By It is vital to understand that Child and adolescent mental health problems are common. More than 20% of children and adolescents suffer from mental disorders globally.
In Nepal, 40% of the population fall in the category. And, are vulnerable to mental health problems. 50% of all mental disorders start by the age of 14 years. Yet, child and adolescent mental health problems have recently gained stakeholder’s concern, in the context of our nation.
Up to 51% of earthquake-affected adolescents reported Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS). The prevalence of emotional problems ranges up to 17.03% in school children. And, up to 28.6% in homeless children. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects three in every 1000 people in Nepal. Anxiety disorders affect up to 24.4% of the population.
And, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects up to 11.7% of children. Mental health problems are far too common. The prejudice of mental health not being as important as physical health, clearly does not help. Additionally, the stigmatization of mental illness with madness, aids in compliance with hiding mental health problems to date.
Poverty and exposure to violence have negative influences on child psychopathology. And they can bring serious dysfunction in adult life. Unfortunately, many children and adolescents in Nepal are exposed to those often. More than 40% of all children in Nepal are living under multidimensional poverty. These children are victimized in child labor, human trafficking, and sexual abuse.
As anticipated, Socioeconomic and environmental factors affect mental health to a great extent. And, exposure to environmental adversities increases the risk of disorders in children. Adversities by natural disasters like earthquakes and floods are common in Nepal. Alone 2015 massive earthquake directly affected 1.7 million children. Displacements, disappearances, injuries, and bereavements affected everyone’s mental health. Of all, adolescents were affected the most.
Identification and treatment of mental health disorders have recently gained momentum in Nepal. The figures are yet not clear but we can say it is improving. We still lack a proper policy and licensing systems for psychologists and mental health workers. Mental health policy exists in Nepal. It was adopted in 1997.
But, the implantation status is still too vague. We do not have enough child and adolescent psychiatrists in our country. We do not even have any specialized post-graduate courses in this field. The implication is very limited and inadequate numbers and quality of researches. Additionally, the government has been neglecting the importance of mental health as a whole. Fortunately, that does not seem to be the case now.
Nepal Health Research Council is conducting National Mental Health Survey in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It aims to assess the prevalence of mental disorders, help-seeking behavior, and barriers to accessing care among people with mental health disorders in Nepal. With international interventions and the presence of online portals, many organizations are now set up for keeping up the momentum of mental health projects in Nepal. We can now hope for a nation better with mental health approaches. It definitely will take time but at least we have come a way forth.
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