A couple of weeks into the lockdown, Hina Beg, received a call from a girl in her early 20s, frantic about how she would deal with life given that a significant sum of money had gone into her foreign education and the job offer she had, was on hold.
Beg is a Mumbai-based counsellor and psychotherapist, who deals with young adults in the 22-27 age group. "A career is what defines them most strongly. They are under tremendous pressure to prove their worth. With the jobs likely to slip away, their sense of worth is dipping," she says.
Neha Anand, a Lucknow-based psychologist, who is part of a pan-India helpline launched on March 26, 2020, caters to a broader range of clients in the 20-35 age group. But the questions she is asked are the same. "There are suicidal ideations and uncertainties," says Anand. Add to that, obsessive compulsive disorders.
Thus, the thoughts most repeated to Anand are: I am washing my hands repeatedly but still feel I might get infected; Everything is going to be finished. My business will be ruined. Life is over; When will this get over. Will I ever be able to go out now or this is going to be the end; I have studied and worked really hard to reach here but now everything is over. My career is going to be ruined. I don't know what to do.
Archana Shukla, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, University of Lucknow, is working with those at the other end of this crisis—police and nurses. "The overriding fear is how to remain protected while doing one's duty. People report loneliness and isolation. This manifests itself in other physiological aspects of stress such as problems with digestion, headaches, body aches and other unexplained aches. There is loss of confidence".
The first question that Beg puts to her clients is whether they love themselves. "In a period of heightened stress, one's diet is the first casualty. In almost all my clients (in normal times when she would get them tested), I find dangerously low levels of Vitamin D and B12. These have a direct bearing on mood swings. My first task is often to help clients figure out a nutrient plan for themselves, with ample options. This gives quick results."
Beg says a focus on diet puts the status of one's wellbeing in one's own hands. "I tell them (her clients) no one can eat or eat right for you," she says. The other tool she uses is 'strength-based counselling' wherein every client is made to write down his/her strengths and weaknesses, and encouraged to chalk a realistic plan based on them.
Shukla says that she works on enhancing positive feelings rather than focusing on the negatives. "I tell my clients 'you are strong in normal circumstances too. You have always had a fight's spirit. Life is even endangered in a small act like crossing the road. Why not then look for the positive in this situation—for example compliment a co-worker on the good work they are doing. Pull up a positive memory on your phone.'"
Both Beg and Anand are offering their services free through phone calls, messages and video calls. Each caters to around four clients a day, investing 45 minutes in each. Shukla's services are through the university.
Anand says that for all the hope that counselling can provide as an essential component of COVID-19 functions, there are aspects that are beyond it. "For instance, domestic violence would call for full-fledged therapeutic intervention," she says.
Beg says that though the full-term impact of the crisis cannot be predicted, there is a strong possibility that people (especially the young) will stop spending unnecessarily on clothes and accessories that help them cultivate a certain 'image' in the eyes of others. "This crisis will teach everyone to value money more," she says.
Anand says that mental wellbeing has always figured low on health concerns. "We might see a paradigm shift in that," she says.