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Child Psychology

Looks like the recession affected even the baba log

Published: Sep 10, 2009 08:20:00 AM IST
Updated: Sep 10, 2009 08:40:43 AM IST

Over the past five years, there’s been a steady rise in the number of kids occupying the shrink’s couch. And since the recession hit, child psychologist visits have surged. Hard times equals more depressed, angry adults and children aren’t exempt from that.

Stress and anger-related disorders as well as depression are now climbing even higher. Addiction is getting worse (who wants to talk about problems when you can just smoke a cigarette?). Sleep disorders have spiked. The only problem that’s really dropping is dissociative disorders (60 percent), a disorder where children lose a sense of who they are. Urban kids are aware of what mental illness is.

Image: Minal Shetty
But one caveat: A visit to a psychologist is a luxury. Poor kids aren’t seeing shrinks. Psychologists say dissociative disorders are probably going up in the villages, where kids are less educated, but there is very little way of knowing for sure. This dipstick, then, isn’t indicative of the economy as a whole, but for the higher end of the social pyramid.

(This story appears in the 11 September, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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  • Surinder Bhalla

    This is all due to TV and increase in general knowledge of small kids through interaction with other kids and parents who have also become more open.

    on Dec 19, 2009