Mental Well Being in the times of Pandemic

 Pic Courtsey - https://www.unicef.org/serbia/en/how-protect-your-mental-health-during-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic

 

 Corona has disrupted lives of many. It is often known in HR circles that Corona is the real disruptor that caused Digital Transformation in most companies. Even those companies that had no work from home policy had to prepare themselves to enable employees to work from home overnight during lockdown. Some businesses thrived , some tumbled and some closed shops forever. I was in discussion with a SME Business owner, he made revenue of 5 crores in 3 months time period. Talk about being at the right place at right time and ability to make things happen. He is the Trusted go to person for many businesses, being in IT Infrastructure, he catered to business needs and solved complex problems innovatively.

I did a random survey on twitter to find out how Corona impacted work and lives of people . 50% said that it increased their workload.25% said their partners shared the workload. For singles, it meant doing all the chores and extending work hours. People dwelling in cities learnt to become independent and not be dependent on househelp .

Mental Health became a priority for organisations Organisations expected Employees to bring best version of themselves at work.
Managers had to learn how to be more empathetic to their teams to provide good employee experience .


“If I talk about my company then the support extended by them was excellent. We went to work from home model even one week before the govt declared the lockdown. We are still working from home. No salary cuts. They send regular mails to us mentioning that they have our back. “ @Parul_RajeevM on twitter

“Mine is comparatively small company set up (US based IT company) while my husband works at a senior position in an IT giant (Indian) but his  company has cut the variable component from salary of all the employees in his band “


Professionals had to deal with job losses, salary cuts. While others were lucky to retain their jobs. According to one estimate , 2.5 crore Job loss are estimated due to Covid in India alone. That number doesn’t count labor in informal economy . The hospitality and travel sector were worst affected. Every day I receive resumes by professionals who are looking for jobs . This added on anxiety to already stressed out lives. Mental health professionals were in much demand. People did not know how to deal with loneliness brought upon by epidemic.
Mental Health conversations were brought to the fore. Some of the celebrities committed suicide due to lack of work and lack of social support.  


Coming back to Mental Health , kids had to go through a lot as they couldn’t go out to play.

See this brilliant ad by Cadbury's how parental pressure affects kid's Mental Health 

Kids and Teachers had to learn new skills to study and teach online respectively. All of a sudden, people were required to spend uncountable number of hours online for learning, shopping, entertainment, staying in touch with colleagues, friends, family, parents.  

 

People had no option for Digital Detox but to remain online for living lives . Technology connect us all but also isolates us in indirect manner.  This caused a heavy toll on mental well being of people.

“The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Public health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. “ - CDC.GOV

Fear isn’t over yet. Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones, your financial situation still concerns most people. But there is Hope. Thank God there are vaccines which are available in market now. We just have to make informed decision on which vaccine one must take. Vaccine politics is going on, consuming too much negative news also adds on to anxiety. 

Regarding Mental Health conversations, always a good thing to stay connected with community which offers solidarity and understand your mental health challenges in a non judgemental manner and through safe space. 

I discovered one such space on Clubhouse hosted by Sonam Mahajan . She has warmth , grace and empathy. Her club on Clubhouse  envisions to enhance individual and collective wellbeing by improving mental health. 

 HR Leaders are attempting to normalise MentalHealth conversations at workplace after learning lessons from Pandemic. 

In total, poor #mentalhealth was estimated to cost the world #economy approximately $2·5 trillion per year in poor health and reduced productivity in 2010, a cost projected to rise to $6 trillion by 2030 - Source WEF

We have had enough of 2020 . Thank God it’s over.
Darkest night has brightest dawn .
Human Resilience to bounce back from setbacks is amazing. I am hopeful, 2021 will bring upon new hopes, dreams  and people will come up with new ways to live more balanced healthier lives. 

 

https://twitter.com/VijayNallawala/status/1346349110765309952?s=2