Pune: 2nd wave marks steep rise in panic & anxiety among kids

PUNE: From sudden panic attacks to staying wide awake till the wee hours to marked disinterest in any physical activity — children, primarily those between the ages of 9 and 14 years, are suffering mentally with the onslaught of the Covid second wave.
Calls are pouring in from anxious parents seeking psychiatric consultations for their disturbed children. Senior citizens, who are having a hard time coping with the collapse of healthcare and disaster being witnessed in many parts of the country at present, are also on the same boat.
“The situation is bad. Each day, we are getting at least six to seven phone calls from anxious and panicked parents worried about their children. Almost all of them said that their children were too scared, plagued by several kinds of complications ranging from panic attacks to insomnia. Deaths during the second wave of the pandemic have been extremely high and each day there are cases where people are dying due to the dearth of oxygen or beds. Children are gravely affected such a situation,” city-based psychiatrist Swapnil Deshmukh told TOI.
A Kothrud-based couple started worrying after their 13-year-old son suddenly refused to study or play and constantly pleaded with them to be safe and ‘not die.’
“We took it lightly at first but then became worried after we found him weeping silently on a couple of occasions. He also refused to eat properly or play indoor games. We consulted a psychologist and have been asked to follow some steps to get him out of his present state of mind. He is better now but still has some way to go. I have to step out of the house every second day for chores and that is making him very scared,” the father, who requested anonymity, told TOI.
Deshmukh said anxiety disorder was on a significant rise. “This is happening due to feelings of uncertainty and bad news coming in from all around and the death/illness of close ones. People are suffering panic attacks due to severe anxiety. Physical symptoms of anxiety include breathless, dry mouth and palpitations. These are sometimes getting confused with Covid symptoms as well. Insomnia (sleep problems) is also on the rise,” he added.
Another parent told TOI that he was faced by the same problem on two fronts.
“While I found my 13-year-old son not sleeping and staying wide awake until 2am, looking absolutely blank, my 70-year-old father, who stays in Kolkata, also started calling me three to four times each day weeping profusely and pleading me to stay indoors. I consulted doctors and came to know about the problem. While I am following whatever has been advised to me, even I am extremely worried and stressed due to the current circumstances and my job,” the man told TOI.