Findings of a survey carried out by the Population Foundation of India, an NGO that works in the area of community action for health, during the Covid-19 lockdown has revealed that one in every four young people in Uttar Pradesh experienced depression during the lockdown, apart from recording a high social media usage and growing anxiety over joblessness amongst them.
The findings have underscored the need for mental health services to be extended to youth in both rural and urban areas.
A separate study by the same organisation also noted that access to reproductive healthcare services suffered a blow during the COVID-19 outbreak. “Young people reported unmet needs for such services as the focus of India’s public health system shifted to managing and containing the pandemic,” the findings of the rapid assessment survey that claimed to have interviewed 801 respondents (271 boys and 530 girls) telephonically in Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh said.
The survey reported more females than males reported an increase in their domestic workload.
TV and policy briefings, and face-to-face interactions with Covid-19 frontline workers remained the primary source of information for most respondents, apart from WhatsApp while Twitter, Arogya Setu app, and Facebook were not common sources of information, findings of the survey released on Tuesday said.
The studies revealed that young people in India were aware of COVID-19 symptoms, but that they continued to face challenges in their access to reproductive health and mental well-being.
“68% respondents in Uttar Pradesh reported an increase in social media use during the lockdown. Of those respondents who reported feeling depressed, social media use is even higher at 92%. Six of 10 students responded that they felt anxiety regarding their ability to find jobs due to COVID-19,” the study said.
The study recorded a little more than half the total respondents reported watching more TV during the lockdown while a little less than half reported an increase in their social media use. However, many of those who reported a decrease in their TV watching or social media use were women. The study also revealed that older men with higher levels of education were better informed than women with lower levels of education, and the awareness of symptoms was lower among socially marginalised groups such as SCs and STs.
“A small fraction of the total respondents reported feeling depressed, frustrated and irritable. Interestingly, there was a coincidence whereby a greater number of those feeling depressed or frustrated and irritable also reported an uptick in their TV and social media consumption during the lockdown. More in-depth qualitative research is needed to understand what this depression trend signifies,” the findings of the study said.
