Covid 19: The Psychological Effect -By Aishat Taofeeq

Covid 19 Lockdown : The Psychological Effect
Covid 19, the pandemic that seems to bring most countries to their knees. It has crippled economic activities in most countries and was believed to have originated from Wuhan a city in Eastern China.

According to global statistics on the virus, there have been over 2 million confirmed cases and over 154,000 deaths.

Several cases of the virus have been detected in some parts of the world. 52 out of 54 African countries have reported several cases of Corona virus. Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed the first case of Covid 19 in Nigeria on the 27th of February.

The index case was confirmed in Lagos state which prompted the Lagos state government to give a directive that all schools within the state be closed down on the 19th March 2020. This was done in a bid to reduce the spread of the novel corona virus. As at 21st March 2020, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority announced the restriction of all international flights into Abuja and Lagos state.

However, there has been a ginormous increase in the number of confirmed cases with each passing day. As at 31st March, there were 135 reported cases of corona virus in the country which made the federal government announce two weeks lockdown and sit at home order on the 29th of March 2020 in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja respectively. There was an extension on the lockdown which was announced on the 31st of March to last another two weeks as well.

The physical and economic consequences of the lockdown is apparent. However, there’s clearly a lot at stake and the psychological effect shouldn’t be ignored. At the very core of human existence, lies the ability to provide and cater for their own needs. The lockdown however has made that impossible for majority of the people. Abraham Maslow a famous Psychologist propounded a theory on human needs i.e Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to him, human needs exist on 5 different hierarchical levels – physiological, safety , social, esteem and the self actualization need.

At the first level is the physiological need which refers to the need for the basic necessities of life ( food, clothing and shelter) which is the most basic human need.

Next on the hierarchy is the safety/security need which refers to the need to feel safe and free from any hazard or attacks. The safety need incorporates the need to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that a human’s source of livelihood would continue to exist either businesswise or job security as the case maybe.
On the third hierarchy is the social need which means the need to feel a sense of belonging, to relate and affiliate with members of the society. It also includes the need to feel accepted by others.

On the next level is the esteem need which refers to the need to be appreciated by others (social esteem) and the need to maintain a sense of self worth (self esteem).

Highest level on Maslow’s hierarchy is the self actualization need which is the need to attain one’s full potential.

According to Maslow, these needs are sequential in nature i.e one progresses from the need below to the need above. Once a need at a certain level is satisfied, the individual moves to the level above it. He referred to both physiological and safety needs as lower order needs, social, esteem and self actualization need as higher order needs. In essence, one must progress from lower order needs to higher order needs.
Due to the lockdown lots of people are struggling to cater for the lower order needs and therefore can’t progress to higher order needs.

Safety needs have been jeopardised due to lack of job security. Most organisations are currently laying off and downsizing their workforce, some can’t afford to pay salaries of their workers, several businesses can’t operate fully or at all. In most cases, these inevitable has an adverse effect on the provision of physiological needs. Majority of residents affected by the lockdown live from hand to mouth and as such can’t hustle for their daily needs . This has also led to a case of series of robberies along the Lagos metropolis and that of Ogun state ; robbery attacks are carried in broad daylight which made residents to take up the job of a vigilante in order to provide a form of security for themselves.

Worry and stress about the Covid 19 would have negative impact on people’s mental health . A lockdown can exacerbate the feelings of loneliness and depression, especially for the young ones and also for the unemployed. Economic uncertainty can also be a reason for developing anxiety/depression.

The recent robberies has caused a lot of people to live in fear, anxiety which can invariably lead to a Post traumatic stress disorder especially for those who were robbed and/ rapped during this period and also for those experiencing financial hardships.

Several people have been separated from their loved ones; they can’t pay them visits and they can’t be visited either. Although, video calls and WhatsApp is used to cover for these lapses but what of those whose loved ones live in remote areas where there’s no network or the person can’t afford an android phone, talk more of buying a data bundle? There’s really no way to bridge that gap in these instances. As such, this separation can lead to feelings of depression and loneliness.

Married spouses that are in abusive marriages are stuck at home with their abusers. For these persons, living each day with this person is like a nightmare and this will eventually have severe consequences on the person’s mental health.

For those employees who entered the Covid 19 lockdown with jobs, but are stuck in it without any source of livelihood as they’ve either been laid off or haven’t been paid salaries which will inevitably affect the provision of basic human needs, during this period. These set of people will suffer from fear of uncertainty and myraid types of mood disorders such as anxiety.

By nature, man is social and would always seek to affiliate with members of his society. The current lockdown has made this impossible, as all schools in the affected states have been closed. Social/religious gatherings have also been eliminated and as such, most residents are confined to their own homes. This could lead to feelings of frustration, loneliness and worry especially, for extroverts who are most active when they relate with others.

Also there’s a great decline in the rate of physical activity as employees are forced to sit at home. Most organisations are not advanced enough to activate the work from home option or some cases where it can’t be implemented. Physical activity increases level of serotonin secretion which is meant to boost mood and overall well-being of individuals. Invariably, this will be affected by the lockdown as majority of the workforce are currently at home idle, doing next to nothing.