Impact of coronavirus disease-19 lockdown on psychological and mental health status among residents of Delhi-National Capital Region

Abstract

Background: The second largest populous country India underwent a complete lockdown to curb the rampant spread and to prepare the health sector of our country to face the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. The curtailed access to family, friends, and other social support systems caused loneliness and mental issues such as anxiety and depression. Aim and Objectives: The present study was taken to find the impact of social lockdown on the psychological and mental health of the participants and to find out the differences between different sex, age groups, and occupations. Materials and Methods: An online cross-sectional study was administered to 1047 participants in the age group of 16–70 years through Google forms to assess the psychological and mental status of the residents of Delhi-NCR, India. The psychological status was judged by IES(R), while mental health status was checked by Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). Results: The mean age of the participants was 48.29 ± 26.16 years. About 75.4% of participants had a moderate psychological impact of the lockdown as calculated by the IES(R) scale. DASS-21 scale revealed that the participants suffered from mild to moderate depression, anxiety and stress. Females had higher IES(R) but males scored higher DASS-21 scores. Healthcare workers along with the auxiliary staff suffered maximal mental agony. Conclusion: In the post-COVID-19 days, all efforts should be directed to minimize the toxic emotional and psychological impact of social lockdown by having tele psychological counseling programs with special emphasis to older age groups and medical fraternity.