With about one in 10 children and young people suffering from mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and conduct disorder across the world, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday outlined 3Cs—connect, concentration and counseling — as the three mantras for the well being of the impressionable minds, particularly during the Corona pandemic.
“We should understand that children go through critical stages of mental health during their childhood and adolescent times. Also due to the pressure of studies, competition and a new change of living style due to the involvement of technology in our lives it becomes necessary to talk about mental health issues of our children,” said Dr. Harsh Vardhan after inaugurating a e-conclave on mental health for children organised by Affordable Private School s’ Association and The Life is Beautiful Foundation.
The tendency of stress, anxiety, anger and depression have increased within our children nowadays, he said adding that connection with family, friends and society is one important aspect which gives a sense of security and platform to discuss personal problems.
The concentration attained through Yoga is another very important tool for building a calm and stress-free mind while counselling of children in case of any issue like stress, anxiety and fear is another important area which must be available for our children, the Minister added.
Lakshya Chhabaria, President of Affordable Private schools’ Association, said that the aim to hold such an e-conclave is to understand kids related issues like emotions, behaviour and perceptions and solutions.
Jyoti Arora, Principal Mount Abu Public School, Rohini cautioned against overexposure of digital technologies, while Dr. Rajesh Sagar, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS, pointed out that there’s a myth that children do not have mental health problems. “If a child is sad for more than 2 weeks then he has depression issues which must be taken care of,” he pointed out and called for integration of mental health services with mainstream health services.
In fact, Saad Omer, Director of the Yale Institute of Global Health, in another event recently organized by his institute had cautioned that the Covid pandemic’s silent killer is having its impact on people’s mental health, particularly children.