Residents of Kiambu who are victims of absentee fathers have been advised to seek the services of a counsellor as the absence can cause emotional harm.
According to a psychiatrist from the Kiambu District Hospital Ms Jane Ogeto, fathers play a very important role in the development of their children.
Ogeto said that the children of fathers who are absent tend to have emotional distress that can be soothed through counseling.
She explained that the children feel abandoned when the fathers are not involved in their lives resulting to cases of poor performance in school, drug abuse and anger which results to violent behaviour.
Speaking on Friday in her office, Ogeto said that daughters with absent fathers tend to be promiscuous and are often victims of teenage pregnancy because they manifest the desire to fill that space that their father left.
“The girl child views the absenteeism of the father as pure rejection to which they blame themselves making it easy for adult men to exploit them,” said Ogeto.
Ogeto added that the children have a difficult time even maintaining relationships in the future due to the issue of trust and the perception that their spouses might leave just as their father.
She said that the father is also a victim and should seek services of a counselor because they usually at some point in their lives, become unable to cope with the guilt of abandoning their child.
Ogeto however said most absentee fathers often face rejection that makes them develop odd behaviors like alcoholism or even mental problems.
She however said that single mothers need the counseling because they have to accept that they cannot play the role of both father and mother.
The psychiatrist added that during the sessions, they can be able to get advise on how to deal with their children especially when they start showing signs of needing a father figure in their lives.