Lately, psychiatrists are seeing mental health problems emerging in the early teen years, said Sudha Seshayyan, vice-chancellor of the Dr. MGR Medical University of Tamil Nadu.
At the opening of the three-day international conference on schizophrenia, iConS X, he cited statistics from the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (Scarf), which organizes the event.
“It is worrying that adolescents have already started to develop mental health problems. Mental health disorders begin around early adolescence, at ages 13 and 14. Looking at today’s society, certain facts hit us,” he said, noting that while the inhibition to seek psychiatric help had lessened, various conditions, including changes in lifestyle and eating habits, had pushed an individual into mental health disorders. mental health.
Previous generations grew up with four or five siblings, accepted that not everyone was intellectually superior, took reprimands and even spanking from parents in stride, and led a balanced life, whereas today a child chooses to take the extreme step if he is scolded by a father, he noted.
The day could deliberate on disabilities caused by diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. “We are not yet aware of the neurological and psychological consequences of prolonged COVID. He urged delegates to submit research proposals for the same.”
He suggested that the conference discuss social, environmental, lifestyle and dietary changes and “think about ways to help the community live better.”
Dr. Sudha congratulated Scarf on his decades of service and recalled the services of Sarada Menon in whose memory a prayer was instituted.
Hey Gureje, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Ibadan, delivered the fourth edition of Dr. M. Sarada Menon’s prayer. He spoke on “Contextual response to psychosis: developing integrated care for a syndemic”.
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