Only time can heal the trauma...

Since its abrupt outbreak in the beginning of last year, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed everything upside down. It has not only separated us from our routine life but has also changed nearly every aspect of our life. It has taken lives and livelihoods. It seems impossible that our life might never be the same again.

Over the past several months we have been in the midst of lockdowns, closures and financial interruptions. We have adopted new habits, learned to work from home through virtual interactions, made social distancing an everyday habit and masks part of our body just like mobiles. Our children are, even though at a low pace, becoming used to remote learning.

Many of us have struggled with feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during this pandemic. Maybe we never thought about our mental health before, or reflected on our feelings, but this pandemic has moved many of us to care for ourselves more deeply.

Now coming to the losses that have compounded mental health issues of people, the trauma caused by illness and death have excruciating nuances. Even there has been a noticeable change in our perception towards grief and anguish.

Most of us are experiencing some level of anxiety with the increasing infection rates and deaths due to the pandemic. Although fears of contracting the disease along with constant apprehensions about health and safety, our stress spirals when our loved ones are infected and separated from us especially during hospital admissions. It leaves many of us unprepared to cope with it.

Relatives of the infected become more vulnerable to anguish as they do not have access or any effective communication with their loved ones. They become more anxious and depressed.

Even after reaching home after my journey to recovery in hospital, those days still remain nightmares among my family members. My separation from them has left them scared and depressed. While I lay on the ventilator in a delirious condition with no knowledge of what was happening around me, my wife and children were the worst hit with no clear knowledge about my fate. This communication gulf has taken a toll on my family.

They have not yet recovered from the mental anguish left by the virus. Tears flow when they talk about the pain and strain that they underwent during those dark days of my stay in the hospital. Even though Dr Ravi Perumal at Bader al Sama Hospital who steered my recovery arranged a video call with my wife and children, I just gazed at the glowing phone screen. I had no idea what was going on.

My son still says, “the nightmares just won’t stop. I wake up every night shaking with intense fear. I wake up drenched in sweat”. It has come to a level that any mundane discussion remotely related to the virus sets off a series of alarming responses among them.

It could take months or even years for them to come out of the stress even as I am on the path to steady physical recovery!