COVID-19 Lockdown in India: An Experimental Study on Promoting Mental Wellness Using a Chatbot during the Coronavirus

Abstract

India imposed the largest lockdown in the world in response to fight the spread of the Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from 19 March till 31 May 2020. The onset of the pandemic left the general public feeling psycho-socially distressed, helpless, and anxious. The researcher developed a Messenger supported Chatbot, based on the broaden and build model, to cater to the healthy general public to promote positivity and mental well-being. 31 participants between 22 and 45 years old consensually took a pre-test, Chatbot intervention, and post-test. The Chatbot provided guided activities out of which positive affirmations, meditation, and exercises were mostly used. The qualitative data from the study shows that the majority of the participants strongly feel positivity is within themselves and that the tool provided a self-help approach to be me well, mentally during the lockdown. The intervention helped significantly reducing symptoms of psychosocial distress in six of the individual’s post-chatbot interventions. Participants’ impressions of the tool suggest more preponderant opportunities for future research in technology-driven mental health support.