1) Unpredictability and Uncertainty - The current times are very unpredictable in the terms of what will happen now. Will the lockdown extend, will the conditions improve, will groceries be available easily, etc. The constant feeling of knowing what next is playing havoc on people’s mental health, especially when most of us thrive with schedules or at least a general outline of what our week ahead looks like.
2) Idle mind / too much free time - Some of us who have a lot of time on our hands day after day, even with all chores, cannot help but think about things we prefer not to. Sometimes it’s the past traumas or a trail of self-awareness or certain decisions we took in life. Overwhelming emotions seem to be hovering over each of us.
3) Too many responsibilities - With most of us put in our houses under lockdown, it has been more than a month that the female head of families has been working tirelessly. No servants or maids to help, the pressure on them has definitely increased and the small amount of time they used to get for themselves when everyone was busy in school, offices, or tuitions, has also vanished.
4) Pressure to utilize the time effectively - Currently, there is this pressure or trend on social media to somehow emerge better after the lockdown, since there is so much time. The students are expected to study too well, obese people are expected to lose weight, fitness enthusiasts are expected to be ripped, artists are supposed to be super creative an come up with masterpieces because of so much time in the world! Everyone I suppose should just take care of their mental and physical health while trying to bloom as much as you can, no pressure.
5) Constant threat of exposure to the virus (self and loved ones) - Right now with the pandemic raging, everyone fears exposure to the coronavirus. Every time we go out to get groceries or someone drops the package at the gate, or when the milkman drops milk at the entrance. This fear is stressing people to alarming extents in these conditions.
6) Feeling trapped - Not being able to go out, meet friends, resume routine activities like going to work, going for a walk, not sing masks, or not being worried about social distancing. All the small things are making the difference as the smallest of shops and the biggest of restaurants are closed down, bringing our lives to an abrupt and halting stop.
7) Financial insecurity - With the economy going down, businesses recording all-time lows, and firms outing employees on the bench’, most of us right now are quite apprehensive of our financial and professional growth as well as survival.
8) Tension in interpersonal relationships - The lockdown has been imposed for over a month now and we have been in our houses with our families, locked and with nowhere else to go. People and families have been living together with each other for years but we could always go out, we had a different set of leisure time activities and basically had our own spaces and a certain level of privacy. Most of us have somehow started getting on each other’s nerves and tensions can be felt in interpersonal relationships, owing to physical proximity.
9) Trapped with an abuser- India recorded an all-time high of 92,000 calls to report domestic violence during the lockdown itself. These men and women, with children, are trapped with their abuser in otherwise anxiety-provoking and stressful conditions.
It's very important to take care of your mental health and of others around you. Reach out to a doctor and seek professional help.