counselling: A panacea
All of this generated several questions in my thoughts. Has counselling become a panacea for issues of contemporary society?. The media has been full of highlights such as migrants should be counselled, children should be counselled, mothers should be counselled, senior citizens need counselling and so on. Every individual needs counselling, for what, to survive? Or to live? Another highlight is that every individual is a counsellor. It can be a teenager ‘counselling’ younger sibling or a peer. Adults ‘counselling’ other adults or younger ones, older ones ‘counselling’ all those younger in age. Is Counselling used as a verb or as a profession? Is counselling a tool in the hands of authorities to seek consent from stakeholders? Is this kind of attention emphasizing the importance of Psychology or Clinical Psychology professionals or is it actually side lining professional counselling and psychotherapy? These are some questions that psychologists of this country need to ponder on.
Coping or falling
Any change is known to bring about a package of adjustments at various levels. However, the reasons for change and the consequences associated with change need to be examined. It was somehow a hurried hypothesis that the lockdown due to COVID-19 may lead to increased mental health issues. The anxiety that arose was highlighted and was the centre of attention. The news and several media platforms were releasing information on tips to take care of one’s ‘mental health’. The crisis gave an opportunity to every layman to share their expertise. It made me uneasy, as I wondered, whether we were living in an era of awareness where mental health is no more neglected. Or, were we, as a society portraying poor resilience and inadequate coping to sail through transitions in human life. This image of social structure and system reflects a lack of adaptably to deal with any alterations in lifestyle or national as well as global crisis. The usual human tendency is to get healed when we join hands with those who have undergone similar suffering, empathy healing us. But where is empathy if it is presumed that people sitting at home will never understand that the human race is suffering globally?. A pessimistic view of human nature adopted by non-specialists advising on resilience and coping appeared contradictory to Roger’s person centred approach.
In my social interactions during the lockdown, my curiosity to explore human behaviour brought to my observation that the negative communication about anxiety and mental health issues was so hyped that any individual functioning well in this lockdown was forced to question his sanity. Am I insensitive or indifferent that I am not anxious? Shall I be guilty that I am reconnecting socially and emotionally and not entirely unhappy about the entire situation. Not only this, many must have wished for the lockdown to extend to spend time with loved ones. The barriers such as pent-up emotions, suppressed interests, mechanical lifestyles and other undesirable behaviours started to fade. Many began investing and utilizing their time to do things that they wished, or at least explored them. Lockdown paused a fast-pacing life uniformly and therefore equally, nobody feared losing or lagging behind. It permitted certain segments of population to pause, rethink, rediscover, rejuvenate and repair. Many aspects of human life got blocked but few others were liberated and resurfaced during this crisis.
After dusk breaks the dawn!