Let’s break our chains!

In the shadows cast by the morbidity of Covid19 and its subsequent complications, today all of us find ourselves grappling with a whole different level of pains and difficulties. As a result, Covid19 has not only presented itself as an international crisis but has also wreaked havoc upon our individual lives. Fear and frustration, stress and confusion, are those conflicted emotions which require our immediate and fullest attention, to be addressed as not only a minor inconvenience but as a major threat to the socio-psycho dynamics of our normal lives.

Generally, with some exceptions, we Pakistanis are indeed a social people. As such, our lives have always been revolving around nurturing our ties with others. May we be children, teenagers, young adults, adults, or elders of our communities, we possess an unconscious inkling as a society to cultivate new relations and expand our social circles. So naturally, with Covid19 precautions in place, our social lives are experiencing a torturous change, which is severely damaging our emotional well-being. Consequently, even those of us who vainly deem ourselves sufficiently well-versed in managing the lockdown situation and other such precautions, we find ourselves struggling with the burden of our stresses and anxieties, to the effect that without our knowing it, we have begun to bend beneath the oppressive weight of the increasingly depressing atmosphere.

Such an unconsciously undertaken emotional strife is bound to take its toll upon other aspects of our lives. Those of us who are studying or working online are facing rising frustrations at our virtual offices and universities, and are stressing out due to a lack of discipline in managing our respective works from home, while others are engaged in a Mortal Combat against the life-threatening pressure of their economic recessions, hunger and poverty. More alarming is the fact that reportedly there has been a gradual but steady increase in the number of lives claimed by either the fear of being infected by Covid19 or the depression caused by its subsequent strenuous circumstances.

To cap it all, our stress levels are unknowingly increasing, and are dealing out debilitating blows to our psychological and physical health. However, according to many psychologists the key to unlock the doors of self-imprisonment caused by such mental conditions is well within our reach. It simply requires us to have faith in ourselves, in our own ability to rise above the storms and emerge victorious out of such trials of our physical and emotional strength.

For as human beings we have indeed been blessed the ability to adapt and evolve according to the changes we experience. So if you just look around you, you would come to know that where there are reports of an increase in people giving up upon their lives and families and letting their lives be consumed by their depression, there are also stories of those heroes who, not only perceive their sufferings as a trial of their faith and endurance, but as an opportunity to present themselves for others as symbols of hope and perseverance. Let us become 1 of such people and think beyond our own survival! Let us teach our children, our family and friends, that to sustain our own emotional health we need to become an other’s strength to battle his/her stresses! Let us break free from our chains of morbidity and inaction by becoming each other’s strength, and by lending each other our moral and emotional, physical and financial resources to survive these troubling times!