STRESS AND ANXIETY AMONG VARIOUS POST GRADUATE STUDENTS IN KERALA DURING MANDATORY LOCKDOWN DUE TO COVID 19

The coronavirus outbreak came to light on December 31, 2019 when China informed the World Health Organisation of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause in Wuhan City in Hubei Province. Subsequently the disease spread to more Provinces in China, and to the rest of the world. The WHO has now declared it a pandemic. A pandemic is defined as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people (Bonneux L,Vam Damme W). The virus has been named SARS-CoV-2 and the disease is now called COVID-19 The Government of India confirmed India's first case of Coronavirus disease 2019 on 30 January 2020 in the state of Kerala, when a university student from Wuhan travelled back to the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the only solution to control the spread of coronavirus was to break the cycle of transmission through social distancing. He also added that the lockdown would be enforced more strictly. WHO executive director, Mike Ryan said that lockdowns alone will not eliminate coronavirus. He said that India must take necessary measures to prevent a second and third wave of infections. On 3 April 2020, Dr David Nabarro, who’s special envoy on the disease, said that the "Lockdown in India was early, far-sighted and courageous" and was better than waiting for another 3 or 4 weeks All sectors of the society got affected economically due to this lockdown during the first phase of lockdown itself. Now it is the second wave which is more contagious than the first wave and the citizens are again facing severe threats from the spread of the virus. The government is forced to impose another lockdown in order to reduce the impact of the spread of the virus. Students are forced to attend online classes. Even though school students don’t have the need to face the board exams. This is not the case with college students. The stress and anxiety faced by the students are high due to continuous online classes, assignments and other online works. Since everything is part of the curriculum students are left with no options of postponing the classes or examinations. They are forced to attend the classes and other related works even though they face personal problems due to the effect of covid-19 to their family members. Detaching themselves from their friends, family and other relatives when they are quarantined also cause mental stress to students along with their online classes. Degree of isolation differ between individuals, ranging from physical (i.e., contact) or representative (i.e., separation from loved ones), and affect the human psyche