By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 11 Oct: ‘World Mental Health Day’ is observed on 10 October every year. The aim is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and it provides an opportunity to talk about it with different stakeholders. The theme for this year is ‘Mental Health in an Unequal World’.
Oxford School of Excellence and The Poly Kids hosted a webinar on 10 October on the subject. The topic was ‘Transition from online mode to offline mode: Challenges and Precautions’. The panel was headed by Dr Pawan Sharma, who is an NLP practitioner and Dr Pratibha Sharma, Child Psychologist.
Various children related psychological, behavioural and medical issues were discussed with parents. They also provided beneficial tips on good parenting.
The parents discussed various issues such as mood swings, poor sleep, a gradual reduction in work output, aggressive behaviour, etc. The ongoing stress, fear and uncertainty created by Covid -19 has weighed heavily on children and teens. Many are having a tough time coping emotionally. It was stated that pandemic related stress and traumas may have lasting effects on the developing minds of children and teens.
Parents were instructed to continue checking on their children often and to watch and listen for signs and changes in behaviour, keeping in mind that younger children may not know how to talk about these feelings, but may act out in other ways. The panel emphasised that family must spend time together. They should reduce screen time and indulge in indoor games, group discussion, cooking, gardening together. Expert guidance on ways to best support the child and help them to build resilience was given by the Psychologist.
The webinar was highly interactive and more than 500 parents and teachers attended with great enthusiasm. It was organised under the guidance of Director Capt Mukul Mahendru. Present on this occasion were Ranjana Mahendru, Principal Rachana Srivastava, Co-coordinator Pomilla Narula, etc.
