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PSYCHOLOGISTS FROM INDIA RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN OVERVIEW
This book is the edited work of original articles and views of psychologists and psychological associations in India who have responded to challenges that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic. The book gives an overview of the concerns of professional psychologists in India and their responses, from their individual and organizational capacity, to meet the mental health challenges of different sections of society. It also gives their reflections and aspirations on how the profession of psychology needs to move forward in addressing issues that have emerged during this pandemic and to make sustainable and strategic plans to mitigate them.
S. N. Anindya, M. A. Debora, Dr. L. S. S. Manickam, in their article ‘Refining Psychological Services and Strategies in India in The Wake of COVID-19,’ present national strategies that psychologists of our country need to use while responding to the pandemic directly and what the profession needs to do in the next 5 years. In their wish regarding what psychological associations in India need to do in the next 5 years, they call for role clarity, rethinking on the training of psychologists, streamlining organization from within, standardization and inter collaboration of associations in responding to disasters and calls for a paradigm shift, to align with the values of our cultural context.
In the chapter responding to COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges of Indian Psychologists, Kalpna and Dr. NovRattan Sharma review the psychological and mental health problems faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and earlier virus related epidemics that have been reported from other countries as well as from India. They discuss the mental health consequences of lockdown, quarantine and post quarantine situations and warn of challenges that arise.
Dr. Anagha Lavalekar through her writing on ‘Socio-emotional responses within and outside family boundaries during COVID-19’ takes one to the realities of the COVID-19 that are happening across the different sections of society in India, and highlights the importance of ‘dialogue’ to overcome the fear that sets in.
Asima Mishra and Dr. Neha Sayeed in their article review the existing literature on psychological disturbance relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic along with a review of various articles highlighting the plight of the migrant workers. The articles which were reviewed focused on the psychosocial issues of migrant workers and provide steps that are essential to manage the distress of the people who had to travel long distances to get back to their home states.
Dr. Annie John in her article ‘Supporting Students and the School Community During a Pandemic’ highlights the particular stresses that arise during a pandemic in a school community of students, teachers and parents. School psychologists have a responsibility and are in a unique position to support the community with sessions aimed at improving mental health, advice regarding learning and formulating policies that can be put in place to alleviate the effects of stress.
In the chapter ‘Promoting Well-Being and Resilience of Young People During COVID-19: An Initiative with Schools’, Dr. Chetna Duggal and Lamia Bagasrawala present some of the activities carried out through the School Initiative for Mental Health Advocacy (SIMHA), an initiative of the School of Human Ecology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, over a period of two months. The initiative was meant to support and promote children and young people’s mental health and well-being, in collaboration with the school community of school leaders, teachers and counsellors. Webinar series for counsellors working with children and adolescents, web-series for teachers, experiential workshops on self-care and support for counsellors during the pandemic were initiated to achieve the objectives of developing communities of care to build resilience that provide an enriching experience.
Dr. S. Venkatesan, in the article ‘COVID-19: The Pandemic and People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities’ highlights the unique challenges in addressing the acute and long-term needs of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (PWIDD) in the context of the ongoing pandemic. Beginning as a personal narrative, critical psychosocial issues related to COVID-19 etiquette, lockdown-quarantine, risks-vulnerabilities, economic and occupational fallouts, and research are highlighted. He has provided a recommended outline for public education on COVID-19 and PWIDD, which is a valuable guideline.
Dr. Sujala Watve, in the article, ‘Outbreak of Corona: Gifted Response, writes about tele-education for the Gifted, where the educational needs of gifted children are met during the lockdown, in the comfort of their homes. In addition, a report of initiative of students and the alumni of the school of Jnana Prabodhini who were engaged in service to the needy during this lockdown is also provided.
Reena Thomas, in the article, Psychologist’s Mind on Missing Beats of an Expatriate Life’ writes from her heart on how a psychologist from India, living in a foreign land feels and cares about the ‘motherland’. The realization that one cannot take home all who are living abroad, forcing many to remain wherever they are, gives a feeling of being ‘stranded’. Living in a developed country, she shares the double pain of ‘struggles to balance the economy and contain COVID-19’, amidst several uncertainties which move people into a ‘collective agony and a state of worry’.
Aarzoo, in her article ‘Locked or Unlocked: Two Sides of the Coin’ sees another side of the lockdown and writes about people who wish for an extension of it to spend time with their loved ones. Overcoming the initial barriers of pent-up emotions, suppressed interests, mechanical lifestyles and other unhealthy behaviours she feels that many have started investing and utilizing their time to do things which they wished. The lockdown ‘paused a fast-pacing life uniformly’, on the positive side, it permitted certain segments of people in our country ‘to pause, rethink, rediscover, rejuvenate and repair’ leading to a liberated people.
In the chapter, ‘The Return of The Repressed’ in COVID-19: The Need for Intervention at Socio-Cultural Inscape’ Dr. Paulson V. Veliyannoor, currently living in Spain, amidst people who have initially struggled to contain the pandemic uses a case study of a client who sought psychospiritual help during the pandemic times as symbolic of what may unfold at the macro levels. He brings forth to the conscious level some of the ‘forgotten’ concepts in psychology to understand the current scenario. The ‘Interdividual’ living in a collective society with the prohibition of touch, adapting to virtual reality has to be understood from the critical vulnerability of our context. The current state can stir up within an unbiased psychology professional, several repressed thoughts. The author analyses the possibilities of the return of the repressed in the Indian society and calls for an active and concerted intervention by psychologists and other behavioral scientists at the socio-cultural inscape.
