It is a brutal fact that current situation has made every one’s life to be difficult and challenging to deal with. Since the initial days of COVID-19 in Pakistan in early March 2020, all the educational institutions are closed. Students learning has shifted from face to face interaction to blended and virtual environment learning. From toddlers to university graduates all the learners together with their teachers are constrained to be contingent on internet facility and digital sources to continue learning with the current pandemic. As schools, colleges and universities are closed so students’ activities and interactions are limited to homes and rooms instead of classrooms, learning studios, libraries, computer labs, sports centres, cafeteria and playgrounds. This is not just a matter of educational institutions but this pandemic has affected each and every walk of life. Due to closure of public places, parks and play grounds the public is experiencing the current situation increasingly stressful and more confusing. Doctors, Nurses and paramedical staff are in the front line to deal with this pandemic, they are directly allied with the patients. Children, youth and elderly people, all experience excessive stress, feebleness, scared and a situation of melancholy now a days. In these situations, experiencing sleep deprivation and mental retardation has become common together with loss of thoughtfulness, fear and anger due to uncertainty in every aspect of life. There is a sense of panic to meet with relatives and friends, fear of travelling from home, alarm of going to market areas, SOPs of visiting public places and attending meetings, these have desperately affected the general way of life. With all these difficulties and challenges, important is to know how to deal with every aspect of this crisis situation. Therefore, precise and accurate response need to be shown given the situation of this pandemic.
If we look at our surrounding, everyone is in awe of the unseen in society because all the planned activities to hold on the routine of life are completely altered. Schools, colleges and universities are closed but learning is going on, and it has never to stop. Economic activities and trades are interrupted, places of social interaction are now inaccessible, parks, theatres, zoos and community halls are under waive of social distancing. From school learning to hospital treatment, public travelling to visiting shopping malls, buying belongings to eating in restaurants, all are drastically changed. Social distancing and sanitizing hands have been made indispensable. Factories, industries and work plants have been stopped and employees are afraid of becoming unemployed again. Students are afraid of quality learning without classrooms while teachers are in the run of providing soft materials to their students through blended approaches, nevertheless social distancing and precautions are at the frontline of each aspect of life. Those who had no routine jobs to do are now suffering in phobia of staying isolated from their loved ones. Someone’s family members are in difficulty anywhere in any part of the country or abroad and they are unable to help protect their loved ones in these difficult circumstances. All over in the surrounding there is atmosphere of fear due to the spreading attack of COVID-19. In a nutshell the notion of living a healthy life has changed drastically.
Given the situation of COVID-19 and the situation it has created in societies across the globe, there has been an increase in domestic violence nowadays. From abuse of powers in Peshawar to honour killing incident and suicides among teenagers, there are news of counting deaths of coronavirus patients in this day and age. All these are signs of humiliation and torture in stressful and mentally retarded society. According to a report there has been increase in the number of patients visiting psychologists during this pandemic. This reflects the fact that loneliness, depression, mental melancholy and stress have also increased. With the increasing number of COVID positive patients there are negative questions increasingly arising in the minds of people. All these thoughts and happenings may cause to do things less well, i.e. from school tasks to university assignments and domestic activates to be of poor quality. If the situation is not dealt properly then mental health problems may arise that may even disrupt relationships among families and friends. Because when opinions and feelings lead to these kinds of negative consequences, then mental health problems may arise and even become eviler to bother someone’s life.
With all these, there is need of some important actions to be taken by each and every one of us so that our society is safe from these yet predicted but unpleasant and repellent outputs of this pandemic. Being a responsible citizen we have to teach the community that how to change activities according to current pandemic situation. We should be able to know that how to overcome with fear, stress and anxiety specially in stressful situations. We have to be skilful and clever enough that how to protect ourselves, our children, our parents, our neighbours, our relatives and our community from this pandemic. To answer all these emerging questions we should have our physical health safe and mental health protected. Current situation demands both strong mental wellbeing and physical health. A minor change in our daily routine may help us and our beloved ones to stay safe and protected during this pandemic. We should stay fit by eating balanced diet, drinking more water and fresh juices, having enough sleep as doctors mostly suggest and doing normal exercise. Nowadays it is a matter of common observation that our children and elderly spend more time watching television and youth are in direct and unlimited access to social media. So what to do is to manage the time effectively and yield some time for daily exercise and enjoyable activities. Because social media and television news now a days are full of discussion about pandemic all the time, and there is no good news to watch or hear that may give mental satisfaction. Talking to friends, sharing the problems with trusted ones, maintaining a good relationship with beloved ones, reading interesting books and writing useful notes are some of the suggestions that may help dealing with current isolated situation of COVID-19.
The writer is student of Masters Programme at The Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development.
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