The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic in the new age of 24×7 television and social media is causing huge emotional stress and anxiety within children and adolescents struggling to cope with parental job losses, deaths of family members, education disruption and forced home confinement AURELIN RUTH J, MINI P. & CYNTHIA JOHN In its second wave, the mutant Covid-19 pandemic is raining death and misery countrywide — 362,000 infections and 4,120 fatalities per day (May 13) — the highest worldwide in the history of the pandemic. In the new world of instant connectivity and audiovisual information explosion and sharing, these are not merely grim statistics. Newspapers, television, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media are flooded with videos of people literally gasping for breath outside overcrowded hospitals; desperate citizens lining up for admission into hospitals and oxygen cylinders; mass funeral pyres and exhausted doctors and nurses rushing about for medicine, ventilators and life-saving equipment. These distressing scenes are being played out every day countrywide, even as the State seems to have melted away. This unprecedented pandemic in the new age of 24×7 television and social media is causing huge emotional stress and anxiety within children and adolescents struggling to cope with parental job losses, deaths of family members, education disruption and forced home confinement. “The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the health and psycho-social wellbeing of children in India. Mental health and well-being of children is of serious concern, especially in the context of the pandemic-induced stress they have been experiencing. Psycho-social support from teachers, parents and caregivers is a priority. Supportive structures and actions which help children and caregivers manage stress, fear and anxiety need to be strengthened,” says Psychosocial Support for Children during Covid-19 — A Manual for Parents and Caregivers, released by Unicef and Childline India in early March. “The signs that children will bear the scars of the pandemic for years to come are unmistakable,” says Henrietta Fore, executive director of Unicef. Signs of this disaster warning are already beginning to manifest. Child psychologists and health experts in India are confirming increasing incidence of mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, depression, pandemic fatigue, as well as morbidities such as obesity and diabetes in children and teens. “There’s a steady increase in cases of children suffering anxiety and depression because of the pandemic and lockdown. Anxiety, fear, depression, loss of appetite and insomnia are generating acute anxiety and PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) among children. Parents should closely monitor children’s behaviour during this unprecedented time and seek immediate professional aid and counselling to prevent deepening of mental health problems,” says Dr Anju Soni, psychologist and mental health counsellor, Chennai National Hospital. According to Soni, symptoms for parents to watch out for are irritability, anger outbursts, demotivation, suspicious head and/or stomach pain, moodiness, sleep disorders, disinterest in school activities and withdrawn behaviour. Vaishnavi Murugan, a Chennai-based IT professional and mother of a six-year-old girl child, confirms first-hand experience of pandemic anxiety in children. “My…
