In the initial months of the Coronavirus-induced lockdown, radio jockey Sardar Nasir Ali Khan from Srinagar, was among those tirelessly volunteering to arrange necessities for the underprivileged and helping patients access healthcare. "During this time, an acquaintance, who was infected with COVID-19, passed away. He was an elderly man with comorbidities. It got me thinking about my parents' mortality. They, too, suffer from diabetes and hypertension." Worried that he might transmit the virus to them, Khan stopped stepping out of home. What compounded the anxiety were recurrent dreams, where he'd find himself in a hospital, while his parents were being treated for COVID-19. Khan says the nightmares would add a gloomy spin to his day and lead to arguments at home. "My dad would go for an evening walk. I asked him to stop it. He found it absurd and we'd end up arguing over it."

Khan finally broached the subject with a psychologist friend, who told him to avoid doom scrolling, the tendency to compulsively surf through bad news.