Covid-19 and the middle-income youth

This year has been a difficult one for most of us. Covid-19 and its consequences have drained us financially, emotionally and also mentally. But don't we all give the least priority to our mental health? While that is something that should be given the top priority, because it's our mind that's takes up all our burden and if that stays healthy then all other aspects of our life automatically get better. We keep complaining about the increase in suicide cases around us. Especially in the younger generation. We should think about the impact on the mental health of the youth as well.

We seem to have come to a conclusion that the financial problems that people are facing this year is probably the only biggest concern, especially in the middle-income families, who are dealing with reduced salaries, or even no jobs. But what about the take on the mental health which is associated with these problems? There are various psychological problems that the younger generation is dealing with. They are constantly tackling stress, frustration, anxiety and also depression.

● Stress because of the increase in academic load for their online classes. In youngsters who have just passed out from colleges and are failing to get a job right now, and even if they do it's an online job which makes it even harder for the ones who are just beginning. And all of this becomes a bigger task if they aren't able to afford a laptop or a good internet connection due to their family income problems, which leads to more stress.

● Frustration because their always working from home, or even the same room the whole time. They sit in front of a device the whole day and are not being able to spend enough time with family or friends. All this increases frustration, especially because there's no outlet to let it out.

● For people who already have anxiety issues all this makes it even harder. Increase in stress and frustration due to increase in work load that has to be completed in a short period of time might even give a person anxiety attacks. No connection with the outside world leaves them with no diversions from work.

● All these factors might act as a trigger for depression in youngsters. Fresher's staying at home without a job might start feeling useless about themselves. And the ones who can't afford a laptop and are using their mobiles for classes/work might tend to feel left out among their peers.

Also, the people infected by covid-19 having to deal with a lot of confusion and fear, for their lives and also for their loved ones. The ones who aren't affected might deal with uncontrollable fear regarding the virus.

But there are a few steps that we can take to help ourselves cope up with these issues.

● Firstly, let's use the available resources wisely to get in touch with our loved ones, the ones who stay far.

● Suggest educational institutions or work places to reduce the work load. Anyway the salaries are already reduced even though the same work is done from home. And students can request to reduce the academic load which will even help to reduce the load of teachers.

● Take breaks, you really need it because self care should always come first. Listen to light music, or just do the things you love, even if it is just for an hour a day. You need to put yourself first, before any work that comes your way, in a way this will also increase your efficiency in work.

● Suggest your work places/ educational institutions to have a psychologist or a counsellor in the institution (if they already don't). Lastly, consult a psychologist/counsellor by yourself if your institution isn't providing one. It'll be one of the best things that you can do for yourself.