Keeping sane during the pandemic

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

It was my usual Sunday morning being spent at home in the garden when my gardener came to me and tearfully said he has to go home because his younger sister committed suicide. We were in shock. She was only 20 years old.

But her story isn’t isolated. I recently counseled an 18-year-old girl who was an honor student but began getting bad grades and not attending her online classes. When asked, she just burst into tears. There are many more such stories, which are much more common during this pandemic.

It is no surprise that the sudden shutdown of society has provoked an epidemic of mental health problems. When before, you could go about your business, interacting with many people and being free to go where you please, now you’re confined to your home with no one to talk to but your parents, siblings, children or other housemates, if you’re lucky not to be living alone. In the latter case, the isolation tends to be more intense and may provoke an acute psychiatr