Right information on Coronavirus will minimise damage: Dr V Vara Prasad

Amaravati: The strength of your mind determines the quality of your life, is a saying. To fight against the COVID19, one must have mental strength, suggesting psychiatrists.

Having proper knowledge of the risk factors and impact of the Coronavirus disease will help the people to fight against it, observed Dr V Vara Prasad, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, GGH Kakinada.

He categorised people into different types, those who suffer from psychological disorders. The patients suffering from virus have come under first category and naturally, they would have fear. At the same time, he suggested them to have the proper knowledge to cope up with the situation.

He explained that people suffering from disease naturally have fear. Forget about the COVID19, generally, people get fear due to any kind of disease. Here, in this case, having awareness of the disease will help in developing a positive attitude. That positive attitude will change perception and behaviour of the patient. The diagnosis will be depending on the attitude, perception and behaviour of the patient, said Vara Prasad.

He said that the asymptomatic people, who have contact tracing with COVID19 patients develop anxiety. That leads to insomnia or sleeplessness. The continuous sleeplessness will further lead to depression. Hence, such people are advised not panic and suggested to consult the doctors and have proper knowledge of the disease.

At the same time, he observed that those who have coping skills, they will not get fear even in the worst cases too. "Because such people accept the fact with the strong mental condition. They think that, yes, the virus attacked. Let it be. There is no treatment for it. Ok. Doctors will give the symptomatic treatment only. Ok. They analyse the risk factor", he said.

Those who can analyse and accept the information only they will survive, he added. They will not develop other disorders.

When comes to the majority of elderly people, they also exhibit some strong mental conditions, he added. They generally think that death is inevitable in some way. There are chances for diagnosis, but we should have hope for it.

Dr Vara Prasad suggested youth not to panic by thinking too much about the future and family members. Just follow the precautions and be safe, he observed.

The epidemic impact generally is very high on both the middle class and upper-middle-class people. Some people appear very much confident that they would not get affected by the disease. It is nothing but denial, because of their poor coping skills. Anxiety personalities react negatively to everything. This is not the right way to deal with things. They should have some hope and be practical. On the other hand, people with a guilty feeling also develop depression. No one is needed to be guilty of getting the disease since it is not their fault, he observed.

He suggested all the people behave ideally so as to avoid major damage to themselves, their family and society.

Reduction of anxiety depends on the individuals. First, they have to stop too much negative thinking. They must get in touch with doctors, he suggested.

He suggested them to trust doctors, practice the right things, follows directions of the Governments and the World Health Organization. Rubbishing the fake news being circulated in the social media, he said that the misinformation may lead to catastrophic damage.

He said that those who have been already suffering from anxiety must divert their attention by focussing on their good habits, like the reading books, cooking or anything else. He observed that people with high anxiety and depression may have a suicidal tendency since they don't have proper knowledge of the spread of the virus as well as its impact.