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DNA THEME: NO KIDDING

Reasons can be myriad, but mental health issues are spreading its tentacles fast among kids

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It’s disconcerting to imagine a child exhibiting tendencies of a recluse and it becomes alarming when it triggers sadness and fear of facing the world. Reasons can be myriad, but mental health issues are spreading its tentacles fast among kids. Amit Bhatt swings into action to find  government’s effort to thump down the malaise

After returning from school, Vini (name changed), started to sit alone at home instead of playing with other children. Her mother noticed this change in her behaviour but could not figure out the reason.

A consultation with a psychologist revealed that Vini had alienation and needed proper medical treatment.

Like Vini, many children developed mental problems in their school but their parents or teachers hardly figured out the cause. For the first time in Rajasthan, the mental health of school children is being assessed. The pilot project, which aims to cover 50,000 children in 185 government schools in Jaipur district, has already been kick-started.

“We are using a double screening method to check the mental health of kids,” Dr Pradeep Sharma, Principal Investigator of the programme, told DNA. “A questionnaire will be filled up by schoolchildren and it will be followed by screening by a team of National Mental Health programme personnel. The report of the survey will be analysed by the psychiatrist and psychologists and on feeding the report in a software, we will determine the mental illness,if any,the child is suffering from,”he added.

As per the experts, the findings of this project will lead to the development of a holistic prevention and early intervention programme. “Schools play the most important role in a child’s development. Factors such as peer group rejection, bullying, and weak academic performance can lead to disorders like anxiety, depression or alienation in a child. Early detection of a problem, if any, will help in quick recovery and ensure good mental health of a child,” Dr Akhilesh Jain, Head, Psychiatry Department at ESCI Model Hospital, said.

The project will identify children suffering from or at risk of developing psychiatric illness.“This project will be able to give actual data of psychiatric problem in children.The Psychiatric Centre in Jaipur, with its super speciality clinic of child and adolescent psychiatry, will be able to treat and manage all these children. After we compile the data of vulnerable children, we will chalk out specific training programmes for parents and teachers in a bid to tame the problem,” said Dr Sharma.

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