The psychiatric section at Wockhardt Hospital's OPD has seen a surge in patients visiting to address mental health concerns during the lockdown. Dr Sonal Anand, psychiatrist at the Mira Road branch of the hospital, says a majority of her patients include those who either fear contracting the virus or worry that they already have it, but haven't been diagnosed. She says, "While our [India's] economy has gone for a toss due to the pandemic, pushing many into unemployment, it is not the joblessness, but the disease that has disturbed people. There is a palpable negativity in the atmosphere. People have become angrier and some are suffering from insomnia. It almost feels like a psychological pandemic of anxiety and depression."

As recently explained by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020), fear, anxiety, and uncertainty about the disease is co-occurring with requirements for social distancing and increasingly difficult economic realities. With the Coronavirus pandemic outside, and people locked in their homes with a large stockpile of food, what do they do? "Obviously, you find yourself struggling with emotional or what's called stress eating. The stress is overwhelming, and turning to food is a reasonable coping mechanism," Dr Sweedal Trinidade, nutritionist, PD Hinduja Hospital, explains.