Many corona patients in Assam facing social bias

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Even though the COVID-19 positive patients in Assam are showing resilience resulting in their fast recovery from the dangerous virus, many of them are facing social discrimination after they reach home from hospitals or COVID Care Centres.

"It is very encouraging to witness the quality of resilience among COVID positive patients. Such quality among patients can be attributed to socio, economic and environment backgrounds of Assam. The people of the State have been facing lot of hardships including floods and erosion over the years. Thousands of people annually suffer from fatal diseases like cancer, malaria, Japanese Encephalitis and many of them recover. So, the people have developed resilience to win the battle against corona virus," a psychiatrist associated with the State Health department's mental health support programme called 'Monon' for COVID-19 patients, told The Sentinel.

The psychiatrist, however, expressed regret that resilient COVID-19 positive patients are facing social discrimination once they reach home from hospitals and COVID Care Centres. She said many of the flat owners in a city like Guwahati are showing reluctance to welcome recovered patients.

"We have received reports that some flat owners are asking the COVID recovered patients to find out alternative arrangements for their accommodation. Many health workers of government and private hospitals are facing such ordeal," the psychiatrist said.

The psychiatrist said such discrimination is not only very depressing development but also alarming. "Social discrimination can make people feel isolated and even abandoned. They may feel depressed, hurt and angry when friends and others in their community avoid them for fear of getting COVID-19. More concerning is the fact that such discrimination harms people's health and well-being in many ways. Discriminated people may often be deprived of the resources they need to care for themselves and their families during a pandemic," she said.

Monon is a unique kind of a programme, where the mental health professionals are counseling COVID-19 positive patients and their relatives. The programme constitutes a team of 220 psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and trained voluntary counsellors and is led by Dr Mythili Hazarika, an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

The psychiatrist said that some patients are also stressed over job prospects and financial issues of the family and anxiety caused by a sense of uncertainty about the near future due to COVID.

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