The lockdown and communication blockade in Jammu and Kashmir can potentially inflict short- or long-term psycho-social trauma in children, say doctors at the Srinagar Government Medical College’s Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (IMHANS).
“Adults may adapt to the clampdown through culturally transmitted coping mechanisms such as indulging in shop-front debates. However, it’s taking a toll on the mental health of children with their eight-hour routine completely disturbed. The children have no access to schools, any means of entertainment or the Internet, making them vulnerable to psycho-social abnormalities,” says Zaid Ahmad, a senior psychiatrist at the IMHANS.
The IMHANS has come up with a contingency plan and in the first phase, will reach out to children (up to the age of 16) in distress in the districts of Kulgam, Shopian, Anantnag and Pulwama. The UNICEF-backed Child Guidance and Wellbeing Centre at the IMHANS has identified child-friendly centres (CFCs), set up in schools, private homes and anganwadi centres, in these districts “to provide psychological first aid”.
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“The animators and volunteers at the 36 CFCs will be given training on psychological first aid and care to deal with children facing mental health issues in the current difficult times,” Syed Karrar Hussian, a child psychiatrist with the UNICEF, told
The need for the contingency plan was felt after the number of the children visiting IMHANS fell by one-fifth the number, after the August 5 decision. “Those who visited us complained of flared-up symptoms because of the fearful environs and dysfunctional social spaces. There is no peer group interaction, allowing children to share their stories, that act as a protective mechanism. Parents are also finding it hard to deal with the such children,” Dr. Hussain said.