The Ravaged Psyche: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Human Mind

Abstract

The paper attempts to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is psychically constructed by us. The pandemic is more than just a disease pandemic affecting body and physical health. Its specter is being processed in our unconscious and subconscious registers evoking panic, paranoid suspiciousness, prejudice and exclusion, rage and violence. The paper lays open the intrapsychic processes operating to create three significant mass patterns of reactions and behaviours: fear and anxiety; othering, hatred and stigmatization; and grief and guilt. In addition, it analyzes the psychological impact of the measures undertaken to control the spread and deaths due to COVID-19 such as lockdowns, quarantine, isolation and social distancing, raising the crucial question—Is the cure worse than the disease? The paper also addresses the psychological underpinnings of the human need to envisage a future that awaits us. It responds to the popular question doing the rounds—How will the post-corona world look like?