Mental health literacy for supporting children: the need for a new field of research and intervention.

Abstract

World Psychiatry 22:2 June 2023 health collaborations; ii) developing mental health services tailored to address the trauma and other consequences of the Russian war; iii) providing medications and other resources to treat patients with mental health needs; iv) developing remote tele­ mental health ser­ vices, making treatment available for all; v) preparing to re­ build Ukrainian facilities, services, and education systems, so that Ukrain­ ians can benefit from the skills and resources of modern psychiatric practice; vi) establishing research programs, so that Ukrainians and people of other countries can learn from these circumstances and be better prepared, if such events occur in the future. World leaders in the mental health and general health fields should: a) support the process of bringing war crimes prosecutions before the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, and human rights violations before the European Court of Human Rights, as part of the recovery process for Ukraine’s collective trauma; b) recognize and address the special needs of children and young families (i.e., i) provide safety and security for all children, including shielding them from the atrocities of war, trafficking, and emotional and phys ­ ical damage; ii) provide parent guidance and support for families who are displaced or facing the trauma of injury, war crimes, and death; iii) help children maintain contact with family members from whom they have been separated; iv) build online facilities to re­ establish supportive social networks for developing youth; v) sustain virtual Ukrainian schools, so that children who had to leave homeland can continue their intellectual and social development, while also giving them the tools and hopes for a future in Ukraine; vi) provide evidence­ based general interventions that give com­ fort and promote resilience, such as mindfulness training and ev i ­ dence­ based single­ session interventions); c) never forget: the Rus­ sian war; the Ukrainian people; the threats to all of us; the need to promote healthy development, mental health, and peace. There is great power in unity. Now is the time to stand together. A strong way to support resilience and recovery is for medical and mental health professionals to speak in one voice supporting the end of this and other wars.