Covid pandemic has created several challenges in front of entire world. It is noteworthy that the nature of challenges was not uniform across the age groups, professions and geographies. Of course, the biggest challenges were one, to prevent spread of pandemic and two, give appropriate treatment to the people who are Covid positive. However, many other but related issues emerged due to pandemic such as to young students who could not meet with friends, to frontline workers who were stressed due to enormous workload, to elderly people who are suffering from other life-threatening diseases such as cancer etc. are few examples. Severity of pandemic, restrictions, hospitalization or death of someone known has resulted in the psychiatric disorders, insomnia among section of population. Covid patients themselves have undergone severe stress.
Long lockdown, inability to socialize etc., has also created different set of psychological issues such as feeling of loneliness, depression, anxiety. A team of scientists from four countries (India, Italy, Japan and China), led by scientists from sVYASA, Bangalore, have conducted an interesting study to understand the real time status of population behavior during the pandemic. Behavior related towards healthy lifestyle choices, such as diet, physical activity and less substance use. Eighty percent of the total surveyed subjects reported adoption of at least 2 healthy lifestyle choices . Younger Indian population reported highest positive perception of physical and mental health. China and Japan reported poor health perceptions. Italians perceived their health moderately. These variations could be due to different phases of Covid pandemic and cultural influences. But the key finding was the consistent beneficial influence of increases relationships with family and friends on lifestyle behavior and health perceptions. Due to lockdown, the increased time spent with family members turned out as a positive mediator of lifestyle behavior. Hence, authors concluded that such social bindings should be favoured through virtual platforms also, particularly for older population. (1)
Yoga and meditation have emerged as important tools to address many of these issues during the pandemic. Scientists across the globe have documented several studies to determine if yoga and meditation have positive impact on the vulnerable people.
Healthcare workers (HCWs) have undergone enormous stress during the pandemic. A joint study by scientists of MD Anderson Cancer Centre and Beth Israel Cancer hospital in US, shows that 77% of the HCWs who participated in the yoga and meditation course via videos, have found it useful (2). Another group from Rajasthan conducted a study to assess psychological responses of healthcare workers during COVID-19 outbreak. They found that out of 209 participants, significant number of HCW had symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress alone or in combination. When these participants were subjected to the combined intervention of yoga and music, majority of them have shown significant improvement when compared with those who did not undergo similar intervention (of yoga and music) (3).
In general, several randomized and non-randomized trials have consistently shown significant improvement in psychological outcomes after yoga intervention (4). Patients with cancer are particularly vulnerable to stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. On one hand, social distancing is critical for patients with cancer; however, at the same time, it can add to the stress due to lack of psychological support. A study conducted by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, shows that a combination of yoga, meditation, music and dance sessions helped the patients to maintain structured routines and motivated them to adhere to healthy behaviors. the sessions enhanced coping with COVID-19-related-stress, allowing patients to “refocus” and “re-energize”; and the sessions allowed patients to connect, fostering social relationships during a time of isolation (5).
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