World Mental Health Day: COVID-19 made marginalised people socio-economically isolated, says IGP

INDIA GREENS PARTY

Press Statement

World Mental Health Day: COVID-19 made marginalised people socio-economically isolated, says IGP

Unchir, Pauri-Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 10 October 2020: The India Greens Party (IGP) today said the marginalised people in India and elsewhere are experiencing bigger social and economic isolation than before due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this situation has led to grave mental health conditions.

In a press statement issued on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day today, the IGP President Suresh Nautiyal said the COVID-19 pandemic has instilled a sense of fear and insecurity in the minds of all those people whose livelihoods are threatened.

“This situation has made the marginalised people experience bigger social and economic isolation. They are caught in poverty or in fragile humanitarian settings with extremely limited protection from COVID-19; as a consequence, they are struggling with the mental health conditions,” the IGP leader said.

“Managing the grief of losing a loved one, sometimes without being able to say goodbye is the darker side of the sad story,” the IGP President said.

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilising efforts in support of mental health. It is organised by the World Federation for Mental Health.

This year, the World Mental Health Day has come at a time when our daily lives have changed considerably as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past months have brought many challenges: for health-care workers, providing care in difficult circumstances, going to work fearful of bringing COVID-19 home with them; for students, adapting to taking classes from home, with little contact with teachers and friends, and anxious about their futures.

Mr Nautiyal said the economic consequences of the pandemic are already being felt as companies are firing their staff in an effort to save their businesses.

Given past experience of emergencies, it is expected that the need for mental health and psychosocial support will substantially increase in the coming months and years.

“In view of this, investment in mental health programmes is now more important than it has ever been,” the IGP leader suggested.

-Press Statement issued by the IGP Spokesperson (North) Rafat Jamal.

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(India Greens Party is registered with the Election Commission of India under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Registration Number: 56/476/2018-19/PPS-I, effective from 18/07/2019.)

Party HQ: 104, Vardhman Complex, 1st Floor, LSC, Savita Vihar, Delhi-110092.

Email: indiagreensparty@gmail.com Website: www.indiagreensparty.org