Depression among Orphans: Situation and Trend in Nepal
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Published:
Sep 3, 2019
Keywords:
Mental health Depression Orphan Children
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Orphans are a special group of children who are more vulnerable to developing a mental health problem such as depression. Lack of care and support during the grieving process and inadequate environment without parents may lead to depression in orphans. Depression is an important public health problem and a serious issue that affects almost half of the orphans. Objective: The study aimed to explore the status of depression among the orphans in Nepal. Methods: The literature review was done based on the information obtained from the grey literature and the published articles in national and international journals through web search in Pubmed and Google scholar. Results: The review identified orphans as a susceptible group of children who are prone to developing mental health problems. In Nepal, more than one million children are orphans and the prevalence of children with one or both parents dead is 4.3%. Depression is one of the commonest mental health problems among the orphans accounting for almost half of the orphans and almost double than the population of general children. Though the government of Nepal established childcare homes to provide care, support, protection and other needs to the orphans or a vulnerable group of children but only 0.14% of children are living in 585 childcare homes of 45 districts of Nepal. Conclusion: The adversity of losing parents at the tender age among orphans may lead them to develop depression. Though a huge number of orphans are tackling with various health problems, yet there are no special health and mental health policies that address the health of the orphans and the abandoned children in Nepal. The government and the supporting partners play a pivotal role in improving the mental health status of the orphans by reducing the barriers and improving their quality of life.
Article Details
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Bhatt, K. B., & Bhatt, N. (2019). Depression among Orphans: Situation and Trend in Nepal. Journal of Health Science and Alternative Medicine, 1(2), 26–31. Retrieved from https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jhealthscialternmed/article/view/207526
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References
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[29] Depression Alliance. The Inside Story : The Impact of Depression on Daily Life [Internet]. London; 2008. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/mental/docs/insidestory.pdf
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[2] Ibrahim A, El-Bilsha MA, El-Gilany AH, et al. Prevalence and predictors of depression among orphans in Dakahlia’s orphanages, Egypt. Int J Collab Res Intern Med Public Heal [Internet]. 2012;4(12):2036–43. Available from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/af77/6f593e7bfbe803f33af5a6cce8b148720b01.pdf
[3] Ritchie H, Roser M. Mental Health [Internet]. 2018April Our World in Data. Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health#
[4] Lassi ZS, Mahmud S, Syed EU, et al. Behavioral problems among children living in orphanage facilities of Karachi, Pakistan: Comparison of children in an SOS Village with those in conventional orphanages. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol [Internet]. 2011;46(8):787–96. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20571756
[5] Sudeep Uperty & Bipul. Lamichane. Mental health in Nepal [Internet]. Health ERD. Kathmandu; 2016. Available from: https://www.herd.org.np/uploads/frontend/Publications/PublicationsAttachments1/1480578193-Mental Health in Nepal - A Backgrounder.pdf
[6] Herrman H, Kieling C, McGorry P, et al. Reducing the global burden of depression: a Lancet–World Psychiatric Association Commission. Lancet [Internet]. 2018;6736(18):10–1. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673618324085
[7] Kohrt BA, Luitel NP, Acharya P, et al.. Detection of depression in low resource settings: Validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and cultural concepts of distress in Nepal. BMC Psychiatry [Internet]. 2016;16(1):1–14. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0768y
[8] Malhi GS, Mann JJ. Depression. Lancet [Internet]. 2018;18(31948):1-13. Available from: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31948-2/fulltext
[9] World Health Organization. Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2017. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/254610/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng.pdf
[10] Cowan K. Investment in mental health services urgently needed in Nepal. The Lancet Psychiatry [Internet]. 2016;3(8):707. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30187-0
[11] Alahmari AY, Alshehri AF, Alqahtani AS, Alyami TA, Alshehri WD, Asiri AY, et al. Prevalence of Depression among Children and Adolescent in Orphanages. International Journal of Medical Research Professional [Internet]. 2017;271(36):271–3. Available from: www.ijmrp.com
[12] Klitzing K von, Döhnert M, Kroll M, et al. Mental Disorders in Early Childhood. Dtsch Aerzteblatt Online [Internet]. 2015;112:375–86. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4496484/pdf/Dtsch_Arztebl_Int-112-0375.pdf
[13] UNICEF. Orphans [Internet]. UNICEF (Press center). 2017. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/media/media_45279.html
[14] IHH Humanitarian and Social Researches Center. Report on World’s Orphans [Internet]. 2014. Available from: www.ihh.org.tr
[15] Kiambi EG, Evangeline K. Factors Influencing Performance of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Projects in Imenti North Sub County, Meru County, Kenya. 2017;2(1):179–96. Available from: https://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/mercy_mugambi/files/orphans_and_vulnerable_children_projects.pdf
[16] The Truth Source. Orphans: Crisis from War and Aids [Internet]. 2018. Available from: https://thetruthsource.org/orphans-crisis-from-war-and-aids/
