After almost two years of the world being under the clutches of COVID-19, mental health has become a vital concern that demands to be addressed. It was not possible for students to tackle the surge of the pandemic and attend school, which resulted in them spending a prolonged amount of time inside their homes. The whole situation has presented us with an atmosphere of stress and exhaustion, resulting in a lower attention span and short tempers.

With the introduction of online schooling, screen time skyrocketed. Limited scope of interactions in classes have made classes monotonous. Students are always surrounded by countless distractions, making it even more difficult for them to focus. Too many online classes have also resulted in physical ails. It seems as if there is an enormous blank space among the youths of the society, which otherwise would have been filled with memories made in school campuses with friends and mentors. It is essential to interact with companions in order to not pile up negativities, but unfortunately, this pandemic totally hinders that aspect.

The biggest blow was to motivation. With so many uncertainties surrounding students, they are always on the edge. The redundancy of life has become a constant, and this has created the lack of things to look forward to. What further disturbs the tranquillity is the concept of a pandemic itself. Sickness, deaths, misinformation, uncertainties — all these do not let people rest.

Being in a constant state of alert and frenzy hampers mental health. The after effects of this whole situation can be quite detrimental if things continue to flow as they are currently. Society does not look at mental health issues with a good light, but what must be understood is that mental health is as important as physical health. Without normalising medical health treatments and psychological aids, the youths are going to grow up to be closed off, paranoid adults.

Research and surveys show that poor mental health results in loss of productivity. It is important for family members to spend time together and talk about how they are feeling, and what can be done in order to feel better.

Schools need to arrange counselling sessions where students will get the scope to open up to professionals. Most importantly, awareness about mental health concerns needs to be raised. In the current status quo, mental health tends to get looked over, but in order to increase productivity and to instil motivation back into the youths, it is about time this issue is taken seriously.

Photo: Collected