Mental Health in Developmental Perspective | Original Article

ABSTRACT:

It is critical for any culture to promote child mental health since (1) child psychiatric issues are frequent, (2) a considerable number of such illnesses have a bad prognosis, and (3) many adult diseases have their roots in childhood risk factors. Aside from that, there is evidence to suggest that early mental health prevention in childhood may have a significant beneficial influence on children and their families, as well as on institutions and communities at both the micro- and macro-levels. Because of this, it is remarkable that it has garnered so little attention to yet, particularly in India. This review is broken down into four pieces. First, a developmental and ecological theoretical viewpoint is offered to illustrate how the conceptualization and prevention of child mental health disorders varies from work with adults in a number of important ways. Following that, examples of work done at the family level are shown, as well as instances of efforts carried out in schools—with individual children, with classes, and with the whole school population—are also presented. The potential role of schools as an effective focal point for mental health promotion and psychiatric disease prevention is discussed in detail, with particular emphasis on an ecological model of developmental growth. After that, the last part looks at a specific case of great concern children who have been excluded from school, and suggests that a preventive approach may be the most effective method to handle the issue.