COVID19: Experience of an Individual

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused countless governmental and societal challenges around the world. COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China back in December 2019. First confirmed case of COVID-19 was on 8th March, 2020 in Bangladesh and people have now got a more complete picture of this pandemic. Therefore, it is time to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 on mental health. From an individual's perspective it has a huge impact on social and economic life.

Lockdown has been identified as an effective preventive tool for pandemic. However, developing countries like Bangladesh faced several challenges to implement the lockdown. Socioeconomic impact for an individual in this pandemic is much greater than anyone thought and personally I am also facing the impact of this pandemic.

Universities around the world had to adjust their teaching now to be carried out online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The studies are structured much better than I expected. Group work is done in separate channels. When the time is over, we then join the general channel to continue the class. But my time with remote learning wasn't very positive. I tend to get sidetracked easily and struggle to focus, especially for schoolwork. In a traditional classroom, I could concentrate fully on the lessons. But during online classes, I found it hard to pay attention to my teachers. I got distracted easily and ended up missing important information they were sharing.

The fact we have to stay home affects everyone, not just me. We all need to meet up with friends and family, I find it healthy. But since it’s done for our safety, we have no other option than to sit inside and listen to every rule that has been implemented. Of course, it’s not something that we planned, it just happened and we need to accept it.

In first few days for some people around me and in social media covid-19 was fun but day after day as the pandemic is getting long term impacts on our society, I also feel there are social and economic consequences of this pandemic. In my family my father and mother both have comorbidity and suffer from cardiovascular disease and diabetes so there is always a concern about them. Also facing the same situation for my in-laws as both my father and mother in law's age is 70 plus. 

There was a rising socio-economic impact of this pandemic as expenses are rising, my family income is not rising, so there is always a uncertainty in life which is affecting our mental health. Nowadays my main concern on this pandemic is about my only child. As this coronavirus has many variants, I am always anxious about his health. In our country the health system is very poor. So I always feel a mental pressure that if any health problem happens then where I will get better treatment for my little one. 

The prevalence of this type of depression and mental issues for the outbreak of COVID-19 in Bangladesh need to give more concern by the government and the individuals. If everyone becomes conscious of such results, actions and policies can be taken to improve the consequential sufferings.

With the pandemic getting somewhat better managed, the virus isn't spreading as quickly. We've entered a new way of living. Our perspective on things has changed from how it used to be. Big gatherings and events with lots of people are hard to imagine now. Remote learning is the norm, along with the importance of keeping distance and wearing masks everywhere. This is the new normal, and it's uncertain if we'll ever return to the old ways. This whole situation has taught me that we often don't appreciate what we have until it's gone.