For Dr Katija Khan, COVID-19 is more than a national crisis. It’s a call to action. A clinical psychologist and lecturer at The UWI St Augustine’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, she is acutely aware of the toll that the pandemic has taken on the mental and emotional health of people throughout the Caribbean. She sees her role to assist those in need not only as her job, but as her duty.
"I am very fortunate to have had a stable salary from The UWI throughout the pandemic and I believe those of us who have this privilege and are managing to cope better, have a moral imperative to help those that are struggling; to sacrifice what we can, where we can and when we can to help others get through this pandemic," Dr Khan says.
One way of doing so is to take part in a region-wide effort to shepherd the Caribbean through the crisis, and take part in our recovery efforts. As such, she has brought her scholarship and expertise to The UWI COVID-19 Task Force.
Dr Khan, whose research interests include disaster mental health, neuropsychology, and cognitive psychology among others, has been able to get through the pandemic relatively unharmed. This is not the case for many in Trinidad and Tobago, who have been grappling with the consequences of a second lockdown due to the surge of COVID-19 cases. These consequences are not only financial, but have an impact on the collective mental health of the population.
In 2020, the Ministry of Finance distributed more than 85,000 salary relief grants to retrenched citizens. During this most recent lockdown, which began in April, 2021, the Ministry allocated an additional $30 million for retrenchment. Meanwhile, World Bank data estimates that the unemployment rate in T&T jumped from 3.46 percent in 2019 to 6.74 percent in 2020.
In a recent study, the American Psychological Association found that unemployment was linked to anxiety, depression and loss of satisfaction in life. The study also found that underemployment and job instability have caused distress for those not counted as unemployed. Overall, the study concluded that lengthy periods of unemployment were detrimental to both mental and physical health and amounted to psychological and financial trauma.
Dr Khan, through a community survey conducted with collaborators from the Psychiatry Unit and Public Health Unit of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and PAHO, found that since the onset of the pandemic, 17 percent of adults had depression scores and 27 percent had anxiety scores in the moderate to severe range. Men and women were equally affected, while young people scored higher than their older counterparts. These results could be linked to the ongoing economic instability.
The pandemic has demonstrated the need for increased access to public mental health care, according to Dr Khan:
"While only some persons’ physical health has been affected, everyone has had their mental health affected in some way during the pandemic, especially given the length of time. Common impacts have been increases in anxiety, depression and stress symptoms. So, while the pandemic has brought mental health to the fore, I still think there is a greater need for increased public access to free, high quality mental health services, especially during this time to mitigate against pandemic stress turning into or exacerbating existing mental health problems."
While dealing with the effects of the pandemic personally, Dr Khan sees her work both as a lecturer and with the task force not merely as a job, but part of her advocacy. On a personal level, she has also had to employ habits to preserve her own wellbeing.
"Like many others, the reduced physical interaction with family and friends and restrictions from outdoor activities took a toll on my own mental health and I have had to ensure that I practice what I preach as a psychologist by employing good coping strategies and self-care,” she says, adding that, “Professionally, while I miss seeing my students, colleagues and patients face-to-face, working remotely has allowed me to widen access and further develop my technical skills to be a more savvy and virtually competent lecturer, presenter and clinician."
Her workload has increased since being appointed to the task force in March last year, as she maintains her class schedule while conducting research into the psychosocial impact of the pandemic on different groups such as university students, staff and young adults. As a member of the Psychosocial Unit, her work also includes participating in numerous communication outreach programmes, and leading training and psycho-educational interventions aimed at helping people through the pandemic.
This type of work has cemented her commitment to advocacy and prompted her to call on others to do the same.
"For those of us who have enough financial and psychosocial resources, there are many lessons that could be learnt from the pandemic that can help us emerge stronger and more resilient. However, for those who were already vulnerable, pandemic-induced poverty and digital poverty will only widen the existing inequities in our societies.”
She continues: “For these citizens and children, the situation is dire and our pandemic response has to be the empathetic, practical and responsive rising tide that lifts all boats; not just those in our immediate bubbles, but those who have been affected the most and those that need help the most. Our mental health affects so much of who we are, our interactions and our quality of life.”
If you are in need of mental health or psycho-social support, the Ministry of Health of Trinidad and Tobago has established a free online resource to help. Visit FindcareTT.com.
