Before threatening mental patterns begin manifesting into disease, the current health crisis necessitates a preventive approach to addressing the issue of the psychosocial stressors experienced by children and adolescents.
The increasing instances of anxiety, breakdowns, and in worse cases, suicides, germinate from an early life exposure to unrealistic societal expectations and academic pressures, thus making them susceptible to seizing up emotionally in the long run. Given this solemn reality and the years of medical experience Dr Samir Parikh has in the field of mental health and behavioural sciences, along with Rupa Publications India, he has worked on a comic series called Laugh & Learn, centred on creative resolutions to the stress epidemic.
Being anchored by Fortis School Mental Health Program, it is a light-hearted effort to drive home a serious point. The programme through its many initiatives works with close to 5,000 schools across 300 cities with the single aim of children strong and happy individuals who manage their studies and emotions well.
The book gets direction by Addy and Anayka, the two characters, who drive the storytelling forward. “The protagonists have been developed to describe today’s children who are experiencing many dilemmas and difficulties without identifying how to cope with them. Through them, children reading the book will relate to what’s being said as it’s being told by their peers, hence it’ll be easier for them to follow the valuable tips and tricks being propounded,” says Dr Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare Limited.
Co-developed by his team members Kamna Chibber, Divya Jain and Mimansa Singh, the book has been conceptualised to be interactive. It charts out a blueprint of various skills that one can develop for personal betterment including positive reinforcement, and enhancing of individual skills and talents rather than wondering about coming first. It’s to reassure to every child that they need to value themselves because stress among teens is ripping apart their morale.
Even though it seems like the easiest refuge, it can have a long term debilitating impact on a child’s physical health. Sometimes irrecoverable too. The surge of hormones that destabilise the heart rate leads to lasting abnormalities. And for children, a large part of this is due to exams related worries. “There is high competition, parental expectations, peer influence, lack of self-belief, and even a general hysteria created by the media and society around exams. Each of these need to be eliminated. What’s most vital to remember is that exams are a part of life. No one exam can make or break you. The idea is to learn critical life skills, not to bring down the morale of the children and peace in families,” says Dr Parikh.
Stress management is the first topic being taken up through this first book in his maiden series, with subsequent ones looking at other aspects of the emotional well-being of students.
The need of the hour is positive and preventive mental health resolutions rather than a disease-focused approach. Dr Parikh has stepped out of the clinic to reach out. It’s our turn to walk the distance too.