key: cord-0653462-2jer6hdh authors: MariaTresitaPaul, V.; Devi, N. Uma title: Managing mental&psychological wellbeing amidst COVID-19 pandemic: Positive psychology interventions date: 2021-04-23 journal: nan DOI: nan sha: 2b6ae3ece5b856d17372e951afce5825b2c7383c doc_id: 653462 cord_uid: 2jer6hdh COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the roots of healthcare facilities worldwide, with the US being one of the most affected countries irrespective of being a superpower. Along with the current pandemic, COVID-19 can cause a secondary crisis of mental health pandemic if left unignored. Various studies from past epidemics, financial turmoil and pandemic, especially SARS and MERS, have shown a steep increase in mental and psychological issues like depression, low quality of life, self-harm and suicidal tendencies among general populations. The most venerable being the individuals infected and cured due to social discrimination. The government is taking steps to contain and prevent further infections of COVID-19. However, the mental and psychological wellbeing of people is still left ignored in developing countries like India. There is a significant gap in India concerning mental and psychological health still being stigmatized and considered 'non-existent'. This study's effort is to highlight the importance of mental and psychological health and to suggest interventions based on positive psychology literature. These interventions can support the wellbeing of people acting as a psychological first aid. Keywords: COVID-19, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Mental wellbeing, Psychological Wellbeing, Positive Psychology Interventions. KEYWORDS - COVID-19, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Wellbeing, Positive Psychology, Interventions, PPI. China reported the first documented case of newly identified chronic respiratory illness COVID-19, on December 16 th , 2019, in Wuhan province. Unaware of the upcoming global catastrophe, by this time, the rest of the world was in a celebration mode preparing for the new year 2020. Diseased doctor 'Li Wenliang' was the whistleblower, who alerted about this suspicious new disease novel coronavirus -COVID-19 via social media. The Chinese government's numerous attempts to suppress this caught the attention of international media. By late December and early January of 2020, reports of confirmed cases of COVID 19 diseases spreading outside of China to countries like Americal, Italy, England & India, came to light affirming the human to human transition. With the global news covering COVID-19, came enormous pieces of information causing anxiety, distress and fear worldwide among people, of this unknown new disease infecting and killing thousands worldwide , especially the vulnerable and elderly (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020). By January 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced COVID-19 epidemic outbreak, a public health emergency of international significance, and reported a high risk of COVID-19 spreading to other countries around the world. The COVID-19 virus is a zoonotic infection thought to have originated from pangolins, snakes and bats in wet markets of Wuhan (Ji et al. 2020 ). By January 2020 WHO confirmed the human-to-human transition of COVID 19 . In March 2020, the WHO assessed and declared coronavirus as a pandemic. Between March to June 2020, there is an exponential growth of coronavirus disease infected victims. Pandemic related containment measures worldwide as recommended by WHO are 'quarantine, social distancing, and self-isolation'. Recent research has shown that a long period of 'quarantine, social distancing, and self-isolation' in already uncertain situations like pandemic can harm mental and psychological wellbeing globally (Brooks et al., 2020; Dubey et al., 2020; Qui et al., 2020) . The need of mental wellbeing and stress coping of medical practitioners has become crucial area of study (Paul et al., 2021) . Positive psychology has proven to heal and enhance the mental and psychological wellbeing of individuals (Seligman 2004 and states (e.g. resilience, optimism, gratitude, hope, efficacy and compassion); c) positive institutions (applying positive principles within institutions). Positive psychology interventions have been used for decades to enhance the mental and psychological wellbeing of people (Bolier et al., 2013; Gander, 2016; Sin and Lyubomirsky, 2009; Pawelski, 2020) . The present study examines and contributes to the ongoing research on the mental and psychological impact of COVID-19 in two ways. First, the study examines the possible mental and psychological consequences of COVID-19 among the general population, adding to the existing literature on COVID-19. Source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (as on 24.09.2020) Second, the study explores positive psychology and its intervention as an instrument to mitigate psychological and mental outcomes (i.e., depression, health anxiety, financial worry, perceived social support, and loneliness) of COVID-19. The study emphasizes the need for mental wellbeing awareness and supplementary positive psychology interventions in counties like India to tackle the adverse psychological and mental outcomes of COVID-19. In India first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported on January 30 2020 in the state of Kerala. The affected a university medical student, had a travel history from Wuhan, China. Although the pandemic affected India by late January, the fear due to constant unverified information via various social media and worldwide web had already affected and engulfed Indians by late December and early January. Pandemics have an intense mental, and psychological toll on people, mainly by triggering "the constant fear of getting infected by an unpredictable virus that doctors don't understand and are too much for them to handle". The pandemics are not just medical phenomenon. Pandemic disrupts the professional and personal lives of people and the economic and