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The primary objective of the research was to investigate the degree of psychological distress that is present among COVID-19 patients and the impact that different demographic factors, such as gender and employment have on psychological distress. For this study, researchers contacted a total of N=134 COVID-19 patients. After collecting the data, the level of psychological distress was calculated and found to be high. Additionally, different groups on the basis of demographic variables were compared on psychological distress by applying the t-test, and it was found that male and female was significantly different on psychological distress, and employed and unemployed found to be significantly different on psychological distress. In addition, data were described in depth in the social context in the area of the current study that was devoted to discussing the results and drawing conclusions from them.

1. To study the level of psychological distress among COVID-19 patients

2. To examine the difference between certain socio-demographic variables on psychological distress.

Psychological distress includes anxiety, depression, and stress. Psychological distress may imply sadness or anxiety.In this study, psychological distress is defined as sadness, anxiety, and stress, which cause discomfort and interfere with everyday functioning. Depression is described by a depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, poor energy, guilt or low self-esteem, sleep or appetite disorders, reduced attention and worsen daily routine (Akhtar & Jamal, 2020). Anxiety is a normal human reaction to an unclear future. Anxiety is "something felt" by everyone at some point in their life, according to Sigmund Freud (Sigmund Freud, 1936). According to May (1950), "anxiety is triggered by a threat to some value that the individual holds essential to his existence as a self."Selye defined stress as the body's general reaction to any load placed upon it. Selye invented the term "stressor" for the force causing stress as a result of his limited proficiency with the English language at the time, as he later admitted (1976). A challenging area in the understanding of human stress is where stress belongs in the process of stimulation, internal processing, and reaction. Researchers have reviewedvarious previous researches. Depression, anxiety, stress, and disrupted sleep have resulted from the incapacity to absorb the circumstance and feeling powerless (Mazumder, Kalanidhi, Sarkar, et al. 2021) and has been shown to substantially harm mental health (Grover, Sahoo, Mehra, et al, 2020). According to Killgore, Taylor, Cloonan and Dailey (2020), people's resilience and responses to trauma vary, hence their routes back to normal functioning will also vary. Caring for family members who got COVID-19 or lost loved ones has had a huge toll on psychological functioning across all age groups in the nation. The uninfected have witnessed all this pain and are worried about COVID-19's effects (Serafini, Parmigiani, Amerio, Aguglia, Sher & Amore, 2020; Chakrawarty, Ranjan, Kalanidhi, et al. 2021).Kaur, Ranjan, Chakrawarty, et al. (2021) The youngest age group (18–34) was most affected. 44.18% had PTSD-like symptoms. 48.87%, 65.56%, and 22.09% reported major depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, while 11.27% had disrupted sleep habits. 74.75% of the study group had mental health issues, while just 4.15% were resilient.Secondwave has caused widespread stress due to hospital bed shortages, black market pharmaceutical sales, oxygen shortages, and long cremation lines (Varshney, Parel, Raizada & Sarin, 2020).Griffiths et al. (2016) found psychological distress to be more severe in males.

A representative sample of N=134 COVID patients were selected through purposive sampling technique to study on “psychological distress” from people of Delhi NCR region.Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-21) developed by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995). It contains 21 items with three dimensions viz., Depression, Anxiety and stress; respondents were required to give their response on four points Likert type scale which vary from 0-3. The internal consistency α also found to be ranging between 0.90-0.97.Mean and standard deviation of descriptive statistics, as well as independent sample t-test was used to assess the amount of psychological discomfort as well as the significance of differences in different demographic characteristics such as gender and employment on psychological distress and its three dimensions.

The descriptive data, mean and standard deviation of psychological distress and its three dimensions are shown in Table 3.1 for COVID patients who have been infected with the virus. According to the data shown in the table above, COVID-infected individuals had a mean and standard deviation of 6.46 and 4.934 for depression, 6.40 and 4.884 for anxiety, 5.78 and 4.999 for stress, and 18.64 and 14.41 for total psychological distress. Based on the findings of mean and standard deviation, it can be interpreted that the level of psychological distress in the COVID-infected population is greater than average.It will be possible to discuss the results and their interpretation. Patients with COVID have moderate levels of psychological distress due to factors including thinking about getting better, fearing death, feeling socially stigmatised, etc.In order to investigate the significance of the differences found, a t-test was conducted, the results of which are presented in tables 3.2 and 3.3.Based on the findings in table 3.2, it can be interpreted that there is a considerable difference in psychological discomfort between male and female. As a result, the t-values for psychological distress (t=4.339, df=132, p=0.000) are statistically significant at the.001 level.It is possible to say that males and females display different levels of psychological distress due to the fact that males are regarded to be somewhat more reasonable and logical than females, and as a result, they are better able to deal with the adverse effects of experiences in their lives.As a result, the first hypothesis of the study, which indicated that there would be no difference between male and female in terms of psychological distress, was found to be not supported. On the basis of the interpretation, it is possible to argue that during the COVID pandemic, infected male and female faced the varied levels of psychological disorders, such as anxiety, depression, OCD issues, stress, and so on.This study is also in accordance with the findings of Griffiths et al. (2016), who found that rising levels of body dissatisfaction were associated with lower mental and physical health-related quality of life as well as increased psychological distress in participants of both sexes.

It is possible to draw the interpretation that there is a significant difference between the employed and the jobless groups in terms of psychological distress based on the data shown in the table 3.3. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the mean scores presented in the table for the purpose of comparing the groups seem different, which indicates that there is a major difference between the groups. Therefore, t-scores for psychological distress are shown to be statistically significant at the.001 level of significance (t = 6.57, df = 132, p = 0.000).According to the facts presented, it is possible to conclude that jobless individuals are more likely to suffer from psychological distress than employed people. This is because of the fact that employed people are more likely to be thinking about treatment and preventative measures than unemployed people. Therefore, the second hypothesis of the study, which indicated that there would be no difference between employed and jobless individuals in terms of psychological distresses, is not supported by the findings of the study. On the basis of the interpretation of the data, it is possible to argue that during the COVID pandemic, infected employed and jobless people faced the varying levels of psychological distress, such as depression, anxiety, Obsessive compulsive difficulties, tension, etc.

Table No 3.1

Showing the descriptive statistics of the psychological distress and quality of life among COVID infected and their family members

Variables	N	Mean	Std. Deviation
Depression	134	6.46	4.934
Anxiety	134	6.40	4.884
Stress	134	5.78	4.999
Psychological Distress	134	18.64	14.417

Table No 3.2

Showing the t statistics of the psychological distress and quality of life between male and female

Variable	Gender	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	t	DF	p
Psychological Distress	Male	84	16.26	11.905	4.339	132	.000
	Female	50	23.19	16.500

Table No 3.3

Showing the t statistics of the psychological distress and quality of life between employed and unemployed

Variable	Occupation	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	t	DF	p
Psychological Distress	Employed	97	15.51	13.04	6.57	132	.000
	Unemployed	37	25.84	14.95

It is possible to draw the following conclusion based on the interpretation of the findings and the subsequent discussion: the COVID pandemic was the primary contributor to the occurrence of unpleasant feelings such as sadness, anxiety, and stress. Patients diagnosed with COVID reported experiencing a higher-than-moderate level of psychological distress. It was discovered that the patients' gender and employment status had a protective function in the development of psychological distress. This was discovered by the findings of the study that those patients who exhibited a lower level of psychological distress were either male or employed.

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