Mental health during COVID-19 times

'The #COVID19 pandemic is reminding us once again that #mentalhealth is just as important as physical health. As the economic and social impacts of the pandemic expand, we can expect to see a rise in depression, anxiety and substance use disorders' – Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of World Health Organization, May 14, 2020.1 Dear Editor, Trivedi et al. assessed levels of work stress among information technology (IT) professionals during COVID-19 times in an Indian metropolis and got their results published in February 2024 issue of the journal. The investigators deployed tools to assess mental stress in the white-collar workers by electronic mail communication, received their responses, got it anonymised to protect the confidentiality of the study subjects and thereupon analysed the data. Thereafter, they compiled the results which provided us an insight into that period so that we may have a better perspective of that epoch. Table 4: Factors associated with work-related stress in IT professionals in Bengaluru city sums it all up in a bird's eye view; as a result, we may draw on key findings by glancing over the data. I am grateful to the authors for making efforts to approach workers outside their usual area of the field, get their answers on record and subsequently present them to us in such a simple-to-grasp manner.2 More such studies in the contemporary era may yield diverse results for better assessment of people around us which may help us to better navigate their working areas and map their challenges. Nevertheless, there are a few points of disagreement too in the study where I want to draw the authors' attention. Under a header of 'Discussion', the authors write, 'Female employees are expected to perceive more work stress due to dual roles of managing demands in family and profession and are also likely to react more intensely to stressor life. Several studies have shown that women have greater psychological vulnerability to stress, which suggests that they may react more intensely to stress compared to men, especially in a pandemic'. The authors conclude their article by stating, 'The specific prevalence was observed to be higher among females by 21.4%'. One may infer from the results that women are weaker than their masculine counterparts in this group. However, several articles from the authors' institute contradict the point. During lockdown when male partners were present at home all the time, instances of domestic violence shot upwards at once. Nair and Banerjee mention in 'The cries behind the closed rooms. Domestic violence against women during COVID-19, a crisis call' here and highlight the unequal relationship at its core.3 Vora et al.4 underscore that cases of domestic violence against women observed an upward trend in that period. Almeida et al.5 observed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's mental health in their article and concluded it to be a negative one due to several factors which included intimate partner violence. Based on all this information and others, we may infer that the difference between genders in mental health concerns is more due to differences in their environments and expectations rather than due to the pattern of their reaction. Under the header of 'Discussion', also the authors mention, 'Though Periodical Medical Examination (PME) of employees is conducted for early detection and management of occupational diseases and NCDs, there is limited emphasis to periodically detect harmful work stress, even though it is a part of OSHAs (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)'. However, OSHA is part of the United States (US) Department of Labor.6 In India, we have an Employees' State Insurance (ESI) scheme for this purpose.7 The state-funded healthcare provider body here is tasked to protect factory workers' health up to a certain pay band. Beyond that privately purchased, third-party and other insurance companies as well as public health centres do the job although hardly anyone preemptively checks for signs of stress in such professionals. Table 3: Distribution of work stressors among IT professionals enlists various work stressors and mentions their prevalence. Delayed/no promotion, lack of remuneration/reward and inadequate working conditions like ventilation, lighting and equipment find a mention there. But if an employee did not get a promotion or got delayed one unfairly, what benefit will the counselling do, I wonder. Instead of availing mental health services, s/he should get proper redressal of her grievance and that will be more helpful to her and wider society, I believe. Similarly, the list mentions a lack of job security. It needs to be realized that insecure jobs are taking a toll on the mental health of the youth which demands a multidimensional approach.8 We take pride in the nation for having a large number of youths.9 But lack of suitable jobs, including underemployment, may turn the dividend into a disaster.10 This study should make us sit up and force us to think about discovering ways to resolve the challenge of joblessness as mental health manifestations are but one amongst several others. The researchers mention in Table 2: Prevalence and specific prevalence of work stress among IT employees about the relationship status of the hi-tech workforce. They were provided options such as single, married and divorced/separated. Nonetheless, nowadays for several reasons, including convenience/living cost/changing social norms and other factors, youths are adopting novel modes of relationship before tying the nuptial knot.11 If we provide them with an option to express themselves, only then they may open up to reveal their thoughts and ways of arrangement. Freedom to liberate may yield unexpected results and the need of the hour is to get a hang of that group who made us one of the champions of the Third Industrial Revolution.12 Identifying sources of stress requires identifying lifestyle with its dynamics initially and then realising its fast pace with changes in values/mores and forces which diversify and constrain their options. Then we may detect what ails their minds and thoughts. Conventional wisdom may take us so far as to get their answers in reply to a soft copy of a questionnaire. Beyond that, a fundamental understanding of changing norms is necessary to know what are the sources of their psychological makeup, its calming and disturbing forces and also how to fix them. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.