The epidemic has altered people’s lives and way of existence. The hardest affected group has been children since they are still developing. In addition to the additional problems of joint aches, bad posture, and inconsistent sleep patterns, obesity developed greatly among youngsters owing to almost no physical exercise as a result of lengthy lock downs. Due to weak or absent socialization, children’s mental health has suffered. Boredom, irritation, aggression, and several other behavioral, emotional, and psychological issues resulted from a lack of social contact. But the biggest threat has been the rise in screen time. This has become a necessary evil as research moves online. The mental health and behavioral habits were severely impacted by digital gaming and long social media sessions.
A key component of good health is mental well-being. Ancient Indian practices like yoga, meditation, pranayama, and others attest to the value placed on mental wellness. However, the importance of mental health has increased in recent years due to factors such as the breakdown of family structures, the rise in single parents, the increased use of social media and screen time, the rise in competition, etc., as well as circumstances following the pandemic that have made mental health problems worse.
Psychologists and psychiatrists have observed an increase in patients in countries like India, where seeing a “shrink” was once frowned upon. This is another reason why more people are specializing in the field of mental health. It’s interesting to note that there are more rehabilitation clinics opening up in Tier 1 and Tier II cities.
Autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other problems may now be identified earlier and with greater accuracy because to increased knowledge of pediatric mental health. In the past 20 years, there has been a huge advancement in the use of medications to treat mental illnesses such ADHD, seizures, depression, and OCD. We now have medications with less side effects that are better for in-patient care. Research is continuously being done to develop better medications and medication administration methods, such as patches, 24-hour delivery medications, etc.
Children’s health is largely dependent on their parents, just as a healthy body and mind go hand in hand. Younger children tend to imitate their parents as role models. Junk food shouldn’t be consumed three to four times a week. A youngster who leads a well-disciplined life, as imparted by his parents, will have a happier and healthier life. Simple examples are going to bed and waking up early; if parents model this behavior, kids will do the same. Parents must set an example by limiting their own screen time and making more time for interaction with their kids before they can expect their kids to follow suit.
Children with disabilities have been a significant focus of science and technology over the past ten or more years. When it comes to therapy, genetics is at the forefront. The care of disorders that, absent gene therapy, may have resulted in increased morbidity and premature mortality has advanced dramatically. With the aim of detecting disorders as soon as possible, immediately after delivery or ideally in utero, there is an ongoing effort to enhance the modalities for screening in-utero, including amniocentesis, NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing), FISH, Microarray, and many more. Another recent development is the use of stem-cell therapy to cure a number of illnesses that would otherwise have a debilitating impact on a person’s quality of life.
