New Delhi: Since the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health has become a buzzword and has also affected children, said experts. Psychotherapist and expert at Mental Health Foundation Bhavya Raj Arora said, “Stress, anxiety, depression and behavioural addictions are becoming prevalent among children now more than ever. The lockdowns took away opportunities for peer-learning and peer support, which are essential for child development and their self-development.”
She said,
The reason behind such mental health issues is also competition on social media. The increasing pressures of being better than the rest, screen exposures, social media, disconnect with parents and increasing demand to perform in this hustle culture could be a few such reasons.
According to Bhavya Arora, if a child has mental health problems it becomes difficult for parents to identify the problem. The expert said,
The best way to identify if someone’s facing a mental health challenge is to observe their functionality: are they able to function with day-to-day tasks? Keep a note of their distress: Do they seem more distressed or troubled than usual? How long have they been feeling this? If it is two weeks or longer, we recommend touching base with a mental health professional. How different is the child’s behaviour from what we generally consider normal?
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Giving an example she said,
It should be okay to sit without phones for half an hour. But if you observe that your child has been getting distressed beyond what’s normal and how they would have acted earlier- getting agitated, irritated or even violent, touch base with a mental health professional. This example applies to all other areas of their lives too. With friends, family, social interactions etc.
The expert said that the role of using mobile phones is one of the reasons for the exaggerated mental health problems in children.
Social media has certainly created a lot of pressure on young adults to perform. Children are constantly trying to one-up reel lives which hampers their mental health in real life, Bhavya Raj Arora said.
“Not just that, as humans, our bodies can neither biologically adapt to constant stimuli all the time nor are we psychologically evolved to consume so much information each day. Both of which are significantly detrimental to children’s mental health,” she said.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
