In a number of countries around the world, May is known as a Mental Health Awareness month. With all the uncertainty over the past two years during the pandemic as well as while returning to the new normal, the conversation on mental health has become extremely important.
Mental health issues are usually caused when faced with multiple adversities in life, with the conditions developing slowly and becoming more evident when faced with a major change.
Caileen Lubbe, Research Psychologist at Plumm said that everyone struggles with mental health although one in every five people faces mental health problems.
With the multitude of mental health issues, people can struggle with various intensities of issues with the most common issues faced include depression, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
As mentioned by Carolyn Yaffe, Psychotherapist at Medcare, during the pandemic, as we were not able to socialise and interact as well as with the pandemic's fear and uncertainty, the general population experienced burnout, chronic stress, loneliness, anxiety, depression and difficulty in regulating emotions.
People who lived alone also felt lonely and isolated, stuck at home alone.
With the return to offices and daily life, the shift has been difficult for all to adjust to.
People are now realising the effects of the pandemic as we are adapting back to normal life again as well as facing the effects that have still not been dealt with.
As mentioned by Hazel Kurian, Associate Director of Clinical Operations and Diversity at ICAS MENA, relationships got strained with the lack of interaction with other people.
Mental health can affect a person's daily life and can affect the ability to do basic tasks, make it difficult to get motivated and reduce their ability to be productive.
When a person's mental health is compromised, it can also take a toll on their physical health.
As mental health struggles are personal to each one, it is important to check in on ourselves and find ways to help deal with the issues and not project our issues on the people around us and let it affect their daily life.