After the Health and Family Welfare Department publicised district-wise helpline numbers on Wednesday for people in need of mental health support due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Tamil Nadu Association of Clinical Psychologists (TNACP) said that it has been receiving a steady stream of calls.
TNACP, whose members are available for counselling through the helplines, said that while many calls are about disease-related panic, a considerable number of them were from homemakers, feeling overburdened due to the lockdown.
Keerthi Pai, a clinical psychologist in Chennai and joint secretary of TNACP, said that she received calls from a few women facing such issues.
“The lockdown may mean less work for many. However, for housewives, it generally means more cooking and other chores, since the entire family is always home. The problem is compounded by the fact that domestic helps cannot come to work,” she said.
She said that this additional burden could affect them when their husbands and other family members are not understanding and accommodative. “If the relationship is already strained, this can worsen it,” she said.
She said that some women, whom she spoke to, also felt a loss of personal space.
“Before lockdown, despite all the work, the homemakers had some time for themselves when their husbands and children went out in the day. That is absent now,” she added.
Alcohol addiction
N. Suresh Kumar, secretary, TNACP, said that some of the calls were also about withdrawal symptoms for persons dependent on alcohol. “After counselling them, depending on the need, we are asking them to visit the nearest health facilities,” he said.
Majority of the calls, however, were from people who were either afraid that they have COVID-19 or were worried about others they were in contact with.
Mr. Suresh Kumar said that he received a call from a man in Sivaganga, suspicious that his grocer had attended the controversial religious conference in Delhi, many of whose attendees have tested positive for the disease.
“Another call was from a woman frustrated with her family member, who was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis, but was not taking respiratory hygiene seriously,” he added.
