Kutch psychologists help fight post-Covid depression

Rajkot: People who have suffered job loss or are facing problems in adapting to the new normal post the coronavirus pandemic, are in dire need of counselling. Six doctors from Kutch have taken up the task of providing such people with free online counselling as well as through social media.
The idea of counselling was floated by Dr Devjyoti Sharma, who runs a suicide prevention centre in Bhuj, Kutch. His organization has been providing free counselling to people suffering from depression and anxiety over phone and in person too.
To help those in need, Sharma has also launched a portal. He, along with other doctors, have created a team comprising five psychiatrists and one clinical psychologist. Sharma also added one yoga teacher from Bhuj in the team.
This team has been interacting with people through webinars every morning, five days a week, since the past one month.
“According to a few studies, suicidal tendencies have increased by 15-20% because of Covid-induced lockdown. If we don’t address such tendencies in time it has the potential of getting converted into suicides. So, we have started this counselling sessions. Joining psychological counselling with yoga has helped us in providing help to people with mental health issues like anxiety disorders, depression, stress and also suicide prevention.”
Dr Sanjeev Gupta, one of Sharma’s team members and former superintendent of mental health hospital in Bhuj said, “This kind of counselling proved useful for people like policemen and health workers who work under high stress levels.”
“Post lockdown life is not as it was before. Life of many people have been disrupted due to job loss, depression and the fear of getting infected with Covid-19. For these reasons, the counselling activity needs to continue for a longer period.”
The other team members include Dr M P Tilwani, Dr Tushar Agravat, Dr Dhaivat Mehta and Urvashi Patel.