indore indore district has reported a shocking 128 increase in mental illness cases this year over prepandemic levels indicating that covid not only preys on the body but the mind as well these are the numbers from those who showed up at the district hospital the actual number could be many times higherhealth department records show that the number of mental illness patients surged from 300 a month in 2019 to 600 in 2020 and an average of 800 this yearpsychiatrist at indore district hospital dr nidhi jain bukharia said they are seeing a surge in cases of depression anxiety insomnia migraine and restlessness these issues are related to covid19 infection she said adding that the majority of those who came with these problems this year were directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic most of those with complaints like depression and anxiety had lost a family member to covid19 or been severely infected said dr bukhariaasked if any age group was particularly affected by mental issues she said there are patients of all ages but the majority are in the working population of 2550 years of age the predominant issue with them is anxiety there is no variation in terms of gender she saidsurge expected due to covid traumasuperintendent of government mental hospital and hod psychiatry department of mgm medical college dr vs pal said this surge in mental illness issues was expected due to the trauma and difficulties faced by people during the covid19 pandemicmany people dont report any such issue because of lack of awareness or taboo dr pal said adding that nine in ten cases may be going unreported he urged people to seek help with such issues