The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is leaving many elderly people in a state of mental stress, making them feel distanced from their kith and kin living abroad.
Talking to Bangladesh Post, some senior citizens expressed concern over the state of their relationships with relatives in the just bygone months. They have acknowledged feeling the absence of their sons, daughters and grandchildren amid the pandemic.
Shamsunnahar Begum told this reporter over phone that her two sons are now in Australia (Canberra) and Manhattan (New York).
“We always had Eid together in our Vikrampur home, but the situation has caused them both to fail to come as international flights are cancelled. What else I can do but talk to them over video call. I can’t say in words how much I miss them.
It’s been one year that I have not seen my grandson, I hope the situation gets normal soon so that we can all reunite in Dhaka, she said.
Another elderly person preferring not to be named said, “It’s an unprecedented emergency situation all over the world. We cannot urge them to come to Bangladesh.
Yes, I miss my daughter. However, we talk regularly, but being physically present and sharing joyous moments cannot be substituted with anything. I pray for their safety and soundness”
Physicians say that physical contact with loved ones is essential for mental health. This is because touch regulates the release of various hormones in the body, which gives rise to the necessary feelings and relieves stress in human beings.
Clinical psychologist Lutfor Rahman noted, “Most people are now out of touch because of the corona. Even the children in Dhaka are not going to the village. They are keeping the old parents of the village away in fear of corona infection.”
Last Eid-ul-Fitr, some people went to the village home due to Corona's impediment, but most of the people kept them away from relatives. This time Eid-ul-Adha is going to be celebrated in the same way. As a result, the elderly loved ones living in the villages are spending their days under stress, he added.
In this regard, Dr Rashid Kibria said, the current situation in Corona is creating various crises for the elderly. So, I suggest a lot more contact among relatives even on virtual platforms.
“If you can't communicate virtually, then you have to talk on the telephone and listen to their joys and sorrows. You have to give various kinds of advice on physical matters. He/she must speak in such a way that they (elderly people) cannot realize that his son or daughter is far away from him.
He also said, because once the mental trauma is created in the elderly, it is very difficult to get out of it. Closeness to loved ones solves many mental crises.