Women counsellors rise to challenge, help people fight stress during Covid

Bhubaneswar: Like doctors, who had their hands full during the Covid-19 pandemic attending to the physical well-being of patients, the psychologists were busy ensuring the mental well-being of people amid a sharp rise in cases of depression, anxiety and panic attacks owing to forced confinement. On International Women’s Day, TOI takes a look at how four women psychologists of the city rose to the challenge and helped people fight stress during the pandemic.
“Mental health problems affected women more than men owing to their socialisation and hormonal constitution,” Namita Mohanty, retired professor of psychology, Utkal University, said.Mohanty drew from her 30 years of counselling experience to instil confidence in people, who were at their breaking points. By the end of it, they were better equipped to deal with critical life situations, she said.
Most psychologists were flooded with cases of domestic violence, child abuse, parent-child issues, couple problems, fear of an unknown disease, bereavement and the ripple effects of stress. In the absence of in-person sessions, the psychologists made use of online mediums, tele-counselling and telephonic conversations to study their patients and understand their problems. “For most patients, I had to hear their whole history to pin down the underlying conditions,” Manoja Jacob, a clinical psychologist and counsellor, said.
Not only was the number of people seeking help growing, they were also demanding a lot of time and patience. “Such was the sense of desperation and helplessness among people that I had to go beyond my scheduled four hours to counsel them and also be available for them at odd hours. I even received cases of obsessive compulsive disorder,” Priyanka Patnaik, who is a part of the Utkal University’s counselling cell, said. She allayed irrational fears and reoriented the pattern of thinking of her patients.
At times, the stress of handling so many patients can be overwhelming even for the best in the profession. The team of 27 counsellors formed by the Odisha Association of Counselling Psychologists to tackle the Covid situation faced a similar situation. Saswati Jena, assistant professor, Silicon Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, who was part of the team, said, “We have chosen the profession out of a deep concern for people fighting mental health problems. There was no way we would not lend our help when it was most needed. I also referred some of the cases to other psychologists.”