Global crises like conflicts, displacement, climate change, and social media especially affect infants, children, and adolescents, disrupting their social connections and support networks.

This can lead to increased stress-related mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Social isolation, sadly, exacerbates feelings of loneliness. The capacity of health professionals to address these issues is, however, critically low, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Integrating mental health services that prioritize mental health and social connections (or connectivity) into general health services is therefore essential.

We believe that the development and implementation of scalable, low-threshold interventions can mitigate negative effects. Prevention and early intervention strategies that focus on building resilience and reducing the risk of long-term mental health consequences.