India, Jan. 6 -- Experts believe that there will be a surge in cases of mental illness in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lasting impact of physical distancing, quarantine, and socio-economic factors. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide, and it is the second leading cause of death in the cohort of 15-29 year-olds. A paper by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) showed that in 2017, 197 million Indians were suffering from mental disorders of whom 46 million had depressive disorders and 45 million had anxiety disorders.
The spread of the novel coronavirus has aggravated the situation. The disease was further declared as airborne, forcing people to limit their mov...