#2nd gif is my facial expression when most people speak

[raeesadarsot]

Blog 2: COVID - Trick or Treat - how has COVID impacted on the mental health of people and your reflections on returning to normal

Covid-19 hit South African shores in my 1st year at university. In March 2020, when walking past scattered groups of students on campus, everyone had a similar facial expression - one of utter disbelief that covid was really here! Within a few days, schools began closing, workplaces began moving operations online and talks of a lockdown began emerging and yet, university students were still preparing for our upcoming on-site tests. It was a Sunday evening when our President announced that schools will close during the course of that week and I sat with my OCTH notes, trying to study for the next day’s test amidst the chaos and anxiety. Within 3 hours of the President’s announcement, we received an email from the Dean which stated that “the academic program is suspended until further notice”. That email brought on a whole range of emotions for me - relief that my test was postponed, sadness that the academic program was suspended because I was really enjoying university despite attending for less than a month, anxiousness at what this pandemic had in store for us.

From March 2020 onwards, everyday brought on new scares and emotions. During the 1st lockdown, despite the chaos, I admit to feeling content. I know this comes from a place of privilege because lives were turned upside-down, but getting to spend that time with my immediate family and just reconnecting with each other in the simplest way, made everything feel okay. Towards the end of those 3 weeks, everyone was eagerly awaiting a return to work and some normalcy. However, our President spoke and the lockdown was extended. Every breadwinner began to fear because no work meant that they were unable to feed their dependents. Whenever we left home to replace essentials, the number of homeless people just seemed to increase. Along with the poverty rate continuously increasing, the number of covid-positive cases were also on the rise. Doctors and other healthcare professionals were fighting against a virus that they knew little about. Everyone was paranoid and anxiety levels were through the roof. Amidst all of this, we began to navigate through the challenges of distance-learning. For 1st semester, we attended occasional Zoom sessions where lectures were being delivered, but for the most part, there was a lack of communication from the university (definitely justified to an extent considering this new world we found ourselves in). Somehow, we made it through the semester and whilst we were writing online tests, covid-19 hit home and my dad tested positive. I can speak for my whole family when I say that it was a terrifying time. Every few hours, new symptoms emerged and other symptoms worsened. Everything became so unpredictable. He was admitted to ICU and remained in hospital for 14 days. During this time, I grudgingly met deadlines without really caring about the outcome of my effort - being there for our families, friends and community seemed like the more important thing.

During each wave of the pandemic, many people who tested positive never made it through and passed away. Families lost many loved ones, especially the elderly. Many people lost their jobs due to business being so bad, people did not know where their next meal would come from and the unemployment rate of our country increased. The mental health of everyone was declining rapidly everyday. Somehow, through all of this mess, my 1st year came to an end and 2nd year began. On one hand, passing the year online was slightly more manageable but on the other hand, my knowledge of all our 1st year modules was nowhere near what it was supposed to be. Our 2nd year meant the start of on-site practicals. This was an anxiety-filled yet equally exciting time because we were finally about to see more of what OT is about and meet many of our classmates after a year, but we also had to visit hospitals & other facilities with high viral loads and put ourselves at risk of contracting the virus or passing it on to more vulnerable people. We safely made it through the year but mentally, it was not easy. (Refer to my blog 1 to read up on my experiences with studying OT thus far.)

2022 and my 3rd year as an Occupational Therapy student has by far been the most exhilarating and exhausting year of my life because with the return of normalcy comes a whole lot more responsibility. Apart from navigating through a normal year at university, everyone has been trying to build themselves up again in this post-covid era. For a long time, we all thought that life would never go back to normal. We assumed that compulsory mask-wearing was here to stay. We forgot what it was like to freely socialise without such strict social-distancing rules. Many things have changed since covid and although my anxiety levels have dropped slightly since the end of lockdown, trying to make it in this new world is still very terrifying. Good luck to all of us!