A recent NEWS item from Mumbai about nurses not being allowed to enter their homes because of the “fear of infection that they might carry” has shaken the collective conscience of our country. On one hand are the government slogans aimed at creating awareness about ostracizing the virus and not the healthcare and frontline workers who are fighting the virus, and, on the other is the story of these 82 nurses working in Bhatia Hospital in Mumbai who were not allowed to enter their homes and were forced to move out leaving all their belongings behind; or the case of Dr Simon Hercules, a neurosurgeon in Chennai, working with COVID patients who was denied a respectable burial on his passing away (due to complications from COVID)—mobs attacked the ambulance that was carrying his body and assaulted his friends and family members who were accompanying the body. They did not let Dr Hercules be buried in the community burial ground fearing that “his body will spread the virus” until the police intervened. Then too a friend of late Dr Hercules’, single-handedly, buried Dr Hercules, without the family around, fearing for their safety.
This prompts us to ask ourselves, “How long do we think we can continue living in this state of extreme anxiety and keep indulging in such indifferent, random acts? When will we, each one of us, decide to calm down? When will each one of us put human value over and above our anxieties and fears?”
What happened with Bhatia Hospital nurses and Dr Hercules, and is possibly currently happening with many of our other COVID warriors too, is a result of irrational paranoia and fear. There is no denying that the virus is out there and it is dangerous, but are we ready to trade humanity, compassion and kindness for the fear...bring fear, paranoia, and anxiety is our houses and let our humanity stay out cold?
And if you think that being anxious or continuously living in this anxious state is just a side effect of the virus that you are ready to bear, here’s a quick fact check on what long-term anxiety can do to your body and mind. Various researches and studies point to the fact that living in a state of anxiety can lead to depression, headaches, breathing problems, loss of libido, cardiovascular issues, muscle and joint pains, increased blood pressure, fatigue, upset stomach, irritability, panic attacks...the list is endless.
The choice is ours to make. It is time to take a deep breath and make a resolve to start living life the New Normal way. It is time to wear our masks, wash our hands, sanitize our surfaces but it is also time to show kindness to people who are fighting to save us, support them in whatever ways we can (not hoarding on surgical masks and PPE kits is one of them!!!), not stigmatize a patient, be compassionate in our thinking and behaviour.
Remember by ostracizing our healthcare workers or frontline warriors we will not be able to save ourselves since they are the ones fighting the war for us. What can save us is a calm mind and clear thinking, accepting the fact that the virus is here to stay but we have to keep moving in spite of it...as a popular proverb goes: Tough times don’t last but tough people do.