The Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP) in Ranchi, along with Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and CCL Hospital, will coduct a survey for a study on the mental health of Covid survivors and their family members in the state, doctors of the psychiatry institute said on Sunday, adding that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had selected the three hospitals for the job.

The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore will be heading the study, and CIP will conduct the necessary research work in Jharkhand, doctors said. The survey is likely to begin in the first week of December.

Dr. Vasudev Das, the director of CIP, will be heading the survey/tudy in Jharkhand. The research team will also include doctors from RIMS and CCL Hospital who have treated Covid patients during the pandemic.

Dr Nishant Goyal, an associate professor at CIP, said the survey will also be conducted in other eastern and north-eastern states like West Bengal, Bihar and Assam. Different institutes have been chosen for conducting the study there.

“The effect of Covid-19 on the mental health of patients and people living with them has been a subject of interest for researchers lately. Our study in the days to come will be in the form of a thorough research with insights from Covid survivors and their family members,” said Dr Goyal.

CIP has written to the Ranchi district administration seeking permission for door-to-door survey of mental health, sources said. Once the district administration gives a go-ahead, the survey will begin in Ranchi, the worst-affected district in Jharkhand in terms of Covid cases and fatalities.

Doctors from the institute said other hospitals involved in the research in eastern India will also send their findings to CIP once the study is done. According to doctors who would be involved in the research, ICMR has asked CIP to complete the survey and share the final report in six months with the apex body in India for medical research.

Lockdown curbs coupled with the fear of Covid-19 and widespread media coverage of suicides triggered severe mental health disorders among residents of Jharkhand during the pandemic, doctors have said.

The detrimental effect of social isolation was evident not only in the working class but also in senior citizens and students here, said doctors, adding that moderate mood disorders were now commonplace in most households. Some of these mood disorders, they said, aggravated to major anxiety disorders and depressive episodes.