IMPRI Team
In continuation with the ongoing discussions on the Rural Realities and COVID-19 Pandemic around the country, the Centre for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi organized a Panel Discussion on “Rural Realities | Telangana & Andhra Pradesh | Practitioners’ Experiences in Tackling the Second Wave in Indian Villages” on May 14, 2021, as the second wave of coronavirus pandemic is engulfing the length and breadth of our country, India, and hitting the heartland of our country which is the rural areas.
Dr. Varudhini Kankipati, Co-founder, InnerConnect concentrating her talk on mental health and said that there is the scenario of fear-driven mental health related to COVID in place and secondly the fear of the impact of the pandemic on family and individual.
She further says that once fear precipitates from community to neighborhood then family and finally to individual a consistent feeling of helplessness arises. This consistent feeling of helplessness results in anxiety leading to depression, OCD symptoms, or a sense of hopelessness. Prolonged anxiety leads to other forms of severe mental and physical health like loss of sleep, appetite.
She also underlines that media should also take responsibility in showing hope instead of only showing catastrophe and effects of a pandemic on everyone which has huge repercussions on individual and community level. She also underlines the pivotal role of women in understanding the mental health of the family.
The pandemic will have long-term mental issues and its repercussions will manifold over 7-8 years
Dr Varudhini Kankipati
