A Ray of Hope

Mental Health & Spiritual Quotient: Change in our perspectives during COVID-19 Pandemic

During the last couple of Months, the Indian society, along with the world in general has been gripped by an extraordinary peril - the SARS CoV-2 or better known as the COVID – 19 coronavirus pandemic. During the initial stages of the pandemic, experts and the general public feared the repercussion of the virus would largely be seen on the physical health of the persons affected & economic health of the countries under prolonged shutdowns, only. However, slowly, reports began to emerge about the toll of the virus in the human psyche both due to the economic repercussions of the lockdown and restricted social interactions. People began to wonder by how much the prolonged isolation and economic downturn can affect a person’s mental health. Now, in contrast to the popular perception, mental health issues doesn’t always mean the person is will be gloomy and sad all the time. In fact most of the mentally affected persons are externally cheerful and always smiling, while their biggest source of distress is in their isolation of their mind. Anxiety, depression and harmful behaviours along with domestic violence, for example, escalated, particularly because of increased social isolation all over the world, especially in India, a family-centric society with a high population density and extreme social stratification. However, as an unseen benefit to this problem, discussions about mental health became mainstream, particularly in case of India, where, mental illness has largely been swept under the rug or perceived as a taboo topic. Mentally unstable persons have always been stigmatized to the extent that more and more people have been reluctant to seek professional help during a recurring period of mental distress. But due to the widespread lockdown situation, almost every strata of the society is experiencing mental fatigue, so discussions about it are more and more normalized especially in the mainstream media and talk shows . People began to realise the value of daily human-to-human interactions, however small they may be, and the loneliness & anxiety resulting without it, thus shedding the much-needed light on the plight of the people who had experienced the same before these trying times emerged. Majority of the people now have a fear for their mortal lives, an existential crisis per se (in spite of the low death rate of people affected by COVID-19,only at around 3%), thus people are more acquainted with the mental stress resulting from it, the burden, which were bore only, by the people suffering from terminal diseases. In short, the pandemic gave us an opportunity to make discussions about mental health, not restricted to a small percentage of the population, but as widespread as other physical and clinical diseases.

In addition, the lockdown situation has put an immense opportunity in front of us to develop ourselves spiritually, ergo increasing our spiritual quotient. Spirituality, as per common belief is not religious practices, rather religion is a way to channel one’s spirituality. Spirituality is going beyond our cognitive and emotional skills. It is acknowledging our mortality and thinking of what we could offer humanity. It is living in humility; bearing in mind that we are just a tiny speck compared to the vastness of the universe. Spiritual quotient (SQ) is a measure that looks at a person’s spiritual acumen; it is as important as intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ) which are the few standards on which a person is often judged. Spirituality is like a mirror to our own selves, our own souls, where we cannot pretend, cannot lie, where we come face to face to the realisation of what it means to be a human and how our actions relate to it. The major part of the coronavirus pandemic is the isolation from our social life, and in this situation, we have a chance to remodel our perspectives about spirituality and life in general in this context. We must strive to transform our collective isolation into an opportunity for communal solitude; we might discover that it is, as it has always been, the seedbed for growth in whole, for connection, for renewal. As we take an unwanted but much needed break from the hustle and bustle of our busy daily life, we have a chance to introspect, a chance which was limited to very few people earlier due to time and resource constraints. There is no denying that our collective awareness of vulnerability, uncertainty, and death is stronger than any of us can remember, and so a renewed and much needed investment in spirituality has been soaring. People, in their confines of home, have been more drawn to earth, people investing more time and energy in gardening. Though it may be chalked out to lockdown and ample time in hand, I personally think , it is the more vulnerable people aware of their mortality trying to invest in life, where the germination of a seed into a living healthy sapling, is providing people just that. The fact that our existence is insignificant and temporary has dawned onto people, and as a result, people are becoming less superficial and more spiritually mature. Spirituality is not necessarily being religious, but to come to term with our inner self, to recognize our selves in a new spectrum, to introspect our humanity, to come to peace of our fragile existence, and to affect our fellow humans’ lives positively in spite of that. COVID -19 Pandemic and the associated lockdown has just given us that opportunity to introspect and self-reflect. Connectedness, meaning, and purpose are essential human needs that are as true for everyone else. This is the essence of spiritual health, and it is being realised by the majority of humanity in this trying time.