Tackling Mental Health Problems In Students: Why Is It Necessary?

The journey through the years of being a teenager and young adult is often viewed as a period of exploration, education, and maturation. Unfortunately, for many students in India, exploration, education, and maturation are suffocated by the increasing academic, personal, and social pressures that often lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. While schools and institutions pursue educational excellence, the mental health of students often remains an afterthought even though it is critical to the current generation of students’ futures.

The Alarming State of Student Mental Health in India

The Spike in the Rate of Mental Health Issues – A recent research concludes that at least 23% of the current school-going children in India are prone or are affected by mental health problems.
Depression in Adolescents – The study by a medical research forum, states that almost 44.1% higher secondary students have depression.
Alarming Suicide Rates – Over the past decade, the rate of student suicide have gone at an alarming rate. There’s a 50% rise in the male student suicide and 61% increase in the female student rates.

And the necessary actions taken? Despite the concerning rise in mental health issues, still there are many educational institutions that remain with inadequate support. And as for the students, many hesitate to seek help due to the lack of resources, or inadequate awareness on the mental health topic and most importantly due to insufficient resources.

Impact of Mental Health Issues on Students

Mental health issues involve more than just temporary feelings of sadness or stress; they can affect students’s lives in profound, long-term ways, including:

Declining Academic Performance: Students struggling with mental health often have difficulty with focus, remembering things, and for meeting deadlines, and as a result, they end up with lower grades and missing more days of class.
Social Withdrawal and Relationship Difficulties: Mental illness can lead to social withdrawal, having students distance themselves from friends and family, which increases loneliness and can decrease the quality of existing relationships.
Involvement in High-Risk Activities: Mental health problems that are not managed can lead a student to poor coping strategies, including drug use or high-risk behavior that could put them in dangerous situations, compromising their health and future.
Consequences related to Physical Health: Mental health is related to physical health. Anxiety, depression and/or stress can disrupt sleep patterns, create chronic fatigue, inhibit the immune system and place individuals at risk of developing, or exacerbating, conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

5. Increased Risk of Suicide: The increasing rates of suicide among students in India highlight the need for increased awareness around mental health in schools and other educational institutions. Early intervention strategies can save a life.

How Addressing Student Mental Health is Crucial

Failing to prioritize student mental health has consequences that go beyond the student himself or herself, and into families, schools, and society. There are many reasons to prioritize mental health among students now:

Improved academic achievement students who are experiencing healthy mental health are better able to attend, engage, and achieve academically and are thus better prepared for success in post-schooling activities.
Prevention care and intervention in mental health is easier when identified early on. In addition, seeking care for mental health concerns earlier on has the potential to lessen potential long-term impact on the individual and society.
Encourage coping skills when students learn ways to manage stress and regulate emotions, they build a sense of resilience that will serve them well in their adult lives, personally and professionally.
Encouragement of a healthier society by prioritizing the mental health of students fosters a generation that can contribute to society in meaningful ways, thereby improving the health of the larger community.

Strategies to Address Student Mental Health Issues

Taking positive action can build an environment that supports student success:

Normalizing Mental Health Discussions – The stigma is reduced by starting conversation. More mental health education integrated into curricula, and training school employees to identify and connect students in psychological distress is paramount.
Providing Easy to Access Counseling Access – To already trained professionals in the school will put students in touch with those people who can help them without the apprehension of being judged, and without waiting for a long period of time.
Peer Support Network – Creating peer-led service support groups or peer groups can allow students to provide safe, open and understanding means for students to help themselves and their peers through empathy possibly compounded with their similar experience.
Introducing Stress-Reduction Initiatives – Activities like yoga, meditation, art therapy, and other leisure opportunities, can support students in managing stress and gaining resilience against academic stress.
Include Parents and the Community – A shared effort with parents and community can bring together a supportive environment, reaffirming the significance of mental health at home and in social circles.
Push for Policy and Financial Support – Government and educational policy makers must dedicate funding and make policy initiatives that will benefit mental health programs by establishing mental health as a critical function of educational systems.

Need For Immediate Action

Currently, Indian students experience significant tensions from social, academic, and digital pressures. While students are primarily judged based on their academic achievements, mental well-being is the foundation of actual success. Educational institutions, families, and policymakers have some responsibility to create communities where it is commonplace, as well as brave, to seek out help and support for mental health.

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