Let us discuss some of these negative symptoms. Mental Illness is isolating. The symptoms of mental illness make it harder to get connected with other people and relationships break down.

The most frequent symptoms are not being happy, not enjoying things, not feeling good, and not feeling pleasure. One lacks the energy to go anywhere, for a walk, in the garden, visiting people, parties. It will also show that the person is unconsciously getting isolated by not responding to friends, family and then they give up and leave him alone.

A very typical symptom is not combing hair, not getting dressed, not taking baths, not brushing teeth. The person may not get out of bed for days. The stop doing chores like laundry, cooking, etc and they have lost all motivation in life.

Persons afflicted by mental illness are in their own world and they may not be listening to what the other person is saying. They may also misunderstand and get into frequent arguments with strangers.

Many people think all these negative symptoms are a sign of laziness. But this is not so. The problem is that the person looks physically alright and they are not doing anything except watch TV all day, play computer games or be in social media. This is actually a form of escapism. So if one understands then the person has to be taken to a doctor early on the identify triggers and start treatments.

The trauma is too much to handle. We also observe that some people are resilient and some just breakdown. This is known as PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It could occur due to natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes. It could also occur to refugees fleeing civil strife. PTSD also happens during epidemics causing fear.

The good news is that PTSD is treatable. PTSD also occurs after violent events like riots, pogroms, etc. It’s important to realize that such an experience does not allow you to become normal for a long time. People may get vivid flashes from the past. People suffering from the condition can have frightening thoughts and memories of what happened, which can make them emotionally numb at the moment. It is important to acknowledge past events and get treated with medication and psychotherapy. One can identify triggers and ensure that we are not triggered in any way.

The biggest victims are health care workers, police, social workers and other frontline workers who are seeing things like death, isolation, heartbreak, and despair at close quarters. While others who watch on television or social media are advised to avoid news that could trigger them. Besides the financial costs of COVID, the emotional costs cannot be calculated.

Just yesterday in Mumbai, an alert policeman saved a woman from drowning after she attempted suicide when her husband passed away due to COVID. Please be alert if you see someone spiraling down post-trauma of losing someone to COVID and do reach out to us at NAMI INDIA.

Team NAMI INDIA