Vadodara: Fear of losing parents haunts

VADODARA: Fourteen-year-old Rahul Mehta’s (name changed) hands had been trembling for nearly a month. His parents couldn’t diagnose the cause and brought him to paediatrician and adolescent expert Dr Bakulesh Chauhan.
After a brief counselling session what Rahul revealed left his parents shocked. The teenager was scared that his parents or grandparents may die of Covid.
“He had never heard of or seen death from close quarters. But in the second wave, some of his distant relatives died and that left him scared and confused. The boy felt that what if his parents and grandparents, whom he is very close to, die of Covid,” Chauhan, who counselled the boy, said.
Rahul developed anxiety and his hands used to tremble often.
Kanan Parikh, a professional counsellor said, “There is extreme restlessness in the children or adolescents who fear losing their parents to Covid. I get such cases where adolescents face anxiety and lose focus as they are scared that their family members may die.”
Jamila Firdaus, senior psychologist at Navrachana School, said, “The constant fear of losing near and dear ones is pushing some children into depression. They have long crying spells and prefer to spend a lot of time alone. A student kept telling them to not spend on his tuition fees too.”
Counsellors have come across children who want their parents to spend less on them and save money for the future.