“Oh yes, last week when you were in the washroom and I got stuck on the floor, I couldn’t move. My joints were frozen and you weren’t responding. God, I was so stressed and worried, I didn’t know what to do,” said Veena 76-year-old woman living with her 81-year-old husband Suniel Gupta.
“I cannot run, woman. I need time to move around, don’t I?”
Suniel and Veena live by themselves in Indore. Though they usually manage to go out and socialise with their neighbours and friends, the coronavirus pandemic has made life difficult for them. Their feelings of loneliness and helplessness have suddenly increased and it is getting worse for them to cope up all by themselves.
As per Suniel, “I suffer from lots of illnesses. They have all been with me for years now, considering my age, but I never thought that the smallest of things like getting myself a glass of water would be a problem for me one day. I take minutes to reach the kitchen and sitting at home has stiffened my joints even more. The doctors have asked me to take a 30 minute walk every day to work on the stiffness but now that we are locked inside the house there is no source for a walk, exercise, sunlight or any energy booster for me.”
“I’d asked him whether to call the domestic help back because we are too old to do much by ourselves. But as per him it is a huge risk to take and so we let go of that idea too,” expressed Veena.
With children settled abroad, the extreme sense of isolation and the fear of being infected has made Mr and Mrs Gupta lose their hope in life on a whole. Even though they are trying to stay strong for each other, the situation has taken a toll on their physical health. Lack of exercise, illnesses and body-pain issues have lowered their immunity levels even more.
The challenges of doing the chores, looking after their diet and medication without having any help or communication with the neighbours makes them feel like they’ve turned into someone unwanted or they are nobody for anyone. These thoughts hamper the emotional well-being of elders while they are all alone without any positivity around them. Their vision gets restricted with the blinkers of sadness and helplessness and all the negative news of patients and struggles around them inversely affects their well being too. This gives rise to negative overwhelming feelings like anxiety, loneliness and depression.
Even though they cannot meet people physically, it is important for aging people living alone to focus on keeping their relationships alive through online communication and interaction with friends and family. Also, to keep the positivity alive in them, they can participate in fun online/group/whatsapp games, pick up an old hobby again, rekindle their faith in God by getting involved in spiritual activities. All these small actions will help Guptas tide over the tough times of COVID.