BHOPAL: “I feel lonely looking at the computer screen,” is the most common reply mental health experts are getting from children coping with the new reality of the pandemic.
In the beginning, children were relatively happy with the option of not going to school, examination stress and others. It was like a long holiday. As the disease spread and the pandemic timeline stretched the children started feeling detached, said MD psychiatrist and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Dr Samiksha Sahu.
Parents have adapted and found out a way to deal with the pandemic stress.
But children are unable to understand and cope with the stress. Lot of them are developing serious anxiety. As children are not able to go to school, they are away from their day-to-day activities, she added.
According to experts like consultant psychiatrist, Dr Satyakant Trivedi, excessive crying and annoying behaviour should be taken seriously by parents. Increased sadness or difficulties with concentration and attention is another trigger to understand. There are changes in, or avoiding, activities that children enjoyed in the past, which needs to be understood, he added.
Furthermore there can also be unexpected headaches and pain throughout their bodies and changes in eating habits, which need to be understood, especially in adults.
