A one-day workshop at RIMS, Imphal West on approaching the children and adolescents during conflict situations deliberated on the need to give necessary counseling and treatment to teenagers and children who have been affected by the Manipur crisis.
The workshop was organised by the department of Psychiatry RIMS at Dr Kamal Hall. Former professor and head of department of child psychiatry of NIMHANS Dr Shekhar Seshadri gave a presentation during the event.
According to Shekhar, during conflict situations children are worse affected. Capacity and skill building are essentials for them, he said. Right after Covid pandemic in Manipur, a more serious conflict is going on.
The children were already affected by the pandemic, and this conflict will even affect them more, he said while expressing concern about their future. Building a strong ecosystem for child mental health is highly required, he added.
NIMHANS will extend support for building the required ecosystem support and SAMBAD is always honoured to support the children, he said.
Director G Sunil Kumar Sharma of RIMS wished for a successful workshop and expressed his hope that it will help in approaching the children through guidance from the resource persons.
Dealing with children affected by conflict is highly important, said Dr Lenin, adding that those children and teenagers who are stranded and dispatched are facing trauma..
Children under 6-7 years may be handled by parents though they also seek to return to their own houses and environment, he said. “But teenagers who can understand conflict have the intention of handling guns and fighting. In such a situation, dealing with teenagers becomes difficult and needs guidance from more experts who have experience for handling conflict affected children,” he pointed out.
The inaugural of the workshop was attended by HOD of department of Psychiatry, RIMS, Dr S Gojendra Singh, technical expert of SAMBAD, Sheela.