social environment across countries at multiple levels. As on September 24 th in India, there are 5,646,010 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including 90020 fatalities, as per the latest data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). The critical strategies adopted to contain the outbreaks of this nature are physical distancing or social distancing and isolation. Both can have significant impacts on the lives and relationships of people facing the pandemic. The Indian has undertaken these significant preventive measures to tackle COVID-19. Source: Author (data from WHO). *As on the end day. # Cumulative total. $ As on 24.09.2020. T H E A J H S S R J o u r n a l P a g e | 123 Social Distancing & Isolation: Janta Curfew : In India, the government initiated the 'Janta Curfew', which is self-imposed complete lockdown of the country. On March 22 2020, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, urged citizens to stay in their home, avoiding going out. The Jantha curfew was imposed to save oneself from getting infected also to protect others from being exposed to COVID-19. Lockdown was implmented in four phases, followed by gradual four stages of unlocking mechanisim, yet in process. Table 1 depicts that there is a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 infected case, death rates and the daily increase in cases. Those working in emergency services like medical staff, police, sanitary workers, firefighters, media and army personnel who are serving the nation are exempted from participating in Jantha curfew. India has seen four phases of Jantha curfew, and the fifth phase with slight relaxations (for those states where corona cases have come to control) is running at present. Like any other fast-spreading infection, COVID-19 comes with an exponentially increasing barrage of misinformation thrown continuously at us via the worldwide web, social media, fuelling stress and mass hysteria. Besides, the 'fear of transmission' begets stigma, marginalization and xenophobia, kicking in the 'fear of fellow humans'. AarogyaSetu is a mobile application developed by the Government of India to connect essential health services with the citizens of India in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. The application is aimed at supplementing the initiatives of the Government of India, especially the Department of Health, in proactively informing and reaching out the users of the application concerning hazards, healthy practices and relevant advisories about the containment of COVID-19. This app is tracking software, which uses the smartphone's Bluetooth and GPS features to track COVID-19 infections. This app is made available to users of both android and IOS operating system mobiles. It is freely available to be downloaded from google play store and government website (https://www.mygov.in/covid -19) . The app is developed to determine if there is a risk of getting in contact (within six feet) to a coronavirus infected patient. Using the location data retrieved from GPS, it also predicts if a person is in from any of the infected zones declared by the government. The app is an upgraded version of the Corona Kavach application, which was discontinued by the Indian government. proposed and tested positive psychology interventions for improving life-satisfaction and wellbeing. Positive psychology advocates experiencing real happiness rather than superficial happiness. Studies on positive psychology reveal that spending money on experiences boosts happiness even more than spending money on physical belongings (Howell & Hill, 2009 ). Practising gratitude is a significant contributor to life's satisfaction and shows that the more appreciation individuals cultivate, the happier they are (Seligman et al., 2005) . Oxytocin induces greater confidence, empathy and morality in humans, which ensures that showing affection to loved ones gives a significant boost the overall wellbeing (Barraza & Zak, 2009). Individuals who intentionally nurture a positive mood to match the outward emotion they need to show (i.e., in emotional labour) benefit from a more real experience of positive feeling. Conversely, "putting on a happy face" doesn't necessarily make an individual feel happier, but putting in a bit of effort will probably make individuals feel happier (Scott & Barnes, 2011). Individual's happiness is transmissible, and those with happy friends and significant others are more probable to experience happiness in future ( The healthcare sector across various countries, including developed nations like the USA, US and Italy, are already overwhelmed. With the exponential rise of COVID-19 infected cases worldwide, doctors and nurses are burnt out working overtime. Healthcare professionals are at constant high risk of getting exposed and infected to COVID-19. People across the globe are competing for even basic medical amenities; this situation gets worse in developing and undeveloped countries. There is a boom of self-proclaimed doctors, claiming to have found the cure, wrong treatments, and unorthodox medical preventive practices. People tend to feel nervous and uncomfortable when there is a sudden drastic change in the environment. In the case of outbreaks of infectious diseases, where the origin or development of the disease and the result are uncertain, misinformation and rumours grow causing a surge in closeminded attitudes among people (Ren et al. 2020). T H E A J H S S R J o u r n a l P a g e | 125 • Fear of going outside the home owing to the extreme rate of infections. • Stress and depression caused due to social distancing from family members. • Compulsive tendency to hoard food, medical resources and groceries out of fear of non-availability. • Rise of domestic violence cases against women. • Increase in child sexual and physical abuse incidents. • Social discrimination of infected and cured patients and their families. • Fear of being discriminated if show symptoms of fever, cold, cough, even though simple flu. • The financial stress of the hefty