Dr.Sadhana Budhathoki
At the moment, the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in social distancing, quarantines, and isolation in an attempt to flatten the transmission and mortality curve. Approximately ninety eight percent of children across the world are living under such restrictions due to this pandemic. They are not being able to play with their friends in open grounds, go to the amusement parks and participate in social gatherings. Many countries have shuttered schools and colleges so that the children do not face the evil physiognomy of the corona-virus. According to an analysis by UNICEF, the education of nearly 1.6 billion children in 190 countries has so far been affected.
Mass quarantine and isolation measures have estranged children from their parents. For instance, in-country like Nepal, where the major proportion of the country’s economy is buttressed by the remittance, the majority of the parents work abroad. When they wish to return to the country due to loss of job, fear of the disease, etc; on the one hand, the nation is not paying enough attention to bring them back, on the other hand even if they are brought, they are kept in quarantine in an unscientific manner. This has created havoc in the victim’s family which has a direct impact on the children’s mental health.
Another problem the children are facing is disorientation. Before the Lock-down, they had a clear routine of eating breakfast, going to school, playing with friends, studying, returning home, doing homework, watching cartoons, so on and so forth. In other words, there was a set of predetermined tasks. However, after shutting down schools with no estimated date of re-opening, the inertia of habit have disoriented them. They want to go to school but they can’t go, they want to play with their friends- which they can’t. Therefore they get frustrated and indulge themselves in certain things like watching TV or playing on the mobile phone. This subconsciously makes the child idle and disoriented to time. Inculcating bad habits and whining of good habits takes place at this stage.
Likewise, not all children respond to stress in a common way; every child has a unique personality trait. Some tend to become too frightened which is seen in their daily activities like altered feeding habits, insomnia, etc. While others tend to be more aggressive and demanding to the parents. Some kids are very smart, they can easily read the psychology of their parents: they can interpret the parent’s expressions- and become very co-operative. Nevertheless, care should be taken of fearful and aggressive children who can impress long term trauma of this pandemic in their mind.
Every problem is backed with a solution. Following these steps can lessen the hazardous impact of this virus on the mental health of the youngster.
- Deal with your own anxiety before talking to the children:
You are always a role model for your offspring. So you should try to remain positive and calm because they will watch you. If they see you consistently worried and anxious they will imitate your action thinking that it is a proper way to handle stress. This can have a long term negative impact because as soon as the children encounter stress, they automatically start to panic. Hence, be composed and teach them the same!
- Try to answer their all Whys:
Children are inquisitive beings. They have already figured out to some extent about the virus from social media, television, family conversion, etc. They become more curious to know more about it. Hence, they tend to ask questions about the corona-virus persistently. Our responsibility is not to avoid replying to them nor feeding them with wrong information although they can sound irritating at times. Give a try to satiate their mental hunger. Unless and until they get their answer they will not stay quiet. They try to find the answer to their questions from other sources which can prove to misguide them. Therefore, they have the mentality that it is their right to know what’s happening around the world. Tell them everything in a way they are able to understand it: provide them clear age-appropriate information. Make them habituated to follow authentic news sources.
- Give them an opportunity to express their feelings:
The best way to open up their mind is to express your own feelings. This creates a comfortable environment that favors the expression of their thoughts too. Talk friendly and honestly with your children. This helps them to lighten up their heart.
- Design an appropriate schedule for them:
As they are staying at home all day and not going to school as well as with restricted outdoor activities, and the absence of interaction with friends, can inculcate unhealthy habits like irregular sleeping pattern, consuming more and more unhealthy foods, over-watching of televisions, playing games in cell phones et cetera .so parents should design a schedule and motivate the children to stick to it.
To conclude, the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted our attention in one direction- the number of new cases each day and the number of mortality in the past 24 hours. We try to save ourselves and our family from this dreadful disease, but keeping all the energy in this direction, we might fail to prevent mental illness in our children. We have to divide this energy to address the concerns of our children too and guide them in a proper path in order to prevent them from being disoriented.