FEAR AND ANXIETY IN TIMES OF A PANDEMIC: IS THE CENTRE/STATE MACHINERY READY FOR THE NEW NORMAL?

Abstract

A crisis situation is like a rhizome and anything rooting out of such a situation can lead to assemblages of a distorting magnitude. The Pandemic of 2019-20 has been one such crisis which was uncalled for. Besides taking a toll on the bodily health of the state, it was able to impact the mental state of individuals locked in and out of their houses to fight the invisible monster. Mental health today has become an important parameter to assess the worldwide progress of the state, the society and the individual. It is a matter of concern how mental health is accorded importance on paper but in reality, the real picture of this rhizome and its assemblages is disturbing to the core. The Pandemic of 2020 became a reminder to the state and society and its office bearers of how an invisible bio-weapon could lead to demolishing of not only the state apparatus but also to the death of both; the individual mind and their being.

The objective of the study undertaken here, aims to put forth a picture of the chances of the ‘normal’ falling and fitting advertently and inadvertently into the territory of the ‘abnormal’. Undertaking a study of how people of different occupations reacted to the pandemic, this study intends to identify how people who are employed can also suffer in terms of mental breakdown especially due to fear and anxiety, and in turn add to the Global and state socio- economic burden of mental disorders. It attempts to throw light on the Crisis within the crisis matrix of how a Global pandemic gets the global crisis of Mental Health under the scanner, thus putting forth an important question to the state and to the individuals- Are we Ready for The NEW NORMAL?