Besides the risk of mortality, armed conflicts have serious consequences on the mental health of minors. Not only for children and adolescents directly involved in the tragedy of the war in Ukraine, as in other parts of the planet, but also for those in Italy and around the world, already severely tested by the effects of the pandemic.
Sinpia – Italian Society of Childhood and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, expresses deep concern about the effects of the war in Ukraine on the physical, mental and social health of the most fragile subjects such as children and adolescents, even more so if affected by any type of disability.
“They are highly vulnerable to stress and with less capacity to adapt to trauma, with devastating consequences on their development and therefore on their future which is the future of the world“, explains Prof. Elisa FazziPresident of Sinpia and director of the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit ASST Spedali Civili and University of Brescia.
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“It is with infinite despair, disbelief and pain – he continues – that we are witnessing, after two years of pandemic that has severely tested the entire world community and specifically the mental health of children and adolescents, of the manifestation of the winds of war on the continent. European with a scenario that we never expected to see again after the Second World War. We did not think this would ever happen again in Europe. “
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The war comes at a time that is already critical for the well-being of the most fragile subjects. According to data from a large international study on the impact of the pandemic on the mental and physical health of children and adolescents recently presented at the Sinpia Congress, the mental well-being of minors has decreased by more than 10% globally, with the doubling of children with need for specialist support, and with increased anger, boredom, difficulty concentrating, feelings of loneliness and helplessness, stress, sleep disturbances.
The long-term consequences of the psychological damage of war
To this scenario are now added the consequences of the war that broke out in Europe. The medical literature reports numerous studies on the consequences of armed conflict on individuals in developmental age, such as a higher risk of premature birth and an increase in infant mortality and an increase in the number of orphans.
“During childhood and adolescence, a higher incidence of anxiety and mood disorders is reported, with evolution, in 30-40% of cases, in a post-traumatic stress disorder. This psychopathological condition determines a ‘important impairment of mental health even in adulthood “, explains the professor Alessandro ZuddasSinpia Vice President and Director of the Childhood and Adolescence Unit of the A Cao Hospital – University of Cagliari.
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Recent research also highlights how the psychic consequences of war persist into subsequent generations, causing negative transgenerational repercussions on mental health. This is true for children in countries where war exists, but it is also true to some extent for children who see war on television or through the stories of adults.
For Sinpia, as well as at European level for the ESCAP – European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, which includes many specialists, including Ukrainians and Russians, the first objective must be to protect the psychophysical health of every child and adolescent as much as possible and therefore of every human being, to allow children and young people from Italy, Europe, but also from all over the world, to grow up safe from the threats and consequences of armed conflicts.
Children are the first victims of war
“In this time of great uncertainty – explains Dr. Antonella Costantino, Past President of Sinpia and Director of the Operating Unit of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry (Uonpia) of the IRCCS Foundation “Cà Granda” Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano – it is essential to do everything possible to protect our children, asking loud voice to end war, all war. Unfortunately, this war will add many more to the number of children who will suffer life-threatening injuries or future disabilities, as well as trauma that will compromise their mental health. ”
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An anticipatory thought, Sipia continues in the note, should also be addressed to what is already happening in all European countries, with the increase in the arrival of refugee and / or orphaned children from the areas involved in the conflict: “Traumatized children who are the future has been denied and who risk being further traumatized by unsuitable reception systems. Children who will meet other children, our children, who will also wonder about the reason for this tragedy and how we will be able to give answers. We will all have to think and we will all have to teach how to live in peace. ”