اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية
Name: Mahdi Al-Homsi
University student
Major: Master’s in Social Sciences
Residence address: Lebanon / Bekaa / Zahle
The changes and transformations that the whole world is witnessing as a result of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic has had severe psychological, social and economic repercussions and has affected people’s movement and life. The lockdown due to the quarantine has resulted in the absence of outdoor activities to minimize the spread of the new Coronavirus. This has created some fear of the future psychological effects on the mental state of individuals within the community. The physical and mental health conditions resulted by the stressful quarantine pressures, such as fear of virus infection, frustration, boredom, shortage of adequate medical supplies, lack of information, financial losses, and feeling of shame in cases of having the disease, widen the gap and increase the intensity of the crisis.
On a personal level, I am a university student working in temporary and part-time work in line with my major in university with limited income. With such a crisis in my life because of the Corona pandemic, all the volunteering activities that I relied on to secure my livelihood stopped. The poor economic situation and absence of other job opportunities, especially after closing all institutions, organizations and charities, caused me some psychological pressure. Staying away from the social life and interaction with my friends and people surrounding me due to quarantine exacerbated the situation and caused continuous feelings of loneliness, isolation and stress. The loss of social bonding that manifests in friends and family made me feel a constant sense of anxiety and tension.
University closing procedures implemented by the government to preserve public health made me afraid of not being able to continue my studies in the future. This also harms my educational career, especially because the courses were suspended in the middle of the academic year and I have not discussed my thesis yet. This may oblige me to pay new fees that I cannot afford under the economic crisis in Lebanon that has started before the outbreak.
Besides, the social divergence imposed by most countries on their citizens will turn into a new kind of rapprochement, which is an aversion to the people whom I live with and strain on our relationships and agitated social interaction because of life pressures. The isolation I’m living completely blocked me from the outside world. I stopped using the research methods that I used to conduct in data collection within refugee camps because of the lockdown imposed on them as well. Thus I used secondary alternatives to collect information which I learned from direct internet training and courses on the sites of organizations and charities. This helped to fill some gaps and invest time in doing useful and beneficial things.
The quarantine period and the accompanied cessation of work and unemployment crucially affected the payment of rent dues for the house where I live with my friend and led to pressures from the owner of the property on us to pay the dues in full. This matter increases the frequency of psychological pressure and worries that the homeowner will throw us out at any moment because of the delay in paying the rent dues and electricity and water bills to the owner. Creating a feeling of dissatisfaction and uneasiness to an extent that it started to affect my concentration during the educational courses and training that I was attending during the home quarantine.
The most notable issue that was causing fear and anxiety was renewing the annual residency permit, as it was stopped due to the disruption of government departments’ work. Therefore it increased the frequency of fear and security vulnerability that my residency renewal might not be accepted since most of the renewals for Syrians are being rejected in this period.
Most of the times during the home quarantine period were very negative mostly because of the isolation and deterioration of the economic situation. Although it created some chances for changing and self-development through studying and reading and practising some hobbies like drawing and sports at home, these were not sufficient in light of the worsening economic situation and living conditions. I was also not thinking at all about my emotional problems which I no longer care about and which were cancelled from my life. The crisis had a significant negative impact on them as a result of the accumulated difficulties including work suspension, loss of income and other challenges related to securing food and health products. In addition I was smoking excessively because of staying at home for long periods and feeling frustrated because I do not know home long this situation will last and what will happen to my university studies.
Mahdi Homsi, 29, master student in social politics , Syrian living in Bar Elias