Mental health implications of COVID-19 pandemic and its response in India:

Mental health concerns and treatment usually take a backseat when the limited resources are geared for pandemic containment. In this global humanitarian crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health issues have been reported from all over the world.

The major mental health issues reported were stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, denial, anger and fear. Children and older people, frontline workers, people with existing mental health illnesses were among the vulnerable in this context. COVID-19 related suicides have also been increasingly common. Globally, measures have been taken to address mental health issues through the use of guidelines and intervention strategies. The role of social media has also been immense in this context. State-specific intervention strategies, telepsychiatry consultations, toll free number specific for psychological and behavioral issues have been issued by the Government of India.

Keeping a positive approach, developing vulnerable-group-specific need-based interventions with proper risk communication strategies and keeping at par with the evolving epidemiology of COVID-19 would be instrumental in guiding the planning and prioritization of mental health care resources to serve the most vulnerable.

Keywords: Mental health, COVID-19, pandemic, stress, anxiety, depression