Seeta Ghimire

COVID-19 is haunting, being poignant, and keeping most of us awake. To add more tension, the whole globe is in the midst of this adventitious crisis. This virus is also exposing the hideous facts of crashing major nations’ economies, major markets, and making the healthcare system look fragile. It has given a limitless invitation to the loss of jobs and lives causing major damage by amplifying the level of uncertainties beyond human endurance. It has been clear that this virus understands no border, no race, no religion, no age, or any gender. The human ability to battle the fright of suffering, crisis and the ability of saving lives from this petite microorganism is sliding downhill by every tick of the clock. No doubt our nation has been able to minimize the spread of COVID by maintaining strict lockdown measures in the past but the real question is for how long and what impact it might bring along?
The last few months are being a phase of confusion and worry of everyone. To stay at home against your will has been more stressful. I read facts of COVID-19 put forth by some of the best minds in the world; they include scientists, healthcare providers, and experts. That said, I must confess that I only have a rudimentary understanding of the whole issue. I do not know what context to speak from. To the extent that I know, it is a scientific question. Although microbiology offers very powerful, persuasive, and logical explanations from its field of perspective, they are quite inadequate in providing a conclusive and definite explanation why and how such nasty viruses (SARS, MRS, Ebola, and now Corona) are evolving and spreading so rapidly costing thousands of lives and property over time.

If we comprehend the healthcare sector at this point, shortages of PPEs and other necessary equipment has left the healthcare providers in the battle without the missiles. Unlike, Florence Nightingale, today, nurses around the globe are remained without the lamps, whereas doctors remain with despondency and other frontlines are left in extreme terror. The third world healthcare providers might encounter assemblage of the situation seen far less in developed countries; the burnout, frustrations, depression are so evident. On top of it, the helpless videos of doctors and nurses in Social Media, and societal behavior/cruelty towards them are nerve-racking.
Amidst many things, we cannot overlook the vicious cycle of extreme poverty, stress, anxiety due to COVID-19 now and in the upcoming years. We now have started to lead a life where I fear my children would starve to death. I am terrified since my husband lost his job and unable to send remittance. I am frustrated as I am short of the essential supplies. I am overwhelmed by thinking about the uncertain future of my child. My brother is petrified with piling debts, going bankrupt. My father fears about theft and robbery in the middle of the night. My uncle is terrified of thinking about his homecoming son’s health and safety. My cousin can no longer take the daily domestic violence. My sister is anxious about her unintended pregnancy. My niece is stressed out thinking her approaching delivery due date and lockdown. My younger nephew is annoyed about staying home. I worry as my brother is an ambulance driver. I worry my mother works as a cleaner. My landlord fears my inability to pay the rent on time. My neighbor fears the wrong motives of his neighbor towards his teenage daughter. I am sad as my colleague is being burnout in her profession. The other colleague is tensed seeing the possibility of a suicide. My asthmatic grandfather is alarmed thinking COVID would take him away first. An old woman wishes death rather than seeing her children’s suffering. Mrs. Khan cries silently every night thinking of her daughter in the USA. Mr. Bhandari worries as his sister is a nurse. Mr. Christopher grieves today as one of his relatives died due to COVID. Mrs. Tamang fears the next COVID’s victim.
Such and such present and potential lockdown’s stories could be coincidental to many of us. It looks like our whole nation is in terror. When we recall back our days, we, Nepalese have already gone through a lot. We came through the decade of conflict, shortages, political instabilities, revolution, blockades, border issues where hundreds of thousands of people were affected unwaveringly. We had not overcome the pain of the earthquake in 2015, the wound is still not healed. The eerie picture of contentions and seismic terrors might still haunt us every day and now- CORONA. In a few months, we might be living with more anxiety, frustrations, stress, trauma-related disorders, depression, and substance misuse. Unlike physical health, mental health is less addressed and spoken about and has always remained buried. However, both the material and the spiritual realm has to be addressed to live a balanced life. Individuals build this society and the mental health of each kind of individual has not to be excluded. As we have turned into survival mode, every action made leaves substantial changes in our lives. The mental illness in a normal individual’s image stands as a stereotyping image of ending up in a mental institution presents as a threat for an individual to open up. People do not easily come forward and share what they are going through until they feel the quicksand underneath.
Similarly, the tacit notion of this virus and lockdown shows how important this “I” is! At a point, when “I” is not alright, nothing is alright. We are going through fear, terror, and lockdown from a few months, and the world has started turning upside down. We then simply think of the people who are suffering from mental illness, who are living in “Lockdown Mode” since forever. They have always remained isolated, ignored maintaining certain physical/social distance. We must be in the same boat at this point.
The predominance and weight of mental illness have remained staggeringly high all-inclusive. The fact of not enough data makes it difficult to map the prevalence of mental illness in Nepal. However, the extent, enduring, and trouble concerning incapacity and expenses for people, families, and social orders due to the illness are faltering in Nepal. While emotional well-being is an ignored segment in the wellbeing domain, we can accept that this pandemic may expand the pace of dysfunctional behavior in Nepal. It reminds me of the massive destruction of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima Nagasaki in 1945, I read that the aftermath of destruction continues to live with the people there. In a similar regard, I accept that one bright day our framework destructed in the earthquakes, conflicts, and different clashes could be remade, resolved, and will stand tall, yet shouldn’t something be said about the messed-up mind and soundness of every individual? How are we going to gauge the years after years of the annihilation of these many scenes of demolition on our mind and to what extent will it take to construct these brains solid?
Today, the globe is unified in finding all the possible means to defeat this virus. We may beat it however, consequences left in our mind might be like an iceberg; we can see a small portion on top but could get no idea about its dimension until we dive to tow it.
This sea could be deeper so could be the iceberg!

Registered Nurse (Nepal and Bangladesh)
Board Member, Unity in Health Nepal