Covid-19 and depression

The novel coronavirus has brought in its wake depression and anxiety as people are afraid of catching it because of its contagious nature, and the need to avoid social interaction to protect from it. So to ward off the fear and the boredom produced by prolonged isolation from society, one should try to laugh off things. This, however, should be done in a rational way, that is, not by disregarding precautions and throwing all caution to the wind.

The World Neurosurgical Society marked the World Brain Day on July 22, and this year the discourse mainly focused on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on brain and mental health. Specialist physicians say people are increasingly consulting them, and most of them fear that they might catch the coronavirus and resultantly growing anxiety and depression due to this morbid fear and also due to living away from society. People above the age of 50 are more prone to contracting the virus and those aged 60 to 80 are vulnerable to Parkinson’s, dementia and stroke — diseases associated with the brain. So it is people from this age group who should be more careful about preventive measures against the deadly virus. Also, it is these people who are afraid of contracting Covid-19 and consequently anxiety and depression.

Experts advise intake of nutritious food and healthy mental activity as they say these are the best precautions against the coronavirus and also keep depression and anxiety away. They advise older people to increase the intake of leafy vegetables, fruits and fish, as these food items help control diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. Besides, physical activity and light exercise also helps. Collectively, we should avoid talking unnecessarily about the virus, because this adds to the fear of people catching the virus. If you continuously think of getting billions of dollars, you get it. Above all, laughter is the best medicine. No one has ever died of laughter.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2020.

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