Priyank Kanoongo

In September, NCPCR launched the tollfree helpline, SAMVEDNA (Sensitising Action on Mental Health Vulnerability through Emotional Development and Necessary Acceptance). The tele-counselling service provides psychological first-aid and emotional support specifically to children who are in quarantine or at COVID care centres, children who have COVID-19 positive family members, or those who have lost a member to the infection. A total of 30 counsellors are available via the helpline on pro bono basis. "We have received about 500 calls so far. The counselling support caters to children all over India, including in regional languages also." The service is active between 10 am and 1 pm, and 3 pm and 8 pm.

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The counsellors are trained by an expert team of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), because while they are experts in their field, the pandemic is new to everyone, and the problems related to it, too. Stress, anxiety, fear and loneliness are the chief concerns addressed, while the maximum calls come from children alone and recovering at COVID-19 rehab centres.

Interestingly, they also get calls from children whose parents are medical professionals. Either both parents are doctors, leaving them alone at home, or they may have lost a parent to the infection; it leads to feelings of anger and fear. "Our counselling, we hope, stops them from slipping into acute trauma. We are socially dependent on our parents, siblings and friends. The children are left emotionally vulnerable. This is the most unfortunate outcome of the Coronavirus infection—it isolates you," Kanoongo says.

In a study to have emerged from China, published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers in Hubei province, where the pandemic originated, examined a sample group of 2,330 schoolchildren for signs of emotional distress. The children had been locked down for what seems like a relatively short period—an average of 33.7 days. But, 22.6 per cent of them reported depressive symptoms and 18.9 per cent were experiencing anxiety.

Samvedna Toll-Free Helpline 1800-121-2830

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