Psychological/Psycho-social distress from Global vulnerability and fragile resilience: Psycho-social inventory view on the COVID-19 outbreak
Psychological/Psycho-social
distress from Global vulnerability and fragile resilience: Psycho-social
inventory view on the COVID-19 outbreak
By: Rawnaq Ara Parvin,
Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Varendra University, Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Corona
viruses (CoV) are large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the
common cold to more severe diseases such as (MERS- CoV) Middle East respiratory syndrome and (SARS-CoV) severe
acute respiratory syndrome (WHO, 2020).
The virus was
first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and has spread rapidly
since December 8, 2019 (Paules, Marston and 2020). The
disease spread globally in short period of time. It is spreading rapidly in
many countries and the death toll is still climbing; there are now more than
2.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 positive in 185 countries as the
disease continues to spread. At least 184,000 people have died (BBC, 2020). Quarantine
and lockdown in all the countries have shifted the health care practice,
educational, economic and political practices to virtual one, which world has
never thought.
Covid-19
outbreak revealed that how a biological and epidemiological issue can cause
serious psycho-social impact and can be transformed to social, economical and
political subject; it vividly illustrates how interconnected the world has
become. Cultural practices can either spread or mitigate the terrific affects
of COVID-19 outbreak; if these perform without physical gathering and
congregation. For instance, Eid-Ul-Azha, an Islamic festival going to be observed
differently from inside own home and can have interactions in online platforms,
which had not happened before. But this facility is limited to affluent section
of population. Affluent members of Muslim society should initiate helping hand
to poor through online platforms and volunteer groups in providing them money
and food materials.
As this outbreak
is totally a new phenomenon, not identified before thus overall planning is not
adequate; and thus there is important consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak is
the widespread fear and social anxiety. Particularly, stigmatization and social
exclusion of COVID-19 positive patients, survivors and relatives of patients may
lead to negative psychological impacts including adjustment disorder and
depression. This uncertainty is affecting people’s physical and mental health (Li S, Wang Y, Xue J, Zaho N and Zhu T, 2020).
National wealth determines
the chance of conquering Covid-19 pandemic; wealthier nations have sufficient
resources to overcome the crisis. But less wealthy or developing countries like
Bangladesh is struggling to deal with the crisis. In this regard, statement of
ICC is very relevant. John W.H Denton AO, Secretary General of ICC
(International Chamber of Commerce) stated that “the commitment of the world’s
largest economies to promote the supply of, and ensure the free flow of medical
equipment is absolutely essential. But action must follow words. G20 countries
must immediately unravel export bans that have been implemented in recent weeks”
(International Chamber of Commerce, 2020). COVID-19 has resulted downfall of economy
of the world; Bangladesh has also become a victim too. Global economy is
connected through cross-border flows of goods, services, people, financial
capital, foreign direct investments exchange rates and international banking. Consequently,
Bangladesh will experience a slow growth of its economy as the USA, UK, and
Germany are the main importers of its products and China is among the main
investors for mega development projects. Bangladesh is likely to face an
economic shock due to restricted export policies and travel bans (Banna Hasanul,
2020). Hotel workers might find themselves laid off as both leisure and
business travels have declined. Restaurant workers might have similar
experiences if large number of people avoid public places and stop eating out. They
may experience economic effects of the pandemic; if they become ill, they also
have fewer resources to deal with serious illness and it causes further risk. If
they don’t get paid leave for sickness, it would be difficult for them to
survive and they cannot join work due to their vulnerability (Karen Steinheimer
2020). According to Jamuna Televison
News on 22nd March 2020 (Bangladesh), there are six crore wage
earners having no money to feed themselves for two days if they have to stay at
home. They are dependent on their daily wage. So the situation pushes working
class to go out from home for work.
There are rumors and misinformation, unscientific belief from indigenous knowledge and fake news about the virus and its affects often spread through social media and other online platforms that cause panic and tension among the common people. Campaigns for hand washing and cough etiquettes were commonly used, but in this pandemic, it has been a difficult balancing act to warn the public to take extra precautions (like washing hands frequently and staying home if you are sick). Doctors, scientists, public health researchers, psychologists, social workers can contribute to verify corona related news and share both from organizational and personal effort, they can take the help of news portal, Facebook, Instagram and You tube to aware masses by sharing valid news. There have also raised confusion over the question whether virus transmits or not from dead bodies of COVID-19 positive. There should be proper awareness among people by expert doctors and scientists to avoid panic state of condition.
We need a new interdisciplinary approach with cooperation of sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, economists, virologists, epidemiologists and public health experts to bring change both in our action and in facing biological, epidemiological and social disaster.
We are at the high time to improve the resilience at mental, social and spiritual level; it is the responsibility of civil society to step forward to stand by the side of vulnerable people (such as pregnant women, families with children, older adults, disabled and low-income individuals) and save the world from much losses, and effectively deal with the mental health problems coupled with public health emergencies.
References
World Health
Organization (2020) Coronavirus. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/
diseases/novel-coronavirus2019?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6uT4BRD5ARIsADw
JQ18tjMkbTgqRe7zmP78llRDeCIwPkINYqk_FLWCiEGpdN-vro7edTwcaAjKLEALw_wcB
(accessed 23 July 2020).
Paules Catharine I,
Marston Hilary D, Anthony S (2020).
Corona virus Infections more than just the common cold. In: Jama Network.
Available at https://
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2759815
(accessed 23rd July 2020).
BBC
News (2020). Coronavirus pandemic: Tracking the global outbreak. Available at: https://www.bbc.com>news
(Accessed 23 July 2020).
Li S, Wang Y, Xue J, Zaho N., Zhu T (2020) The
impact of Covid-19 Epidemic Declaration on Psychological Consequences: A study
on Active Weibo Users. International
Journal of Environmental research and Public Health 17.
International Chamber of Commerce (2020). ICC
welcomes G20 steps to fight COVID-19 and stem human and economic losses. Available
at: https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/icc-welcomes-g20-steps-to-fight-covid-19-and-stem-human-and-economic-losses/ (accessed 22 July 2020).
Banna Hasanul (2020) Minimizing the impact of
coronavirus in Banglades. In: The business standard. Available at: https://tbnews.net
(accessed 23 July 2020)
Karen Steinheimer (2020) Applying the Sociological Imagination to COVIS-19. In: Everyday
Sociology Blog. Available at: https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2020/03/applying-the-sociological-imagination-to-covid-19.html
(accessed 22 July 2020).
Jamuna Televison News (2020), 22
March
…….o……
Author
of this article is Rawnaq Ara Parvin, Lecturer, Department of Sociology,
Varendra University, Rajshahi,
Bangladesh.
For
communication write to Rawnaq Ara Parvin < rawnaqara@gmail.com>
Good one.
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