An insight into the mental health needs of the common public of Tamil Nadu, India, subjected to COVID-19 lockdown, a rare unprecedented crisis

PURPOSE: COVID-19, a major “Public Health Emergencies of International Concern”, had sought greater attention among researchers to study its pathogenesis, associated complications and management. However, there are only few studies that had studied its potential impact on mental health of general public, who are subjected to social distancing, community lockdown and restrictions in their routine activities. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of psychological distress and mental health needs among general public in Tamil Nadu subjected to lockdown, social distancing amidst COVID-19 crisis. Tamil Nadu is one of the worst affected states of southern India. METHODS: A self-administered, web-based application study using “WHO-Self Reported Questionnaire-20”, in bilingual version, both English and Tamil, is used to screen the public for the level of distress. The study is done while the state is under extended lockdown and restricted movement. KEY FINDINGS: A total of 918 respondents participated in the survey and it is found that about more than one third of the respondents (∼35%) are under psychological distress. A significant association between younger age group, female gender, unmarried, people with children are found to be under distress. The lockdown had increased the frequency of smoking and quantity of cigarettes among smokers, also has increased the frequency of drinking among alcohol consumers. Of the SRQ-20 items recorded, stress related neurotic symptoms (> 70%) was observed more than the depressive mood. About 33% of those scored > 7, had suicidal tendency. The districts declared red zones had significantly reported a greater number of respondents under distress. CONCLUSION: Besides effectively mitigating the COVID-19 crisis, in terms of prevention, control and treatment strategies, it is prerogative to effectively manage fear, distress due to the COVID-19 and associated anxiety and depression among the public.