Dr Khaled Al-Muhanadi

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: It's been a year since the first case of COVID-19 was registered in Kuwait. People are tired of the pandemic, which almost nobody expected would last this long. Although most businesses have resumed work, many didn't reopen, which caused huge losses for the owners and staff. The situation had a negative psychological effect on many people that even led to suicides.

Apart from losing jobs or businesses, even the fact of being somehow locked in the country and not be able to travel has had a great negative effect on people. This in addition to other activities that people have not been able to practice for almost a year, and it seems not anytime soon too.

At the beginning of the pandemic and imposition of a curfew, various groups of psychologists and psychiatrists started providing consultations online or through the phone to help people suffering from psychological problems or fears. But most of these volunteer groups stopped their services in the summer of 2020 when the situation improved.

But many people are still suffering, and doctors are still receiving patients. Kuwait Times spoke to psychologist Dr Khaled H Al-Muhanadi to learn more about the continuing negative effects of the pandemic on people. "People felt relieved and comfortable during the positive curves of the pandemic, which was first in the summer when the number of new cases dropped, and the second was when we received the vaccine. People felt optimistic during these periods, hoping the pandemic will be over soon," explained Dr Muhanadi.

Three phases

"People passed through three phases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They experienced anxiety, loss of appetite, isolation and fear in the first phase. In the second phase, they slightly started adapting to convince themselves that the situation is getting back to normal, and started going out. Finally, people started accepting the situation and adapted to health measures, including wearing facemasks, washing hands and social distancing," he pointed out.

"Some people may experience a setback after some time. Such crises and natural disasters have different effects on different persons. The majority of people get well by themselves, but usually children suffer from fear and anxiety. These problems may grow with them and develop into new problems such as obsessive-compulsive disorder," stressed Muhanadi.

The present setback is that people feel as if they are back at the beginning of the pandemic. "There are three categories of people. The first group is careless, and they will continue their life normally, even breaking the law and not respecting health measures - they are called the opposition. These persons are present in large numbers, but their number increases even more during a crisis or pandemic. These can be businesspeople for instance, who are used to having freedom, but now they can't perform normally," he said.

"The second category of people will enter into a psychological crisis and be affected negatively. The third are people who are disciplined, but may get close to the other categories due to the long period of crisis and start suffering from psychological problems. All of this depends on the government's procedures. If they don't explain the situation to the public, then more people will rebel against the laws and decisions of the ministry of health and won't accept the continuous lockdown and restrictive measures," he added.

Speaking about it

Awareness is important. "People are suffering from PTSD and refuse to live in the same way as last year. These people need awareness. They should be transparent and speak about their problems honestly with us, and this is half the treatment. In general, speaking about their feelings and problems brings relief. Those who don't speak about their problems and consider this as shameful become isolated, and their problems persist. Suppression causes disease, but if they talk, it will relieve them," stressed Dr Muhanadi.

Rumors negatively affect our community. "Some social media networks will have news about the side effects of vaccines, for instance, while other media speak about the benefits. People will get confused, and this creates groups of anxious people who believe in conspiracy theories. Here comes the role of the official media to broadcast the correct news," he noted.

"I think that commitment and respect of measures will be much lower than at the beginning of the pandemic. Many people will not respect the rules. Also, when the vaccine arrived, over 68 percent of the population refused to get vaccinated. But today, after the media highlighted important personalities who got vaccinated, more people are willing to get the vaccine and the percentage of rejecters dropped to 54 percent.

I suggest the media show those who are getting the vaccine and that they are in good health. Transparency is important during this crisis. Media should also interview those who got infected and how they contracted the virus. Also, people should see the patients who are suffering in the ICU. This is my message to the ministry of information," concluded Muhanadi.