Coping With Covid-19 Pandemic

Zeba Gufran has two children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare disease. She shares her fears of dealing with the challenges of SMA compounded during the Covid-19 pandemic and the safety measures the family employs.   I have two kids Erhan and Affan. Erhan is 1yr10 months old and has from SMA type1 and Affan who is nearly 4 years old and has Type 2 SMA. SMA is Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Affan was diagnosed when he 18 months old. Until 14 months he used to sit independently, crawl,…

While all of us have now gotten accustomed to working from home, returning to office is inevitable. However, this will come with its own set of challenges. Let’s look at what precautions one can take to ease this process and stay safe. Travel to work: If you are using public transport such as a bus or train, keep your mask on at all times, avoid touching your face and surfaces around you and follow social distancing norms. Wearing gloves is a good choice. Don't touch your face during the…

Dr Avinash De Sousa, consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist, talks about how bereavement counselling has become crucial in the times of Covid -19 to deal with sudden deaths and inability to mourn satisfactorily. In times of the Covid pandemic, terms like grief therapy and bereavement counselling have gained significance. Could you tell us a little bit about these concepts? Grief Therapy is a form of therapy which is administered by means of counselling or psychotherapy to an individual who…

A handy list of resources for living with the coronavirus and managing your chronic conditions. Just look for your condition below. If you don't find what you are looking for, please leave a comment and we will get back to you.     We must live with Covid-19 pandemic for a while. For people with chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, rheumatic conditions, pulmonary conditions, it is even more essential to manage these conditions better. For e.g. a…

Parul Kala handles her home, children and a changed scenario under Covid-19 with as much positivity as one can muster. She talks about what Mother’s Day 2020 means for her. The year 2020 shall be a very special year as Mother’s Days go in our memories, for a number of reasons, the most important one being of course that the entire world is experiencing an unprecedented lockdown because of the Covid 19 pandemic. I’m blessed with two children - son Dev with Down’s Syndrome is14 years old and…

For Jharana Mallick, living with Thalassemia Major, an accident became an eye-opener and turning point of her life. Read how she has become a strong support for many thalassemia patients. In 2015, at 21, while I was returning from work one day, I sustained a small knee injury due to a mishap on the road.I was living in Bhubaneswar at that time. I was taken to a general hospital, but I was being moved from ward to ward. In a couple of days, my wound turned septic. Doctors said my leg would have…

Vijay Nallawala, founder of Bipolar India support group, who has lived through several critical attacks of asthma, details the precautions, rigorous routine and optimistic spirit to keep coronavirus at bay.  Anjali Sen, 81 who is an asthma and heart patient shares her perspective as well. Note: While this interview is based on the first wave of Covid-19, there are useful lessons in it for everyone with asthma. Considering Covid-19 primarily results in lung complications, do you feel…

Breast cancer survivor, Vibha Rani, who had stayed indoors for 7 months for her cancer treatment, is able to handle the Covid-19 lockdown with ease as she pursues her passion of theatre, writing, folk singing and behavioural training – all online. I am a breast cancer survivor. Like hundreds of other women, my story too begins in denial. It was during self-examinatio naround 2010 that I discovered a lump smaller than a size of a pea on my left breast. My first instinct was to run to a…

Telemedicine or e-medicine guidelines were finally passed in India last month. What does this mean for Indian patients and families? Swati Agrawal, a diversity and inclusion advocate has created this primer for us to understand the guidelines.  With the onslaught of COVID19, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare finally passed the Telemedicine Guidelines that were proposed nearly a decade ago. Due to social distancing and COVID19, reaching out to medical professionals and availing…

As the global covid-19 pandemic spreads and a lockdown is in place, how can a person with Bipolar Disorder cope with the situation? Vijay Nallawala, founder Bipolar India shares his tips on managing pro-actively.   “When will this end? How much more devastation will it cause? Will my family and I be able to survive this?” Who would have thought that a mere virus could have shaken the world to the core?The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the world, including India, unlike any…