The Mental Health Condition of Children in Flood-Affected Areas in Bangladesh: Needs Urgent Attention

Dear Editor,

Bangladesh is under risk of grievous flood during rainy season in every year. Residents residing in susceptible watersheds encounter inundation throughout the rainy season, which spans from June to mid-October in Bangladesh. Same situation emerged this year also as heavy rains triggered flooding in 11 districts in Bangladesh, affecting approximately 1 million households. ¹ Approximately 4.9 million individuals are currently marooned, and 18 fatalities have been recorded as a consequence of this devastating flood in 2024. ² Floods have the potential to diminish the overall well-being, heighten anxiety, and provoke psychological anguish and interpersonal discord. Age is a determinant that impacts an individual’s acceptance and behavior when dealing with floods. ³ While this type of catastrophe usually causes severe harm to individuals of every age level, but especially children are more susceptible to the crises. ⁴ Due to this recent flooding in Bangladesh, 0.54 million children got affected severely between the ages ranged 5 to 19 years and 0.4 million babies (those younger than 4 years old) are also impacted following this flood. ¹ The news of child drowning deaths is reported daily in flood-prone areas.

Catastrophic events like flood have an immense negative effect on child’s mental well-being. ⁵ These events might cause disrupted sleep patterns, regressive behaviors, sadness, aggression, somatization, and gloomy thoughts. ⁴ Children residing in flood-prone regions are accustomed to encountering floods, although the emotions of sorrow, anxiety, and apprehension pose a formidable challenge to get past.^4,6 The enduring ramifications of these disasters encompass a heightened susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse, as well as a surge in child exploitation through work. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were observed in primary school-aged children who were under the age of 16 and were affected by a flood disaster. ⁷ Simultaneously, they also had psychological complications, including heightened palpitations, panic, melancholy, insomnia, fear associated with thoughts of the flood, and impaired concentration. ⁵ Female children are experienced more psychological vulnerabilities like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression. ⁶ Children are especially susceptible to physical, verbal, and sexual abuse following natural disasters like floods. This is because they lose the safety and support of their carers when they get separated from them. ⁵ Various issues, such as homelessness, deprivation of education, and the emotional distress caused by the loss of loved ones, have been identified as influencing the psychological welfare of children in times of disaster.^4,7

Responding to the devastating floods in Bangladesh with emergency aid has made it possible to provide food, shelter, and medical care to people who have been impacted severely by the flooding. ⁸ Few organizations like Plan International Bangladesh have dispatched its Crisis Response Team to the affected communities. ¹ Multiple strategies are available to specifically target mental health suffering during disasters and to proactively mitigate the risk of maltreatment in children and adolescents. Implementing coping skills and resilience-building practices in schools can enhance the overall wellness, hope, and self-esteem of children, while also providing instruction on identifying early indicators of mental illness. Telepsychiatry, the utilization of telecommunication technology, particularly videoconferencing, to deliver psychiatric examinations and therapy, can also serve as a highly effective method for offering counseling and psychological assistance to children and adolescents. These principles encompass fundamental concepts such as comprehension about floods, making emotional preparedness, emphasis on resolving flood issues, perceived concerns about the risk of flood.^6,8 Implementing coping mechanisms and resilience-developing practices in institutions may boost the wellness, optimism and confidence of kids. ⁴ Identifying the requirements of kids and their goods, as well as providing psychological initial assistance and guidance to children and their families, would assist them in coping with the devastating effects of floods. ⁷ Hence, government and organizations need to emphasis over awareness campaigns to increase the knowledge about psychological consequences following flood among children’s. Policy makers ought to provide a child’s access to mental health treatments, stable housing, and educational opportunities, should facilitate training among child’s regarding developing coping strategies in response to natural disasters, in order to mitigate the repercussions in the future.

Md. Al-Mamun, MSSBRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Md. Zawadul Karim, MSRights Jessore, Jashore, Bangladesh Abul Kalam, MPhilDepartment of Sociology, Gopalganj Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, Bangladesh