COVID fallout: Study says 74% Indians suffering from stress, 88% from anxiety

Ever since COVID-19 pandemic hit India earlier this year, there have been numerous reports about a growing number of Indians being under mental stress with anxieties of uncertain future pulling the people down.

The latest in the series of such reports, The Indian Express on Saturday (December 12) cited a study by a Delhi-based organization which says that stress and anxiety levels have been on the rise, with 74 per cent and 88 per cent Indians surveyed reporting high levels of mental tension.

The study took up over 10,000 Indians to understand how they have been coping with the new normal caused by the pandemic. Conducted by The Center of Healing (TCOH), a preventive healthcare platform, the data showed that 68.6 per cent therapists reported an increase in the number of people they see and in the hours they spend taking therapy, and 55 per cent therapists said the number of first-time therapy seekers has risen since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Also read: 31% adolescents battled extreme anxiety due to COVID-19, says survey

“Everyone’s mental health is getting impacted during lockdown but we wanted to specifically focus on whether stress and anxiety had increased and whether people who were no longer in therapy were experiencing relapses,” said Gurpreet Singh, founder, TCOH, the paper reported.

Over the past nine months back, mental health experts have pointed out how stress and anxiety are on the rise.

According to the study, 57 per cent respondents were suffering from mild stress, 11 per cent were feeling moderate stress, four per cent were facing moderately severe symptoms of stress and two per cent reported severe stress.

“The past months have been unexpected. The situation has taken a major toll on the mental health of citizens. With the series of lockdowns, anxiety, job cuts, health scares, and the overall volatile environment, stress levels are at an all-time high,” said Swati Sahney, co-founder, TCOH.

Also read: At most risk, the elderly battle anxiety, abuse amid COVID-19 lockdown