A Doctor’s Wife, A Mental Health Therapist and a Mother Discusses Her Concerns

The Faces of Quarantine-One Virus Many Faces: Payal Kohli

I have mixed feelings about what’s going on.
I feel that this is nature’s way of helping me slow down as I have been working 12 hours a day, and my mind has been working 24 hours a day since I started my own non-profit. I am now forced to get out of my work chair, and go out for walks or enter my kitchen to cook creatively. I am worried as my daughters are in high school, and I am not sure how this interruption in school routine is going to affect them. They planned for successful completion of the school year, but with this shutdown, things are changing. SAT testing is canceled, all the classes are online, and so many more changes. I feel scared as my husband is a doctor who is fighting this virus from the frontlines. I am also worried about our family members that are in India; we can not do much but pray and hope.

This quarantine is altering my peace of mind every day. My husband is a physician and leader of his department. He has to be in the hospital early morning and prepare his team to deal with this big emergency. Some days I feel very proud of his dedication and faithfulness to his profession, and on other days a part of me wants to tell him to quit. As time is passing, this dilemma is growing strong and is…