MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTH IN THE COVID CAPITAL OF INDIA: MAHARASHTRA
Keywords:
COVID-19 Pandemic, Youth, Stress, Depression, Anxiety, Mental Health, Maharashtra, Urban, Rural, Nuclear Family, Joint Family.Abstract
The Coronavirus Disease-2019 outbreak brought along a set of unprecedented challenges affecting
virtually all domains of human life. The mental health of the youth has been one major area of
concern. There are various factors that determined how the pandemic was received by the diverse
population of the country. This study is a postlude to an already conducted primary study and throws
light on the status of the mental health of youth in one of the country's worst affected states,
Maharashtra. A sample of 567 youth was studied from various parts of Maharashtra and multiple
streams of education representing different genders, family structures and social support. This paper
is an enquiry in the levels of Anxiety, Depression, Stress and Well-being among youth from various
backgrounds. In the context of the Pandemic, major mental health consequences were felt in the
country; youth taking higher education were exposed to ‘a new normal’ of online education and
uncertainty. Despite the fact that mental distress like anxiety, depression and stress is a prevalent
theme among this population, there has been a dearth of formal records of the same. This research
uses a sequential mixed method design wherein the participants of the study were interviewed and an
account of their experiences during the pandemic was documented through individual interviews and
thematic content analysis. The current study aims to bridge this gap and pose an inquiry about the
reasons for the same, so that better sensitization and mitigation strategies may be developed and
implemented at a policy level to guard the mental well-being of our most valuable resource “youth”.
The obtained results show an interesting trend among the population pertaining to their area of
residence, availability of space, gender differences, the type of family and perceived social support.
Significant differences were obtained for the scores on Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Well Being.
The results obtained could go a long way in bolstering mental health training modules. Relevant
modifications could be done to existing Disaster Management Policies to ensure holistic effectiveness
of the program. Additional findings are also discussed.
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