Psychological aspects of lockdown: a study done during the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered virus, SARS-CoV-2 which affected the world starting in China in December 2019. Due to its highly contagious nature, the Indian government imposed a nation-wide lockdown effective from 23rd March 2020 12AM till the 31st of May, while many educational and other institutions had been closed down since the 15th of March itself. Such is the situation in most countries all over the world as well. People being forced to live under lockdown to protect their physical well-being, as a consequence, was predicted to have a psychological impact on them. Thus, the aim of this paper was to measure and assess the psychological aspects of living under lockdown. The study was done during the period of complete lockdown imposed by the government itself. In this descriptive study, the levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness were measured in the participants, i.e. adults above 18 years of age residing in India during the imposition of the lockdown, using an online survey, through Beck’s Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and UCLA Inventory of Loneliness, respectively. Anxiety, loneliness as well as depressive symptoms were reported most commonly by females between the age of 18 to 25. Use of social media was seen to raise the amount of depression and loneliness, while being married and living with a greater number of people during the lockdown period substantially reduced its negative psychological effects.