Impact of Covid-19 on the Mental Health of Indians: A Case Study

The unprecedented episode of the Covid-19 pandemic has been a massive shock to individuals all across the globe. Overwhelmed healthcare conditions, stringent lockdowns and plummeting economies have been a huge blow, especially for low- and middle-income countries. In the first phase of the pandemic, India had performed relatively better than most of the other nations in its income strata. However, the second wave of the disease had severe impacts on healthcare as well as the economy. In this light, individuals residing within the country were faced with an uphill task of evading the virus and keeping their mental health intact. This paper takes a dig into the mental health of Indian residents during the second wave of the pandemic (May 2021) through an analysis of a collected sample. The sample consisted of 400 participants (59% males, 40.25% females; mean age=26 years). The DASS-21 index was used to assess the mental state of citizens amidst an ongoing nationwide lockdown. A significant association was obtained between Covid-19, depression and overall DASS index. Thus, the importance of addressing mental health issues during a prevailing pandemic has been identified, and subsequent policy recommendations have been prescribed.