Bhopal, Jun 4 (IANS): The coronavirus lockdown has wrecked havoc with the mental health of children leading to despair and anxiety among many. To deal with this problem in Madhya Pradesh, the government has constituted a team of psychologists and psychosocial counsellors which will advise the parents how to cope up with the situation.

Vishal Nadkarni, coordinator of Woman and Child Development department of Madhya Pradesh, said: "Children are facing a lot of problems as a result of long period of lockdown. There is a need to give them proper guidance. We have started a child help line -- 1098 to give advice to the parents/guardians how to deal with the mental stress of their children during the lockdown. Apart from this, telephonic psychosocial help desk has also been established at the district level."

"Trained and dedicated teams of psycho-social counsellors have been constituted in each district with the help of UNICEF and National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS) Bengaluru. District programme officer has been given the charge of the help desk. The advice is given from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday under the Government's Woman and Child Development department's initiative," he added.

Nadkarni said the counselling is basically on how to stay safe, how to engage in creative work during the lockdown and online education.