This is a comparative study and highlights the glaring difference in lifestyle habits pre-corona and post lockdown.

The last five months have been unexpected and has adversely impacted the health habits of citizens across the length and breadth of India. The situation has taken a major toll on the Mental health of citizens and has become a major talking point in the last few months. With the series of lockdowns, anxiety, job cuts, health scares, and the overall volatile environment, stress levels are at an all-time high. Copious amounts of stress can lead to depression. With the current lockdown and lifestyles drastically changing, we have seen that 43% of Indians are currently plagued with depression and are learning to cope with it. With 26% Indians facing mild depression, 17% face a more strenuous kind. It is concerning to note that 6% Indians are severely depressed.

According to the self-administered, Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ – 9, consisting of nine areas it monitors the severity of depression and response in a population.

• little interest or pleasure in doing things
• feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
• trouble falling or staying asleep or sleeping too much
• feeling tired or having little energy
• poor appetite or overeating
• feeling bad about yourself – or that you are a failure or letting people down
• trouble concentrating on things such as reading the newspaper or watching television
• moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed. Or the opposite – being so fidgety or restless more than usual
• thoughts that you would be better off hurting yourself in some way

As per the study, a large section of the population has little interest in doing things in the current scenario. There is a cause of concern with more than 59% of the population having little pleasure in doing things these days, out of which 38% have this feeling on a few days and 9% feel so more than half of the days. 12% of the population have little interest almost every day in these times.

Out of the respondents, 56% of people don’t feel down, depressed or hopeless as compared to the remaining 44% feel so. Approximately 10% feel down and depressed more than half of the days or nearly every day.
More than 57% of the population feel tired or have little energy through at least some days in the past few weeks. At least more than 15% have this feeling more than half of the days. This leads to some people sleeping too much while some others have trouble sleeping. With the change in lifestyle, approximately half of the population is having trouble with their sleep. Which is another sign of feeling down. 7% of the population goes through this nearly every day while 33% experience it on few days.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of External Affairs said the total number of Indians infected by corona virus overseas is 276 – 255 in Iran, 12 in UAE, five in Italy, and one each in Hong Kong, Kuwait, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

“The Indian Embassies in the respective countries are in touch with such Indian citizens regarding appropriate medical attention in cooperation with local authorities,” he said.

The Indians in Iran were part of a delegation of over 800 from Kargil in Ladakh, who have been stuck in Iran since February. Most of them are stranded in hotels and other accommodation in Qom, one of the areas in Iran worst affected by the corona virus outbreak.

A fourth batch of 53 Indians returned to India from Iran on Monday, taking the total number of people evacuated from the corona virus-hit country to 389.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working to bring back Indians stranded there. Over 700 people have died from the disease in Iran and nearly 14,000 cases detected.

Corona virus has infected nearly 2 lakh people worldwide and nearly 150 in India, where three people have died.

The government has already taken measures including suspending most visas into the country. On Monday it expanded travel restrictions, banning passengers from countries of the European Union and European Free Trade Association, Turkey and the United Kingdom – including its own citizens.

It has also closed down schools, cinemas, malls, gyms and major tourist sites including the Taj Mahal, while most major cities asked offices providing non-essential services to keep their staff at home in increased measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

“India’s efforts remain focused on peace and stability in the region and this has been reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s outreach to all the key players in recent days says diplomatic sources.

About 25,000 Indians are working across Iraq, mainly in infrastructure and oil sectors. Erbil, the capital of northern autonomous region of Kurdistan has the highest number of Indians.

Since Sunday, Jaishankar has spoken to both US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and the foreign ministers of the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Jordan to discuss ways to reduce the tensions and to work for de-escalation. PM Modi has also discussed the issue with US President Donald Trump during a phone call on Tuesday.

India’s efforts are aimed at ensuring energy security and protecting the interests of some 8 million expatriates in West Asia, including more than 2.5 million in Saudi Arabia alone. Any confrontation between Iran and the US is bound to affect sea routes in the Persian Gulf and hit oil prices and supplies.

The UN has unofficially advised India’s Ambassador to Iraq to not allow more Indians to the country till the situation is back to normal. The mission is still assessing the situation and is expected to take the call soon