Dealing with anger and isolation during the lockdown

Faculty of Natural Sciences: Dr Anusha Rajkaran - Rising Star

Doctor Rajkaran was trained in the Department of Botany at Nelson Mandela University, and specialised in the ecology and functioning of mangrove forests, which are the rarest forest type in South Africa. these are significantly threatened globally, and in particular by microplastics.”

With so much of her work taking place outdoors, the lockdown proved to be difficult as she was forced to stay indoors and grapple with isolation. “As a single woman, my experience of lockdown and Covid-19 brought about challenges of isolation which lead to loneliness, as well as a struggle to remain productive and creative. these feelings were compounded by the constant worry about family, colleagues, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and was driven by concern for their physical and mental health, the inability to provide help, and the need to maintain some sense of normality for all concerned.”

She was prone to constant worrying and said that sometimes the worrying led her to arguments with family who were not obeying to lockdown regulations.

“It definitely kept me awake at night – or perhaps that was the sound of emails arriving 24 hours a day.” Although academics are used to working beyond office hours, she often found her day starting late at night, hitting higher levels of productivity around midnight, and also finding that emails to colleagues were being replied to in the late hours, as they too were awake.”

“After a while the term ‘the new normal’ drove me to different levels of anger and resentment, just because I was feeling an inability to accept the situation.” Although she admits to not maintaining a work-life balance, she did find strategies that helped her to cope.

“I found solace in the little things – flowering plants, visiting sunbirds, dogs and cats staring out their windows. I tried to find things that kept me positive and engaged.

Gardening, taking pictures of my plants and posting to Instagram were often a much-needed source of engagement and contact with the outside. trying to exercise, feeling my heart rate increase and sweating allowed me to feel like something healthy was being achieved.

Keeping track of students, engaging with colleagues via meetings and WhatsApp also helped keep the mind busy.” It was a huge moment for her to get back out into nature. “the joy of being in nature returned in abundance and we saw old field sites with new eyes and appreciation. Just being able to drive the research rubber duck brought back the feeling of the ‘old normal’.”

During the next three to five years, her teams’ research on the impact of microplastics in estuaries and on ecosystem services will grow in leaps and bounds. “In the next 18 months, we will continue to develop our microplastics lab, furnishing it with much-needed equipment that will allow us to provide in-depth knowledge on the source, type and endpoint of microplastics in mangrove, salt marsh and seagrass habitats.”