Covid-19: a mental health crisis

Aim: To assess the various mental health issues during the Covid 19 and its impact on the public health. Introduction: The world has been confronted by the epidemics like Asian flu, SARS, MERS, Ebola, etc but the current pandemic of COVID-19 is of a gigantic proportion, it has halted an entire humanity and brought the world to a standstill. The mathematical exponential growth of the viral illness is creating panic and nations are reeling under its impact. Discussion: Emergencies like these affect the health, safety, and well-being at an individual and the community level like causing fear, uncertainty, insecurity, loneliness, and stigma.  Studies in disaster management have shown that public health along with mental health suffers for many days following the situation. The psychological effects of the pandemic can be understood keeping in mind the problems which predated the pandemic and the ones that are a consequence of the latter. Fear as a result of the facts and those based on a barrage of information/misinformation circulating in the media especially on social media platform. The public at large may also experience boredom, disappointment, and irritability under the isolation measures. A real threat of job losses, pay cuts, layoffs, economic hardships, slowdown of growth as a consequence of the pandemic can lead to a spiral of dejection, sadness, and distress. Anxiety; loneliness; difficulty in concentrating, low motivation and a state of distraction and alertness can lead to a negative emotional spiral, desperation, panic and fear. Lockdown restructuring of day-to-day activities and realignment. Specific health issues are related to special populations and sub sections of the populations. Simple steps to mitigate the crisis have to be undertaken. Steps of disaster management have to be implemented. Conclusion: Pandemics like COVID have significant impact on individuals, families and countries. Individuals have to deal with consequences of infection and also measures adopted to contain the infection like quarantines, social distancing and lockdowns

Work-Life Balance and Occupational Stress of the Non-Gazetted Central Reserve Police Force Jawans in Chandauli

Background: A good work life balance is essential for the employees of any organization because it emphasize on balancing the personal and professional life. However there is scarcity of studies focusing work-life balance of defense force employees in India. Aims & Objectives: The present study explores the Work-Life Balance and Occupational Stress of the Non-Gazetted Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Jawans. The main objective behind conducting this study is to investigate the relationship between Work Life Balance and Occupational Stress among the Non-Gazetted CRPF Jawans. Methods: The present study is a quantitative cross-sectional study based on data collected from 354 non-gazetted officers of 148th battalion in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh, India. Data was collected from after receiving written consent from the respondents. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to collect the data which included questions related to socio-demographic characteristics, 13 self-developed questions related to work life balance and 46 items Occupational Stress scale developed by Srivastava & Singh. Result: Most of the CRPF Jawans had moderate occupational stress and high work-life balance. The study found moderate negative correlation between Work Life Balance score and Occupational Stress score among the non-gazetted CRPF Jawans