Dr. B. J. Prasantham in his article titled ‘Tomato or Tennis Ball’ Tips for Coping with Corona Resiliently and Helping Others Psychologically, provides his findings of a survey conducted following the pandemic and gives tips for resilience and suggestions for Psychologists to respond to in the current situation. He gives useful tips for those who are worried about the COVID-19 and to those professionals who are providing support. His practical 5 R’s can be adapted easily by those who are in the frontline and others alike. Following the tips even partially, he hopes would help people to “bounce like a tennis ball rather than splash, and disintegrate like a tomato on impact of the fall”,
On a positive note, Dr. Manju Agrawal in the chapter ‘Self-Talk to Change Your Perceived Reality’ observes that people living in a happy and positive family environment with good domestic harmony have made constructive use of the available time and seized the multiple advantages and opportunities from the current situation. She suggests a technique of ‘self-talk’, which is basically positive pronouncement or constructive proclamation to the self and narrates the experience of releasing a podcast online which many of her clients found very soothing and calming.
In the chapter, ‘Role of Psychologists in Dealing with Triple Disaster Situation During COVID-19 Pandemic’ Dr. Prasanta Kumar Roy describes that the usual pattern of dealing with disasters by psychologists in India, of providing psychological support days after the disaster, needs to be replaced by active involvement and that it has taken place during the current pandemic. He goes on to state that in some parts of the country, mental health professionals are challenged by ‘triple disasters’ at the same time; including socio-economic disruptions due to the loss of livelihood in all socio-economic strata leading to an increase in mental health issues. When multiple disasters which demand conflicting response measures strike simultaneously, it compounds the challenges mental health professionals face calling for a review and total revamping of conventional methods employed in disaster management.
As a counsellor who has experienced the Indian and Australian scenario, Sunita Jitendra Gaud in the chapter ‘Psychological Response To COVID-19 Pandemic: Views of an Indian Born Australian Counsellor’ suggests measures that can be used to address the challenges that arise. She proposes that we establish support services, emphasise communication about accessing day to day needs and services, and help people rate their personal distress in order to access psychological services. She cautions not to ignore providing recreation activities, taking into consideration the culture that one lives in.
Dr. Prerna Sharma, in her article, ‘Reclaiming New Horizons: Therapist of 2020 Pandemic Era’ gives a personal account of transforming herself from working as a clinical psychologist in hospital set-ups to the role of a therapist at the various quarantine centres of COVID-19 across Delhi. Not many clinical psychologists across the country had to wear Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and meet their clients while responding to this pandemic. Prerna working in high risk situations narrates the professionally enriching and challenging experiences that led to discovering ‘new realities’ in the wake of the current pandemic. She feels that responding to extraordinary situations requires new ways of relating to clients and is a great challenge.
Dr. Dherandra Kumar in the article ‘Contributions and Challenges of Psychologists in Private Practice in India and their Responses to COVID-19’, writes that mental health professionals in private practice were the first in responding to psychological distress caused by the spread of the virus and the lockdown. Apart from informing their patients that they are reachable over phone, they used social media and addressed the public through free helplines.
Mental health professionals, who predominantly engage in in-person client sessions, are now challenged to use technology as a means of reaching out to those in need. Smriti Joshi suggests using tele-psychotherapy as a means of providing service for the issues posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and also as a preventive measure to instil resilience for what the future holds. In this regard, she goes on to stress the need for guidelines for tele-psychotherapy and to make training in telepsychotherapy essential for postgraduate students of psychology.
Amulya D S L initiated online group counselling during the lockdown period based on perspectives gathered from interviews of professionals running online groups for mental healthcare. The 8 sessions experiment was meant to create a safe and supportive space for clients to work together on self-care goals. She records observations and relevant inferences drawn regarding the potential of creating such therapeutic groups online.
Dr. NovRattan Sharma, in his report ‘Indian Academy of Applied Psychology (IAAP): Vocal Voice on Local to Global Perspectives of Psychological Services’, describes the functioning of the IAAP and how the association has responded to the pandemic. He also narrates the programs that the association wishes to implement in the immediate future.
Dr. Suresh Kumar, Srinivasan Jayaraman, Dr. K. Rangaswamy in their article titled ‘Tamil Nadu Association Of Clinical Psychologists (TNACP): Responding To Covid-19 Pandemic,’ report how the association initiated telecounselling for psychological issues and the response from the public. The TNACP launched a series of webinars for continuing professional development, benefitting both students and professionals during the lockdown.
S. Divyaprabha, N. Ganesh, S. Kalpana, R. Nandini, S. Bhaskar, R. Suryakumar and Dr. T. R. Uma in their article on ‘A Paradigm Shift: Changes, Challenges and Way Forward’ describe how COVID-19 has impacted people and calls for a paradigm shift and ease into the ‘new normal’ way of living. It also gives a description of how the Chennai Counselors Foundation (CCF), based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, functions and describes their initiatives - bringing out a brochure on wellness tips, a Parenting Manual for COVID-19 free e book and “Let’s talk”, a free tele counseling pan India initiative.
Evaluating the ‘worlds biggest psychological experiment’, Dr. L. S. S. Manickam in his article ‘COVID -19 Pandemic: A Time for Prudent and Ethical Action’ calls for developing national strategies by the psychological associations that can help individual psychologists be heard by policy makers of our country. In the absence of ethical guidelines developed for the psychologists of the country, based on ethical guidelines developed by American Psychological Association, the article calls for psychologists to take steps that are ethical while creatively adjusting to the new normal situation that is emerging.
The articles that are presented in this volume, will help the reader get a perspective on how psychologists in India have responded individually and collectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that it provides encouragement to the fraternity, and direction to guide them while formulating action plans in the future.
L.S.S. Manickam, Annie John, M. A. Debora,
Preethi Krishnan, J. Jasseer
Editorial Team