This is from a blog written by a child psychiatrist -
Many of you would be aware by now about what happened to a class ninth student of gundecha education academy. Cause is unknown. We are no one to judge her or her family. Family is at loss and so is she. I am jotting down some points that i went through while doing a course on special educaton and childhood emotional and mental trauma and disorders.
Some things whose awareness is still yet to be established are,
1. A child is prone to depression much more than adults.
2.Till the age of 18, a child can be prone to mental illness , disorders and depression.
3. If a child is showing any kinds of withdrawls , sitting quiet for a long time, dreaming , sudden loss of attention span, too many distractions and not interested in anything, temper tantrums, bouts of anger or crying too easily on petty things , pls sit with the child.
4. Take leave from work, go for a vacation. Leave everything and talk to him or her. No need to ask her why is she sad or aloof. Just discuss general things to encourage her to open up. Assure that you are there whatever happens.
5.
Dont ask your child to adjust too much to any changes in life. Everyone has a level of adaptability. Let it happen at its pace.
6. No academics is important than your childs mental and physical health.
7. No comparing the child with others rather compare with herself/himself. Eg. When you did that test / sang a song/ played well last time, we were more happy.
8.
Children should play till the age tgey want to. Play is stress busters. Physical exercise is also a stress buster. If they dont get a chance to play due to less kids or weather, enroll them in some hobby class or pursue a sport.
9. If they like to dance and sing they should do that everyday.
10. Pls dont burden them with school homework , tution homework and external classes homework. Thinking will be limited.
11. Talk about everything that we converse at home appropriately as per their level. Let them be aware of life's dealings.
12. Listen to them too. If tgey dont want tutions / studies for a day or two, pls give them that break. Explain the consequences of that break. Dont warn.
13. Allow and encourage them to befriend like minded kids . Let them meet their friends sometimes under supervision. Talk about their friends and their family. Allow child to gauge the nature of her friends so that she or he knows to judge correctly.
14. Probably many of us didnt witness or even heard such incidents because we had plenty of friends to talk and share our thoughts.
15.
Nowadays because of growing instances of manhandling , abduction etc. We dont allow them to go down and play on their own. However, we need to make some time for this. PLAY , having good FRIENDS and parental interaction with kids are critical.
16. One of the best way to deal with a child having any addiction like media, bad company, drugs etc is by diverting him or her and keeping them busy with tasks they are insterested in.
17. Building up their emotional intelligence and helping to manage their emotions is important.
18. DO NOT HESITATE to take professional help if in doubt or if needed. Do not take things for granted by ignoring.
Just used this platform to increase more awareness among we parents. Every emotional turmoil can be sorted through right intervention and communication.
Life is priceless.
