Mumbai: On one hand, Pune is in the red zone as far as the number of coronavirus disease is concerned but the city has also shown remarkable mental strength among the cities of the country and ranks higher than Mumbai in this aspect.

The lockdown has tested the resources of the entire country which is putting a burden, directly or indirectly on the mental health of its citizens.

In Pune, 72 per cent people have shown the ability to cope with their current worries of family health and work stability as well as their fears on the country’s health and economic impact.  Meanwhile, Mumbai showed the lowest 'Mental Wellbeing Index' at just 28 per cent, showing severe stresses and anxieties among the citizenry.

TRA Research, a consumer insights and brand analytics company, released a new finding from its recent white-paper, a research survey conducted across 16 cities with 902 urban citizens to delve deeper into the 'Mental Wellbeing' of citizens across urban India.

N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research, said while explaining the concept of 'Mental Wellbeing' of citizens that it is seen as their ability to cope with current worries regarding the pandemic.

“The ability to cope with worries depends on the individual’s mindset, of course but it also depends on the city’s general acceleration rate in patients. The rapid spread of this virus in Mumbai with the highest number of COVID-19 patients is also reflected in the low Mental Wellbeing of its citizens with regard to coping with the disease," he said.

The Mental Wellbeing Index has been calculated with Coping Index as the numerator and the Worry Index as the denominator, measured as a percentage. The Coping Index was measured on four parameters and the Worry Index on six.

Chandramouli elaborated further on the difference in cities, “The smaller cities have a relatively higher Mental Wellbeing Index as compared to the larger cities and Guwahati, Jaipur, Indore, Pune, Coimbatore are coping better with the situation, than their counterparts in cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.”

Dr Jalpa Bhuta, MD, Consultant Psychiatrist said, “Coping skills are determined by one’s resilience, attitude, belief system and support system. It is reassuring that most of the people in smaller cities are coping better with good mental wellbeing.”

“In the larger cities, there could be many factors responsible like worry on account of stability of work. When our identity is determined by our career and earning capacities, people can feel at a total loss when that may get impacted,” she added.

She further explained that relationships are also getting fragile in bigger cities, giving poor interpersonal support, which is much needed for a sense of mental wellbeing.

TOP CITIES IN 'MENTAL WELLBEING INDEX'

• Guwahati- 84 per cent

• Delhi-NCR- 78 per cent

• Indore- 75 per cent

• Coimbatore- 73 per cent

• Pune- 72 per cent

• Lucknow- 36 per cent

• Mumbai 28 per cent