Death Of Medical Student In Home Isolation Who Died By Suicide Shows How Traumatising It Can Be

Being locked inside your room for 14 days is not the most pleasant experience in the world, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced a lot of us to do it because the guidelines say so.

Every so often we hear about people violating home quarantine or making lame excuses to avoid it.

Reuters

It is undoubtedly a stressful experience, being confined to a room, with no one else to talk to while you are already tensed if you have been infected by COVID-19.

The home isolation of a 20-year-old Medical Student from Kerala took a tragic turn on Monday after she killed herself, by hanging.

Krishna Priya, a native of Payippad in Kerala had recently returned for Russia, where she was an MBBS student and as per the state government's policy, she had to be home quarantined for two weeks.

To facilitate this, her parents and siblings had moved to a relative's house nearby, leaving her alone at home.

BCCL

According to the family, Krishna Priya had spoken to them over the phone on Monday, but since the evening she was not responding to phone calls or messages.

On Monday night, Krishna Priya's father broke the window of the locked house and found his daughter hanging from the ceiling.

On Tuesday, her samples were tested for COVID-19, which was negative.

It is still unclear why the second-year medical student took the extreme step as she did not leave any suicide note behind.

It is believed that she killed herself due to the stress of home isolation.

Unsplash

A recent Lancet study urging timely mental health care for COVID-19 notes that the people in isolation are likely to experience fear about the consequences of contagion, anxiety, insomnia and mental distress. While people in quarantine might experience boredom, loneliness, anger, anxiety and guilt about the effect of contagion and stigma on family and friends.

Keeping this in mind the Kerala government had launched a 24X7 mental health helpline for those who had returned to the state and were in home quarantine could get expert help.

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The counsellors explain to them how to deal with anxiety, depression, sleeplessness and psychological issues over phone on daily basis. Recently the government had also launched an initiative called ¡®Ottakkalla Oppamundu¡¯ (not alone, but together) to address various issues faced by children during the lockdown.

The programme is being implemented under the joint initiative of two departments ¡ª woman and child development and health.

If you know anyone battling with depression or other mental health issues, please reach out to someone who can help.

AASRA Foundation: 022 2754 6669

Samaritans Mumbai: +91 84229 84528 / +91 84229 84529 / +91 84229 84530

Sanjivini Society for Mental Health: +911124311918