International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 11, Issue 3, March 2021 552 ISSN 2250-3153 This publication is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY. http://dx.doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.11.03.2021.p11179 www.ijsrp.org Perception and Evaluation of Psychological Stress Awareness during Corona Virus Disease among General Population in Karachi, Pakistan. *Akhtar Shareef 1 , Durdana Rais Hashmi 2 and Muhammad Azam 3 1, 2 Centre for Environmental Studies, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Laboratories Complex, Karachi, Pakistan 3 Department of Geography, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan Email Address: akhtarshareef@yahoo.com, drhpakr@yahoo.com and mhdazam11@hotmail.com *Corresponding author, Email Address: akhtarshareef@yahoo.com DOI: 10.29322/IJSRP.11.03.2021.p11179 http://dx.doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.11.03.2021.p11179 Abstract: Background: The main object of this study was to analyze the opinion of general public in Karachi city to examine the levels of psychological impact (anxiety, stress and depression) during the 1 st episode of the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus epidemic is a public health emergency of international distress and poses a challenge to psychological resilience. The collected data will be used for future reference. Methods: An online questionnaire survey was conducted from April to May, 2020. The survey was conducted by using snowball sampling techniques, virtual learning environments and social networking (e.g.Whats-App and Facebook groups). The online collected data were based on socio-demographic characters comprised on age, gender, level of education, marital status and occupational background, physical symptoms during the past 14 days, knowledge and fear, precautionary measures and supplementary data regarding the COVID-19 infection. DASS(21) scale was used to analyze the status of mental helth of common habitants during COVID infection. Results: In this survey 510 participants were participated from different areas of Karachi city. For stress 189(51.4%) male and 63(44%) female were considered to have normal score (0-10), mild to moderate (11-26) in 112 (30.5%) male and 42(29.3%) female, severe to extremely severe score (27-42) was found among 66(18%) male and 38(1926.5%) female respondents. For depression subscale, 152 (41.4%) male and 56 (39%) female were considered to have normal score (0-9), 110 (30%) male and 42 (29%) female considered mild to moderate score (10-20) and severe to extremely severe score (21-42) was found among 105(29%) male and 45(31.4%) female respondents. For anxiety subscale, 142(39%) male and 58(40%) female were considered to have normal score (0- 7). Mild to moderate score (8-14) was of 101(28%) male and 37 (26%) were female. Severe to extremely severe score (15-42) was found among 124(34%) male and 48 (33%) were female participants. There is no significance of anxiety as marital status and education wise. Only the students are anxious about their studies and future. Conclusions: High levels of anxiety, stress and depression among general population were noted, which is a cause for concern. Both the government and health care agencies are responsible for protecting the psychological well-being all over the world and ensuring a healthy work environment. Keywords: coronavirus; epidemic; anxiety; stress; depression; respiratory symptoms; psychological impact; knowledge and precaution; 1. Introduction The worldwide pandemic of noval coronavirus (COVID-19) has wrecked the physiological distress, mental health and economy of the world. In Pakistan, during first episode of the pandemic, more than 200,000 cases had been reported and 4,000 people had died. As the COVID Pandemic is spreading rapidly, it has caused panic and fear among people of all age groups of habitants. Moreover, this pandemic has also caused psychological distress due to contagious nature, absence of vaccine, treatment facilities, and social distancing that has been forced upon every individual, which may resulted to feeling of loneliness and helplessness. The widespread