Corona makes it possible: the anxious relax and the strong are losing it!
By Meghana Raveendra, 2019 kanthari graduate and founder of Moringa, an organization that cares for anxiety disorder of students by offering alternative learning possibilities.
With 45 thousand+ cases nationwide, and with 6500 confirmed cases, Mumbai is currently the epicentre of Corona in India. I am living on the 9th floor of an 11-story apartment building
Over the past 40 days, we have been ‘caged’ in four walls and there is a clear sense of fear about what will happen tomorrow?
As per the World Health Organisation, the mortality rate is close to 3-4% for corona virus cases. Despite such a relatively low rate, there is still a lot of anxiety. Lockdowns across the country have sparked uncertainty about business and economies reviving post the crisis, employees and workers retaining their jobs, financial security, shutting down of educational institutions creating a large inequity, examinations getting postponed due to the crisis, security of women and children within homes who face domestic violence.
And there are probably many more issues that are not even known.
There is fear of the unknown. As per a study that was done by the Indian Psychiatric Society within one week of lockdown, there has been an increase of anxiety by at least 20%.
Of course, as we enter 6th week of lockdown and with 2 more weeks to go, this percentage has most likely increased further.
I have suffered from anxiety from childhood. So, I have become somewhat of a subject matter expert 🙂 Right now, in this time of crisis, you may think I would be extremely anxious. Surprisingly, I am not… only a little. For people like me who have been dealing with anxiety, lockdown is no big deal.
We are used to dealing with it day in and day out. My type of anxiety is more related to expectations that the society at large has set for us, and this often hits our self-esteem. But today, with most of society ‘caged’ in their own homes, this expectation is invisible. In fact, now many people who usually judge others, are going through anxiety themselves and this takes a huge pressure off me.
I am now volunteering with BHUMI (India’s largest organization for volunteering) where we set up a Helpline for people who are facing challenges because of the nationwide lockdown. Our helpline receives close to 400 calls a day from across 25 states. We connect those who need any kind of support ranging from food supplies, medical, safety, protection and/or financial with those who can help – NGOs, non-profits, social enterprises, individuals, vendors etc. Working with this helpline has helped me understand the ground situations during this pandemic and the gaps that currently exist within our system to address the needs of the neglected and marginalized sections of the society. 80% of calls we receive are from families and individuals struggling to procure food or food supplies. Just imagine if you had to depend on the unknown to give you food every week. Now that is scary, isn’t it?
The beginning of lockdown brought a fear of uncertainty in me for my organisation moringa. But when I look at it from a different perspective, the crisis has made me aware of the many insecurities of other people. Today my anxiety has become a strength, I can use my experience and coping strategies in dealing with those who are usually strong, but now seem to lose control.
During the kanthari course, Sabriye Tenberken, the co-founder of kanthari, pointed out to me that I could also use the positive aspects of fear to my advantage. Fear also means being alert, being full of energy and adrenaline. At first, that was difficult for me to understand. But a few days ago, I remembered her advice: the mother of a family living one floor above us tested positive for Covid-19. Instead of being afraid I have sharpened my senses not to do anything that could be harmful to me or my family. Now, during phone calls with people seeking help, I was able to share these experiences.
We can get overwhelmed. We panic. Sometimes we feel terrible. But we can also pull ourselves together and make life a little more bearable for the people around us.