Children, mental health and war

On May 27, the conference "How to guarantee and promote mental health during war: evaluating and responding to the impact of trauma through the development of children and adolescents" was held in Warsaw, organized by Telefono Azzurro and Fondazione Child, in collaboration with World Psychiatric Association to discuss the war in Ukraine and the children and adolescents victims of this crisis.

Following the meeting, the 'Warsaw Declaration' was drawn up, a call to global action, as well as a commitment to develop a joint action plan to address, in a period of crisis such as the one we are experiencing with war, the mental health needs of children, adolescents and their families.

"Mental health disorders are among the most common pathologies affecting young people - underlines the document - Approximately half of the world's population will suffer from a mental disorder at some point in their lives, with 75% of these disorders starting before late adolescence and 50% before the end of childhood. The situation has worsened in the Covid era: at least 20% of young people have mood or anxiety disorders, not to mention other conditions. Emergency room visits for mental health problems have increased by 25% or more in some communities, with a dramatic increase in suicide attempts and overdoses.

Eight points included in the declaration on mental health, war and other crises:

1. Publicly commit to a unified call-to-action with a global awareness campaign in response to the global child and adolescent mental health crisis;
2. Convene a global summit, involving heads of state, leaders of international bodies, business leaders, religious leaders, scientists, doctors, NGOs, academic centers and other stakeholders, to develop a detailed, international action plan to respond to the growing crisis of mental health of children, adolescents and their families;
3. Develop a progressive plan for training and widespread dissemination of prevention services based on currently available data, assessments, emergency response and care. This includes large-scale community-wide screening for mental disorders;
4. Initiate high-quality, innovative research programs to rapidly develop new evidence-based individual and group interventions that are culturally sensitive and accessible in multiple languages. To make mental health care more widely accessible, these innovative services must optimize the use of remote and online supplies, via tablets, smartphones and the web:
5. In collaboration with technology companies and clinical innovators, the development and implementation of new tools and techniques that enable rapid and remote expansion of mental health services for children and adolescents must be initiated early. It's time to use the metaverse as well as machine learning and
   artificial intelligence and other technologies to increase access to evidence-based interventions;
6. Rapidly expand high-quality mental health professional training programs to address the dramatic shortage of mental health professionals, including child and adolescent psychiatrists and psychologists, social workers, nurses, etc.;
7. Rapidly expand a large-scale training program for family physicians and other medical professionals to recognize indicators of abuse and exploitation, and develop better systems to address the needs of unaccompanied children in times of crisis;
8. That governments and private institutions increase the resources available to psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals to expand diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation services for children in crisis. This should include mentoring programmes, early recruitment and incentives to pursue professional careers in child and adolescent mental health services.

“We, a group of professionals, government officials and concerned citizens, have gathered in Warsaw to recognize and address a profound crisis of pain and suffering. The most recent crisis is the large-scale violence in Ukraine, which has generated a real new humanitarian crisis in terms of refugees - we read in the foreword of the document - This follows the devastation associated with the Covid pandemic, and at the same time the mass migrations due to poverty and violence in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. With tens of millions of people in danger, this is a global crisis that has no problem ending."

Children, "the most vulnerable category of our global community - continues the document - are suffering the brunt of these international crises, with a devastating impact on their mental health. It has been said that 'children are one third of the world's population and our entire future." The future of the world is in danger. Even if we cannot end all violence, poverty, pandemics and exploitation, we can change the future with far-reaching plans and policies, followed by actions to take care of our children in their time of need."

Photo by Lissaa Spiridonova.