medical bills, in case, get infected. • Psychological distress causing a spiral of stress which grows and is passed on to others much time owing to constant negative reinforcing news in media (Growth in the number of Coronavirus infection and death cases). The governments worldwide are taking preventing and containment measures for COVID-19, but also importance needs to be given on the mental and psychological wellbeing of citizens during such emergency crisis. The economic and social impacts of emergencies caused due to pandemic may be devastating and acute in the short term, which the countries eventually can cope up. On the other hand, an epidemic also threatens the long-term mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of the people, which often goes undermined and unnoticed. These impacts risk human rights, peace, and growth, as depicted in Table 2 . • Anxiety due to a lack of basic necessity and food distribution information Source: WHO -IASC guidelines on mental health and psychosocial support in emergency settings One of the priorities in emergencies is, therefore, to protect and improve people's mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. Emergency crisis creates a wide range of problems for the individual, family, community to society. The regular protective supports gets eroded, increasing the threat of diverse social problems which magnify already existing social injustice and inequality problems. Mental health problems compromises of both social and psychological issues. Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) uses the term' mental health and psychosocial support' (MHPSS) in their Guidelines. They describe MHPSS in Emergency Settings as 'any type of local or outside support that aims to protect or promote psychosocial wellbeing an or/and prevent or treat mental health condition'. Also, the global humanitarian system uses the term MHPSS to unite a broad range of contributors responding to emergencies, including COVID-19 outbreak. These include people working in biological methods and sociocultural methods in social, education, health, and community settings. This underscores the need for diverse, complementary approaches in providing appropriate support. The impact of multifaceted humanitarian emergencies interventions on the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of the population is multidimensional and endures long period after the crisis.While efforts to control and prevent the spread of the pandemic in the community are straight forward to follow, stereotyping and fear seem to have jeopardized efforts to respond (Ren et al. 2020 ). COVID-19 pandemic has already triggered hysteria; few examples are as demonstrated by a) bare toilet paper shelves in supermarkets, b) accusations against Asian(especially Chinese) communities (Malta et al. T H E A J H S S R J o u r n a l P a g e | 126 2020), discriminating Asians and calling COVID-19 a Chinese virus, and e) impacted people's decisions to seek help when early symptoms arise (Ren et al. 2020). Although pandemic does not cause outright panic, it occurs as a result of large scale quarantine, social distancing and isolation in communities (Rubin & Wessely 2020). The current situation worldwide as a consequence of COVID-19 disease is unavoidable mass quarantines, which trigger mental and psychological illness. Focus on a specific experience and aim to enhance their effects for maximizing happiness (Peterson, 2006) . Treating depression and mood disorders, produce happiness and self-satisfaction (Bryant, 2003) . PPIs have evidence-based literature of consistent positive outcomes for individuals mental and psychological wellbeing as discussed in table 2. PPIs enhance the psychological and mental wellbeing of individuals by reducing their stress, anxiety, fear, panic and symptoms of depression. These following PPIs can be self-learnt easily and practised on a day to day basis to tackle the mental anguish due to uncertainties of pandemics. Gratitude interventions like gratitude journaling, self-gratitude exercises and gratitude meditation, can easily be practiced by individuals to leverage their mental and psychological wellbeing. Psychological Capital is an important personal trait contributing to individual productivity by psychologists (Gohel, 2012). PsyCap is a second order construct and comprises of four dimensions, namely, self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience (Luthans et al., 2008). As a personal resource, PsyCap positively influences the psychological success (Paul & Devi, 2018) , psychological wellbeing (Mensah and Amponsah, 2016) and mitigates stress, anxiety and burnout (Demir, 2018) . PsyCap can be easily learnt and practiced by individuals to strengthen their H.E.R.O elements (Hope, Self efficacy, Resilience, Optimism). This study emphasizes and demonstrates that positive psychology interventions can be effective in the enhancement of subjective and psychological wellbeing. The research discussed various PPI which individuals can practice by on their own during the lockdown period in pandemic to nuture their mental and psychological well being. These PPI may help to reduce depressive symptom, stress, anxiety and hopelessness resulting from isolation and discrimination during COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health awareness in developing countries and efforts to bring them to light is a need of the hour, as already crashing economies mixed with the coronavirus pandemic can lead to a secondary crisis of mental wellbeing. Rapidly evolving technologies have made it feasible for the majority of individuals to gain more information on mental health and exercising PPI. Individualas, government authorities and NGOs are encouraged to take steps in their capacity to create awareness of psositive psychology and its benifts to combat the upcoming mental crisis if left ignored. We acknowledge all the frontline warrior's passion and service to humanity. We wholeheartedly thank them. 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