May 8, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, May 7: Psychiatric disturbances affect 7 to 15 per cent children while 50 per cent of them continue with such problems into their adult life.

This was stated by Federal Education Minister Zobaida Jalal at a seminar on “Child and adolescent psychiatric illness”, organized by the Mental Health Resource Centre in collaboration with the department of psychiatry at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Wednesday.

The seminar aimed at helping professionals to recognize and deal with common child psychiatric problems.

Children and adolescents are largely ignored by researchers, except for the insights they seemed to offer about adult functioning and dysfunctioning during the last century.

Similarly, clinicians usually viewed children as little adults rather than individuals who might experience a unique kind of problems and require specific interventions.

The minister said teachers were in an ideal position to detect mental and emotional problems in children and they could take appropriate steps to solve them with the help of their families.

Recalling her experience as a schoolteacher, Ms Jalal said schools where teachers were aware of psychological needs of the students showed better results.

She stressed the importance of child development and hoped that a teacher-inclusive interaction would provide necessary information about psychiatric problems being faced by children.

Fatima Jinnah Women’s University Vice-Chancellor Dr Najma Najam said listening to a child always eased emotional burden and gave the teacher an insight into his thoughts and fears.

Chairman of the Mental Health Resource Centre (Peshawar) Dr Khalid Mufti said handling of behavioural problems in children could best be done by social workers trained in managing mental and health problems.

He emphasized the need for training teachers as psychologist.

Dr Rizwan Taj, head of Pims’ psychiatry department, said children should be protected from drugs and emotional health disorders.

Cases of disturbances are created due to home environment, poverty, parental influence, father’s absence, accidents and peer influences, he maintained.

A greater knowledge and better understanding of childhood problems are likely to be achieved in the coming yearsand new problems and areas of concern are likely to be identified and managed, he added.

Prof Dr Haroon Rashid (Lahore), Prof Dr Ehsanullah Syed, Prof Dr Amin Gadet (Karachi) and Dr Ghazala Asif (London) also spoke.