Mental Health In The Post-COVID World Trickles Down To One Thing: Emotional Intelligence

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Research reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted mental balance across the world.
Experts recommend strategies fostering emotional intelligence to reinstate mental balance in people affected by the pandemic.

Understanding Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ) is a person’s ability to understand and manage his/her emotions in a positive manner—so as to relieve stress and improve communication. It also helps us in developing life skills related to empathy, decision-making, psychological resilience, conflict management, etc.

Mental Health Crisis In The COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic has wrought a physical and psychological crisis across all sections of the Indian population. Social isolation, grief, fear of infection, burnout, and economic losses have created a mentally imbalanced nation. Managing mental health during COVID-19 was tough considering the country’s weak psychiatric infrastructure. Inevitably, research shows the skyrocketing numbers of mental health issues and cases of suicide.

Reinstating The Mental Balance During The Post-COVID Era

Experts suggest self-help strategies and interventions that foster emotional intelligence and psychological resilience as a way to combat any mental crisis. Both conventional and unconventional methods should be made accessible and economical for all sections of society to successfully manage mental health during the COVID-19 emergency. They have also been vocal about the need to raise awareness for such strategies, especially amongst the middle- and low-income groups so that they can effectively harness the benefits of EQ.

Prerna Sahni, a renowned journalist, states, “The positive aspect of EQ is that we can all become emotionally intelligent over a while with seasoning, acceptance, and adoption.”