Today is World Children's Mental Health Awareness Day: How to preserve it for Ukrainian children in the midst of war
Kyiv • UNN
Ukrainian children face mental health challenges due to the Russian invasion, including lack of basic resources, pessimistic emotions, family separation, and normalization of violence, which requires parents to support them, encourage open communication, and teach coping strategies.
Today, on May 7, various events are taking place in many countries around the world on the occasion of World Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, UNN writes.
The event was launched in the United States and Canada and quickly became relevant in many countries around the world.
Mental health is an important component of children's overall health and has a complex and interactive relationship with their physical health and ability to succeed in school, work, and society.
Both physical and mental health affect the way we think, feel and act inside and out. It is essential to address the mental health needs of children and adolescents early in their development to ensure that they lead productive lives as adults.
The need to preserve the mental health of Ukrainian children has become especially urgent in the context of the full-scale Russian invasion.
Psychologists identify the main mental problems that Ukrainian children face today:
- Lack of basic necessities of basic resources (adequate housing, places of recreation, food and water). This makes it difficult to create adequate conditions for children;
- Pessimistic emotions. One of the main consequences of war is the loss of hope;
- Separation of families. During war, many family members are killed or captured by the enemy. The loss of family members causes significant stress or anxiety for children;
Normalization of violence. Most children begin to perceive violent acts as normal.
In order to distract children from negative thoughts and emotions, psychologists give the following advice to parents in the first place:
- Spend time with children during breakfast or dinner, as children need to work on building strong relationships with their peers and family. Talk to your children about pressing issues. Show love and care for your children. Ask questions about their interests and activities;
- Teach children to solve a variety of problems. Praise your child every time he or she makes progress or succeeds at a task;
- Encourage children to talk about their feelings (whether good or bad);
- Teach your children ways to relax when they are stressed. This could be deep breathing, yoga, being alone, or going for a walk;
- Be careful when talking to children (do not bring up family, financial problems, illnesses). Often children get very stressed about these things. If you want to share this, be delicate and tell them that sometimes it is normal to cope with such situations;
- Keep track of how much time your children spend in front of the gadget screen. You should know who they interact with on the Internet and social media.
