Protected, yet neglected
To slow the spread, one must keep a safe distance. Social distancing is recognized as one of the effective ways of preventing COVID-19 infection. In theory, distancing ourselves from someone who is infected or who exhibits symptoms, coupled with frequent handwashing and wearing of mask should be enough to avoid being infected. In practice, however, this is difficult to follow especially in crowded places. To force compliance, the government implemented lockdowns which are justified by the need to protect the health of the public in general.
The current administration takes pride in the handling of this pandemic. While the draconian measures the government has implemented have prevented what could have been millions of cases here, the intervention of forcing people to stay at home and to limit their movement to the most essential resulted in other repercussions which may not be as obvious as a person who exhibits the symptoms of the disease.
Becoming manifest nowadays after enduring a year of quarantine restrictions are problems of mood changes such as irritability, feelings of hopelessness, rage, loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed, memory problems, dizziness, lack of or excessive appetite and other signs which are more often dismissed as a temporary condition that goes away after a few nights of good sleep.
But experts are more concerned of these manifestations now as worrying problems of mental health. It is an epidemic of different dimension that lockdowns, social distancing, and restriction of movement and travel seem to aggravate while keeping the spread of COVID-19 at bay.
The national government and the local government units spend so much of their funds in addressing the spread of the virus. Reports of LGUs center mostly on how many persons were contract-traced, placed under lockdown, swabbed, re-swabbed, recovered, or died, but there is a dearth of information on how the government addresses the feelings of hopelessness, the surge in suicide cases, the number of children with difficulty adapting to the new ways of learning, and many more psychological and emotional problems. While some call centers have been set up to address these issues, the intervention is still considered passive rather than proactive.
After a year of our lives in a standstill, the economic instability is now taking the limelight due to the closure of businesses, loss of jobs, pay cuts, etc. resulting in unemployment.
While the focus is on how to bring back businesses and provide jobs to the unemployed, employment and continuous flow of income should not be the ultimate success indicator of our struggle to survive. While a person’s physical appearance may tell us that he has everything or at least has enough wherewithal to see another day in his life, deep within may be a troubled soul that finds no meaning in life. The government must focus on mental health as well if it wants to see a productive country post-pandemic.