5 min readNew DelhiFeb 23, 2023 05:00 PM IST
First published on: Feb 23, 2023 at 05:00 PM IST
In a shocking incident that came to light on Wednesday, it was revealed that Munmum Majhi, a 36-year-old woman from Gurgaon, remained cooped up inside her flat for three years along with her 10-year-old son out of fear of contracting Covid-19. “I couldn’t hold back tears when I first held my son after three years. I kissed his forehead and promised him our family will be back together like before,” Suran Majhi said after his wife and son were rescued.
Ever since the pandemic broke out in 2020, Munmun and her son remained locked up inside their two-room flat in Maruti Vihar, Gurgaon. While Sujan began travelling to the office once the lockdown restrictions eased, he was restricted from entering the house. In a conversation with The Indian Express, he said, “It was very difficult to convince my wife to get herself and my son out as she feared both would contract Covid. Whenever she came out, I would accompany her to the nearby market and she would buy several things at once.”
In an astonishing claim, Sujan said that his son had not even seen the sun in the last three years. “My son is in class 5 and had to take his final examinations, which were offline. Since my wife did not let him step out, I had to request his school principal to let him write the exams online, but that was not possible. For three years, my son has not interacted with friends in the neighbourhood and it worried me,” he said.
In addition to the various adverse mental health effects of staying isolated in a home for three years, experts share what not getting sunlight for such an extended period of time can do to one’s health. According to Dr Dilip Gude, Senior Consultant Physician, Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad, sunlight exposure is vital to almost all systems in the body.
“Mainly, sunlight directs the brain to regulate the circadian rhythm in a right manner and release melatonin adequately,” he explained, adding that this helps maintain proper sleep hygiene. When one is not exposed to adequate sunlight, serotonin levels tend to drop, thereby, precipitating various mood disorders, predominantly depression. “There is a direct link with tiredness, lethargy and fatigue with lack of sunlight exposure,” he said.
When one is not exposed to adequate sunlight, serotonin levels tend to drop, thereby, precipitating various mood disorders, predominantly depression (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
Agreeing, Dr Manjusha Agarwal, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Global Hospitals, Parel, Mumbai said, “Sunlight exposure helps the brain to produce serotonin, a hormone that wakes one up and gives the energy to function throughout the day. Then, serotonin gets converted into melatonin at night, and one will able to peacefully fall asleep.”
Additionally, she highlighted that sunlight allows one’s body to produce vitamin D and is beneficial for the heart, eye, and skin health, apart from boosting immunity, maintaining healthy bones, and good mental well-being.
Here are some ways inadequate sunlight exposure can affect an individual’s well-being, according to Dr Gude.
*Osteoporosis or weak/brittle bones and resultant fractures for trivial trauma are a direct consequence of inadequate sunlight exposure and low vitamin D levels.
*Immunity — both humoral and cell-mediated — is known to be affected by lack of sunlight exposure, resulting in multiple and frequent infections.
*People without sun exposure are known to have increased weight gain along with various mechanisms like endogenous nitric oxide release, overeating to compensate for feelings of weakness etc — all of which are postulated as etiopathogenesis.
*Blood pressure is known to increase in those with low sunlight exposure possibly from poor sleep and added stress. Conversely, adequate sunlight exposure or UV light is linked to decreased blood pressure, as per various studies.
*Some cancers are associated with inadequate sun exposure such as breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancers.
*Shortsightedness or myopia is also postulated to increase in those with very less sun exposure.
How much sunlight do you need?
Dr Agarwal said that it is “the need of the hour” to expose yourself to sunlight every day for at least 30 minutes in the morning. “The ideal time is 8 am to 10 am,” she said.
Dr Gude, however, said that one must spend at least 10 to 15 minutes per day in sunlight between 10 am to 12 pm or 3 pm to 5 pm “to get adequate vitamin D for the body”.
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Ever since the pandemic broke out in 2020, Munmun and her son remained locked up inside their two-room flat in Maruti Vihar, Gurgaon (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock) 
When one is not exposed to adequate sunlight, serotonin levels tend to drop, thereby, precipitating various mood disorders, predominantly depression (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
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