Parul R. Sheth

“I am a parent of an 8-year-old daughter”, says Sachi, a working professional. “With easy access to her smartphone, TV, tablet, video games, and other technology at home, Arya gets a lot more daily screen time in addition to the time she spends on screen for school work. I really worry about her health, and it scares me as to how this will affect her cognitive ability”

Worry is an integral part of one’s life. It creeps in unannounced at any point in time. You find yourself worrying about many things for no obvious reasons. You may worry about money, health, family problems, children, work, etc. Such occasional worry is normal. But when worry gets out of control, it takes the form of an anxiety disorder, which can then cripple your mind and body.

Anxiety truly is not an emotion but a state of being. You experience anger, jealousy, hurt, disappointment or sadness, which are all primary emotions that can give rise to anxiety — the most common secondary emotion.  In recent years, anxiety disorders among children and adolescents are on the rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that globally, one in seven 10–19-year-olds experience a mental disorder, accounting for 13 per cent of the global burden of disease in this age group. Recent statistics in India reveal that about 10–15 per cent of children suffer from anxiety-related issues. Amongst these, adolescents are more prone to depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders than the younger age group. In addition, the rates of stress, fear and loneliness are high, and they keep rising…read more on NOPR