[17] Central Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF Nepal. Monitoring the situation of children and women Nepal: Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Final Report 2014 [Internet]. Kathmandu; 2015. Available from: https://unicef.org.np/uploads/files/597341286609672028-final-report-nmics-2014-english.pdf
[18] Shekmnesh A, Alemseged A, Hailemariam B. Prevalence of Psychological Distress and Associated Factors among AIDS Orphan Adolescents in Mekelle City, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia: Cross Sectional Study. Greener Journal of Medical Science [Internet]. 2013;3(7):260–9. Available from: https://www.gjournals.org/GJMS/GJMS pdf/2013/September/080913776 Shekmnesh et al.pdf
[19] Ramagopal G, Narasimhan S, Devi L. Prevalence of depression among children living in orphanage. Int J Contemp Pediatr [Internet]. 2016;3(4):1326–8. Available from: https://www.ejmanager.com
[20] Demoze MB, Angaw DA, Mulat H. Prevalence and Associated Factors of Depression among Orphan Adolescents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Psychiatry J [Internet]. 2018;2018:1–6. Available from: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/psychiatry/2018/5025143/
[21] World Health Organizaton T. World Health Day 2017: Depression Let’s Talk [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2017. Available from: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2017/toolkit.pdf?ua=1
[22] Bhat NM. A study of Emotional Stability and Depression in Orphan Secondary School Students. Int J Educ Psychol Res [Internet]. 2014;3(2):95–100. Available from: https://ijepr.org/doc/V3_Is2_June14/ij20.pdf
[23] American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Suicide in Children and Teens [Internet]. Vol. 10, American Academy of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry. 2017 [cited 2018 Dec 25]. Available from: https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Teen-Suicide-010.aspx
[24] Ritchie H, Roser M. Mental Health [Internet]. 2018April Our World in Data. Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health##
[25] World Health Organisation. World Health Organisation Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 [Internet]. Geneva, Switzerland; 2013. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/89966/1/9789241506021_eng.pdf?ua=1
[26] Bakhteyar K, Bastami F, Ebrahimzadeh F, et al. Factors associated with mental health of high-school students in the Islamic Republic of Iran. East Mediterr Heal J. 2018;24(4):368–76.
[27] World Health Organizaton Thailand. World health day 2017: Depression-let’s talk [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2017 [cited 2018 Dec 26]. Available from: https://www.searo.who.int/thailand/news/world-health-day-2017/en/
[28] Steidtmann D, Hubley S. Depression: Societal Impact [Internet]. Webpsychology. 2019 [cited 2018 Dec 26]. Available from: https://www.webpsychology.com/article/depression-societal-impact
[29] Depression Alliance. The Inside Story : The Impact of Depression on Daily Life [Internet]. London; 2008. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/mental/docs/insidestory.pdf
[30] Hofmann SG, Curtiss J, Carpenter JK, et al. Effect of treatments for depression on quality of life: a meta-analysis. Cogn Behav Ther [Internet]. 2017;46(4):265–86. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5663193/pdf/nihms912956.pdf
[31] Harvard Medical School. What causes depression [Internet]. Harvard Health. 2019 [cited 2018 Dec 27]. Available from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression
[32] Saeed A, Raana T, Saeed AM, et al. Effect of antenatal depression on maternal dietary intake and neonatal outcome: A prospective cohort. Nutr J [Internet]. 2016;15(1):1–9. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12937-016-0184-7
[33] World Health Organization. Maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health: Adolescent development. [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2018 [cited 2019 Feb 10]. Available from: https://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/en/
[34] World Health Organization. Depression: Let’s Talk [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2017 [cited 2019 Jan 6]. Available from: https://www.who.int/mental_health/management/depression/en/
[35] National Planning Commission. Sustainable Development Goals 2016-2030 National (Preliminary) Report National Planning Commission [Internet]. Kathmandu; 2015. Available from: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=1300
[36] Government of Nepal; Ministry of Health and Population. National Mental Health Policy 1996. 1995.
[37] Yokoya S, Maeno T, Sakamoto N, et al. A Brief Survey of Public Knowledge and Stigma Towards Depression. J Clin Med Res. 2018;10(3):202–9.
[38] Show Hope. 3 Statistics About The Children Of Nepal [Internet]. 2015. Available from: https://showhope.org/2015/05/22/statistics-children-nepal/
[39] Nepal Government. Children’s Act 2018 [Internet]. Nepal: Nepal Law Commssion; 2018. Available from: https://www.lawcommission.gov.np/np/archives/category/documents/prevailing-law/statutes-acts/बालबालिका-सम्बन्धी-ऐन-2075
[40] Government of Nepal. The Constitution of Nepal [Internet]. Nepal: Nepal Law Commssion; 2015 p. 226. Available from: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/np/np029en.pdf
[41] Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare. Standards for Operation and Management of Residential Child Care Homes, 2012 [Internet]. Kathmandu, Nepal; 2012. Available from: https://www.ccwb.gov.np/uploads/userfiles/resources/Comprehensive Standards for Operation and management of Residential Child Care homes 2069.pdf
[42] Central Child Welfare Board N. State of the Child Report 2014. [Internet]. Lalitpur; 2014. Available from: https://www.ccwb.gov.np/uploads/Resource/CCWB Publication/state of the child care home.pdf
[43] Singh S, BC RK, Simkhada P, et al. Health status and health needs of orphan children in Kathmandu, Nepal. Nepal Health Research Council [Internet]. 2007;5(2):39–48. Available from: https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/14463/1/Singh_et_al_orphans_in_Nepal_2007.pdf