Tiny tots get stressed out, say shrinks
CHENNAI: Every day, an hour before leaving for school, seven-year-old Anitha* would complain of headache. She would cry and refuse to read or do her homework. Initially, her parents thought that she was faking illness, but when the pattern continued for more than two weeks they took her to a child psychologist. Anitha was diagnosed with anxiety and had psychosomatic disorders.
“This had developed over months due to the pressure of excelling at school,” said the girl’s mother, who did not want to be named. The woman said while Anitha was a bright student, the fear of failing in academics caused her immense stress. “We had no clue that she was dealing with so much stress,” she said.
“We often believe that children below 10 have no psychological issues, but that is the age where everything starts,” said Dr Sangeetha Madhu, a Chennai-based child psychologist.
She said in recent times she has noticed children as young as six and eight showing signs of stress, anxiety, depression and mental health distress. While a significant number was referred by schools owing to the child’s inability to cope with academics, parents have increasingly cited behavioural issues like temper tantrums and stubbornness.
“Writing off complains of illnesses as fake is not a solution. We must explore the child’s feelings, acknowledge emotional issues and address them accordingly. We have noticed that many of these children have attempted suicides because they don’t know how to deal with their emotions,” she said.
Dr Lakshmi Vijaykumar, consultant psychiatrist and founder of Sneha suicide prevention centre recalled an incident where a seven-and-a-half-year-old had committed suicide as he did not score the highest marks in a class test. “He was a bright student. But because his teacher expressed disappointment, he hung himself,” she said.
Dr Lakshmi urged authorities in the education department to compulsorily teach life skills, resilience and the ability to handle failures to children, parents and teachers.
“We must catch them young and intervene early for better prognosis. We must take a community approach and create support groups amongst parents and sensitise teachers, and then take it to a policy level to strengthen our educational system,” said Dr Sudha.
S Arumainathan, state president of the Tamil Nadu Students and Parents Welfare Association, said the authorities must conduct an elaborate study on the mental health of young children and develop and integrate a curriculum on socio-emotional skills for young children in their textbooks.
“We are aware that 75% of employees are found to have depression and work related stress. By 2025 a majority of children in our state will be joining the workforce. Are we preparing them well to handle what’s in store? We need to focus on that” said Dr Sudha.
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