Mental health disorders have doubled in recent years; early onset seen between ages 1-14: AIIMS expert
New Delhi, November 28
An AIIMS expert, on Thursday, warned of a sharp rise in mental health issues in recent years, citing evidence that disorders and related disabilities have nearly doubled over the past few decades.
According to Dr Rajesh Sagar, Professor of Psychiatry at AIIMS, "There is certain evidence where it has been shown that the problems over the last 25 years have doubled in terms of disability and burden. In fact, in the study, which was published in 2020 by the Lancet Psychiatry, which we had published, the burden has doubled in that period of time from 1990 to 2017. I would say that, post-COVID, it has increased again. There has been an upsurge with regard to mental health problems."
He further highlighted concerns over rising suicide cases among children.
"Age 1 to 14 is important because the beginnings are there, as the onset of illness happens during that time of adult problems. The problems are not being identified or treated. There's a lot of academic stress. There has been excessive mobile use. There are multiple factors that have led to these issues," he said.
Expanding on the behavioural and environmental triggers, he added,
"More nuclear families, now both parents are working. Less time is spent with the child, a lot of academic stress, and there has been excessive mobile use. The child is more into the virtual world than the real games. So there are some of the issues, like body image disturbances. Many biological changes also occur. And so there are multiple factors which have led to this part."
Dr Sagar also underscored the crucial role teachers play in identifying early signs of distress among children. "Teachers have an important role because they are the ones. They are more neutral for any child, because parents may be emotional. Parents may say, My child is not like this. You know, he is a good boy."
"He is a good girl. You know, he or she can never do such things, but the teacher is neutral. In a class, let's say there are 30 or 50 students, they know that this child has this problem compared to others. So sometimes, you know, they can identify a problem much better than other people, because they can compare, and they have also known the child for a few months, and so many times they also refer a child," Dr Sagar added further.
He stressed that parent-teacher meetings should be used for more than just academic discussions.
"So the message is that in any school, I usually say this parent-teacher meeting is an essential thing. It is not only to tell about the academic performance of a child."
— ANI
Reader Comments
Completely agree with Dr Sagar. Both parents working in nuclear families means less quality time with children. We're so busy earning for their future that we're neglecting their present mental health. Need better work-life balance policies.
The point about teachers being neutral observers is spot on. In our education system, we focus too much on marks and rankings. Teachers should be trained to identify mental health issues early. Great initiative by AIIMS to highlight this!
Mobile addiction is destroying our children's childhood. I see 5-year-olds glued to screens instead of playing outside. We need digital literacy programs in schools and stricter screen time limits at home. 🚫📱
While I appreciate the research, I wish there were more concrete solutions suggested. Just identifying the problem isn't enough - we need actionable steps that schools and parents can implement immediately.
The academic stress in Indian schools is unreal! Tuitions from class 1, constant comparisons, pressure to become doctors/engineers. When will we understand that every child is unique and has different capabilities? 💔
Post-COVID, the situation has definitely worsened. Online classes made children more isolated and screen-dependent. We need community-level
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