Background: Covid-19 outbreak has forced the governments of several countries to enforce lockdown to control the spread of the virus. Staying at their homes, people are subjected to use Social media (SM)/Over the top media (OTTM) for communication, information, and entertainment. The objective is to know the usage of SM/OTTM and the frequently used applications during the lockdown. Also, its association with health, information usage and education.Methods: An online survey was conducted for a month with a specially framed questionnaire which includes the aspects of SM/OTTM usage, health issues due to SM/OTTM usage, education, and information during Covid-19 lockdown.Results: Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test showed a significant difference between time spent on SM/OTTM before and after the lockdown and the median time used was shifted from 2-4 hours to 4-6 hours. Pearson Chi-Square test was done comparing the usage of SM/OTTM to other variables which showed significance in the aspects of interpersonal problems, usage out of boredom, staying connected to friends/family, online workouts/diet plans, false information, awareness on Covid-19, and cyberbullying. Sleeplessness, headache, eye complaints were predominant among the physical ailments whereas Stress, irritability, restlessness, anxiety were predominant among psychological affections due to SM/OTTM usage.Conclusions: SM/OTTM was frequently used and played a key role during the Covid-19 lockdown. SM has helped people to stay connected, acquire information, and stay updated on the pandemic. SM is also responsible for physical and mental health affections due to prolonged usage and exposure to false information during the lockdown.

Paranoid Schizophrenia being the common type of schizophrenia in most parts of the world but the literature available is sparse in homoeopathy. This case report is an attempt to increase the evidencebased studies through homoeopathic intervention in paranoid schizophrenia, treated in the psychiatry ward, without antipsychotic medication. The case was assessed by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), baseline BPRS score of 86 turned gradually to a subclinical range of 24 in one month. The patient had good relief for the next one year and was functionally well.

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Background: Pandemics are known to cause poor mental well-being and an increased risk of mental disorders. The foremost concern emerging from different aspects of COVID-19 is its impact on mental health. There were many surveys conducted on the general population related to the effect of COVID-19 and few studies on its psychological impact but there is sparse literature on how the containment measures affected the psychiatric patients. Objective of the study was to investigate whether the COVID-19 related lockdown affected the subjective mood and behavior of psychiatric patients and their caregivers. The secondary purpose is to assess the difficulties encountered in procuring medicines and the effect of non-availability of homoeopathic medicines if any.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on mentally ill patients and their care-givers in the Outpatient Department of Psychiatry in National Homoeopathy Research Institute in Mental Health (NHRIMH), Kottayam. Respondents were evaluated with a specially framed questionnaire containing 22 questions to assess the effect of lockdown on psychiatric patients and their caregivers, who attended the OPD after the COVID-19 related lockdown. The data generated through the study are analysed and presented in this article.Results: Out of the total 548 participants (M-65.9%, F-34.1%) who responded to the survey, 290 (53%) cases expressed that they were distressed to be under lockdown. 26.5% of the clients reported worsening of mental health conditions during lockdown compared to pre-lockdown. 54.2% of the patients found difficulty in procuring homoeopathic medicines during Lockdown.Conclusions: Authorities should consider the ways of limiting the effects of confinement on mentally ill patients and their caregivers by developing strategies to mitigate the adverse consequence of the pandemic.

Schizophrenia is significantly a disabling disease that affects all major areas of life. So, the goal of treating schizophrenia is to prevent the relapse, and increase the adaptive functioning so that the patient can be integrated back into the community. In this case report, the patient was followed for 3 years with good improvement and after a long break in the work area, he could go back to his work and able to sustain the work pressure and lead a normal life. The patient was treated with homoeopathic intervention alone, assessed by Positive and Negative syndrome scale (PANSS) & Brief Psychiatric rating scale (BPRS). Both the rating scales were assessed at baseline and once in 6 months, which showed drastic improvement in the case.