COVID-19 and Lockdwon: A Study on the Impact on Mental Health

Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc worldwide. India is also going through a challenging situation as the number of infected/positive cases is increasing day by day. With strict preventive measures and restrictions by the Indian Government in the form of nationwide lockdown, the citizens are going through a range of psychological and emotion reactions, fear and uncertainty being one of them. This study was conducted with the aim of exploring the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown on the mental health of individuals. DASS-21 was used to assess Depression, Anxiety and Stress among 1000 respondents. Results suggest that there is a significant difference among Depression, Anxiety and Stress across age, gender and employment. Also, Depression was found to be high among the respondents of age range 15-35 years, Anxiety was found to be prevalent among those belonging to 21-25 years of age and Stress was found to be high in individuals of 21-25 years of age.