THRISSUR: When Covid-19 cases shot up in the state, the government started domiciliary treatment (home treatment) of patients depending on the severity of the infection. So which is more comfortable for a patient, home treatment or getting treated at the hospitals?
Medicos who work on the field opine that both modes of treatment have their pros and cons which would vary depending on a patient’s personality. A section of Covid patients who underwent domiciliary treatment preferred it to hospital treatment as they could be in the comfort of their room.
However, the psychological impact the mode of treatment has on a patient is huge as the person is forced to stay in a room for 10 days without outside contact and is clueless about what may come next.
Jaison P G, (name changed), who had been under home treatment for Covid and recovered recently, described the period as highly stressful.
“The psychological trauma associated with the disease is more severe than health issues. No one, including our close relatives, will aid our parents if a person in our family tests positive. Spending around 10 days inside the four walls of a room with the worry that no one would dare come home if our parents are in some medical emergency is stressful,” he said.
“Also, I was ready to shift to a hospital had I tested positive again in the antigen test after the 10-day quarantine, just because I would be able to at least talk to other patients in the ward,” he said.Dr Ravi Menon, liaison officer in the Thrissur Medical College Hospital (MCH), agreed.“It is true that the psychological impact on patients will be severe during treatment, be it domiciliary or in a hospital, as there is a stigma attached to the disease.
Some feel safe inside a hospital as there are always paramedical staff present. However, some feel more depressed upon seeing the symptoms of other patients as those with severe Covid symptoms are admitted in hospitals now. So, which treatment mode is less stressful depends on the patients’ mindset,” he said.
Dr T P Sumesh, assistant professor, psychiatry department and assistant nodal officer, Thrissur MCH, said the issue is that patients are never satisfied with their situation as they always think the other side would be better. “Despite giving psychological counselling to patients and their bystanders, we have had cases where at least three to four patients escape from the hospital every week. They are eventually brought back. The fact remains that psychological stress is very common in Covid cases and we try our best to calm frayed nerves as it is important for early recovery,” he said.
Comfort and grief
A section of Covid patients who underwent domiciliary treatment preferred it to hospital treatment as they could be in the comfort of their room
Psychological impact the mode of treatment has on a patient is huge as the person is forced to stay in a room for 10 days without outside contact and is clueless about what may come next